Some fans may not have been faithful to the Toronto Blue Jays' Vernon Wells last year, but he has always been faithful to them. At a time when athletic loyalty is rare, he has been with the organization from the day he was drafted in 1997, and his eye is on the prize of helping them get back to the World Series for the first time since 1993.

“This is the only club I've known,” Vernon says. “They've been loyal to me and that's not something you find too often. If you're able to stick with an organization and go through the whole building process to win a championship, it makes it worthwhile.”

Vernon played through pain last year and his numbers suffered. But off-season surgery repaired cartilage in his left wrist and he returned this year to perform as well as ever. His wife, Charlene, can finally watch him play again, along with their two boys, Jayce and Christian.

“I'm not a fan of baseball, I'm a fan of my husband,” Charlene says. “If I hear booing at an away game I take that as a compliment because that means he's playing well. But last year some at-home games were awful. He'd be booed from the time his name was announced to the time he left the field. I never thought fans could be that disrespectful, especially for the kind of good man he's always been, not necessarily the player he was last year.”

She remembers the 2009 season as being one of the hardest times in their marriage because it had a downward spiralling effect. Vernon felt discouraged and it spilled into their family life.

“I had to disconnect from baseball and wouldn't take the boys to any games,” Charlene says. “It's so much better this year now that he's healthy. The whole experience brought us closer to God—and to each other.”

A Committed Couple
Married in 2001, Charlene and Vernon have been together for 16 years.

“I am two years older than him, but we were best friends in high school,” she recalls. “The more time we spent together and enjoyed being with each other, our relationship just grew. We tried not to be exclusive but I remember coming home to see one of his games and I said to someone, 'Vernon can date whoever he wants to date. I know I'll marry him one day.' ”

Their marriage thrives because it's based on a firm foundation: faith. Charlene had always believed in God but the year before marrying Vernon, she decided to follow her mother's example and get serious about her relationship with God.

“I knew the kind of influence I wanted to have on my husband and children,” she says, “and like my mother, I knew I had to commit completely to the Lord.”

At the same time, Vernon was closely watching the kind of man he wanted to become. His paths crossed with Deion Sanders, a former Major League Baseball outfielder and National Football League cornerback. They played together for a month with the Syracuse Chiefs.

“Deion would disappear after batting practice and we wondered where he'd go,” Vernon recalls. “He'd be off reading his Bible. Deion made me realize this game is trivial when it compares to your relationship with the Lord, and when you put Him first, things will fall into place. I got to watch Deion and the Christian he was up close. He was placed in my life just at the right moment.”

Husband, Father, Centre Fielder
Vernon and Charlene place their faith and family above all else. Charlene notes the importance of making time to feed your spirit.

“If you don't feed yourself every day you're going to starve,” she states. “It doesn't matter where Vernon is or how late the game finished, he sets his alarm for 7:30. Other players might sleep in until 10 the next morning but he'll call us on the phone to join us for our Bible study time.”

Since God has blessed their family, Vernon and Charlene feel they have an obligation to help out other families. They have teamed up with The Salvation Army to focus on encouraging and equipping those who have met with hard times to improve their lives.

“We're on the Advisory Council for The Salvation Army in Texas,” Charlene says. “We hadn't been aware that the Army was so faith-based, but once they reached out to us, we dug a little deeper and found out. I love everything they're about, helping people get their lives back together based on Christianity. We've done a couple of cookouts with the Army in Arlington, Texas. We love what they do.”

Closer to home, they have also become affiliated with the Canadian Salvation Army, and their concern for at-risk children and families has made them supporters of the Army's family shelter in Toronto. Last year, Vernon helped mount the annual Salvation Army toy drive to collect toys for deserving children. “Thanks to Vernon, we collected thousands of toys that day,” says Army spokesperson Janet Park. And they are also planning a fundraiser for the shelter this year.

Besides his Perfect 10 Foundation, which provides single mothers and disadvantaged children with safe, stable homes, Vernon meets with students to share his testimony of faith.

“I'm thankful for everything from God, good and bad,” he says. “I was blessed with the ability to play the game and to have the resources and support I had growing up.”

He tries to keep the ups and downs of baseball in perspective. Having been nominated in 2003 and 2006 to attend the annual Major League Baseball's All-Star game, fans voted for a healthy Vernon Wells to make his third appearance this year. He's still going strong.

And what happens when his contract is up in 2014?

“I'll play as long as my body holds up,” Vernon states. “Then I look forward to being around even more as a dad and husband.”