ESPN Insider’s Keith Law confirms that the Oakland Atheletics 23 year old minor leaguer Grant Desme has decided to retire from baseball to pursue a career in the priesthood.

Desme hit 31 home runs last season in the Minor Leagues. In the Arizona Fall League he was named MVP and hit .315/.413/.667 with 11 home runs.

According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Desme said, “I’m doing well in baseball, but I had to get down to the bottom of things, to what was good in my life, what I wanted to do with my life. Baseball is a good thing, but that felt selfish of me when I felt that God was calling me more. It took awhile to trust that and open up to it and aim full steam toward him. I love the game, but I’m going to aspire to higher things.”

Desme did not want to play minor-league baseball and attend the seminary at the same time. With his advanced age and experience in college, he could have been with the big league club as a September call-up.

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