The Catholic convert spent 10 years at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before joining the Milwaukee Brewers
By Jay Sorgi
for the Register
He paints pictures for Major League Baseball fans on the radio, a skill that his time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) helped construct.
Yet former Cornhuskers baseball and current Milwaukee Brewers Radio Network announcer Lane Grindle has seen God and the Catholic Church’s continual handiwork on his life, one which he recognizes is a lifelong building process and one which Lincoln fostered.
“As our manager with the Brewers, Pat Murphy, would say, ‘I’m very much under construction,’” Grindle said.
That construction comes filtered through the journey of conversion, one which began as a Lutheran and Methodist in his hometown of Malvern, Iowa. He credits his parents who raised him in faith and Christian moral principles that gave him a “true north” growing up, but his childhood best friend opened his eyes to the Catholic faith.
Then he met Ali, a devout Catholic who opened his own doors to the Church.
“Before I even proposed, I started to go through RCIA, and her father was my teacher,” Grindle said.
“My journey within Catholicism has been a winding journey, because as I got further into my faith, further educated with my faith, I just learned more about myself. I learned more about my beliefs, and I’ve grown a lot.”
That growth was nurtured in Lincoln, as Ali and Lane moved there before they got married, two years after he graduated from the University of South Dakota and during his RCIA process.
He grew his faith life at two Lincoln parishes, North American Martyrs and St. John the Apostle, where Ali taught. They have kept a relationship with the recently-retired Father Lyle Johnson.
“It was just a wonderful parish,” he said. “When we go back to Lincoln, I always try to go to Mass at St. John’s to go see Father Johnson.”
Grindle dived into Catholic spiritual reading in Lincoln as he looked to grow this new faith, and an author who moved his life encountered his very journey.
“I started reading some Scott Hahn books. That probably influenced me externally as much as anything has in my faith. It motivated me to learn more about the different covenants and everything else that comes along with it,” he said.
“I actually got a chance to meet Hahn at North American Martyrs. He came and did a book tour, gave a speech and I was able to go to it. I could shake his hand and say, ‘You have significantly impacted me,’ which I’m sure many, many people have come and told him.”
Ten years at UNL led him to host pregame and postgame for Nebraska football along with a television show for Cornhuskers basketball, all while building a family with Ali and their four children. They had bought a house before a dream opportunity came his way in 2016, working Milwaukee Brewers games on radio with legendary Hall of Fame announcer Bob Uecker.
Yet the timing brought a hard decision, one which became a moment of prayer and discernment with the guidance of Father Johnson.
“He was somebody who was one of the first people that I went and talked to, because I wanted to talk to him about how it was going to impact my young family,” Grindle said. “This was such a great opportunity. He gave me more confidence in making the decision that I made.”
His time at Nebraska before joining the Brewers became evidence of a life evangelizing the Catholic faith simply by presence and example.
“Scott Schreiber was a freshman my last full year. He was very into his Catholic faith, and he found out that I would go to Mass on Sunday mornings. We just started making it a thing where he would go with me,” Grindle said.
In time, a handful of teammates and baseball staff would join Grindle and Schreiber at Mass on the road. His last game at Nebraska proved God’s impact on others through him.
“We were in Charleston, South Carolina, for that series. It was Sunday morning. I never communicated with Scott that I was going to Mass, and I showed up at Mass that morning,” Grindle said. “There was Scott and almost every freshman on the team that he had recruited to go with him at Mass. That was my last weekend with Nebraska baseball.”
Grindle now receives Word and Eucharist every Sunday on the road at MLB stadiums through Catholic Athletes for Christ.
“I can remember Easter Sunday. We were in Kansas City and you looked over and I’m sitting there with Sal Frelick of the Brewers, and then you look over and Bobby Witt Jr. (of the Royals) is sitting across from you,” he said.
You might see him in cities like Pittsburgh sneak out of the stadium in the morning and walk to a daily or Sunday Mass less than a mile away, turning his time alone on road trips into opportunities for what he calls “retreats.”
He keeps his Bible and rosary with him on the nights alone at spring training or on the road, missing his kids and Ali, whom he credits so much for his faith and his strong family. He gives that time to God, recognizing that his pathway through Lincoln to the major leagues, and to a deeper life in Christ, continues “under construction.”
“There is more on this journey,” he said of his walk with God. “I need to be clear about that with myself that more growth is required because there’s a better place that I can even get to.”
