By Jacob Kamaras
LA JOLLA, California — I’ll never forget my first baseball game. My father brought me to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on the last day of the regular season in 1993, as we watched the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1. Even as my interest in America’s Pastime has waned over the years, my first ballgame will always symbolize the enduring strength of the father-son bond.
Twenty-eight years later, I had the privilege of bringing my son Elliott (3 and a half) to his first baseball game on August 22 — and it was an extra privilege for multiple reasons. First, we got to participate in the San Diego Padres’ Jewish Community Day at Petco Park. Second, it was my first live major sporting event since before the COVID-19 pandemic. (Does that merit a Shehecheyanu?)
Not much is Jewish about Jewish Community Day besides the fact that synagogues and other community organizations resell a block of tickets among their members, plus the awesome Jewish-themed souvenir baseball caps.
Elliott, typically hyper-inquisitive, was silently transfixed by the action on the field and watched intently for most of the game. Other than mistakenly buying him a vanilla ice cream when he wanted chocolate, and then waiting in line again for chocolate, everything went about as well as I could’ve hoped for father and son. And I hope that Elliott will always remember the experience.
Over the years, it’s become more difficult (even painful) for me to watch baseball on TV as opposed to basketball and football, the latter two which I consider more action-packed sports. Yet many fans will agree that actually attending a game significantly enhances the act of watching baseball. It’s not necessarily about “watching.” It’s just about being there. Soaking in all the sights and sounds at the stadium is always a one-of-a-kind experience, not to mention the strangely satisfying feeling of overpaying for food and drink items that somehow taste better specifically when consumed at the ballpark.
But the best part of Jewish Community Day — by far — was getting to enjoy it with friends, family, and synagogue members. One friend and fellow congregant, Ariana Kiken, rallied our group of friends in purchasing tickets from Congregation Adat Yeshurun in Section 131. In Ariana’s words, we not only got to watch the game, but also had the special opportunity to see the world through the eyes of young children, including Elliott, Gloria (22 months), and my nephew Silas (5 months).
Oh, the Padres lost to the Phillies, 7-4. But that wasn’t really the point. Nor is “Jewish” the whole point about Jewish Community Day. “Community” is the essence. The Padres provided the multifaceted group of people whom I describe as my community with a chance to share an experience — for some of us a new experience, for others a tried-and-true experience, and definitely an experience that I feel fortunate we can still enjoy in the face of a pandemic.
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Jacob Kamaras is Managing Editor of the San Diego Jewish World.