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St. Petersburg, FL - Religion and Baseball, a Scheduling Conflict |
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St. Petersburg, FL - The Tampa Bay Rays’ three top executives have extra reason to hope the team takes care of the Chicago White Sox quickly in their American League division series, which begins Tuesday afternoon.
Team owner Stuart Sternberg, Matt Silverman, the president, and the general manager Andrew Friedman are all Jewish, and Game 5 of this series, if necessary, would be played Wednesday night, which is also the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
Sternberg said on the field before Game 1 that he will not attend Game 5 if the series returns to Tropicana Field, he would stay home in Rye, N.Y., and attend services there. He said that he would watch the game on television.
“I’ll be at shul until maybe the third or fourth inning,” Sternberg said. “I will not be here.”
Sternberg was assuming the game would start about 8 p.m. Eastern, which is likely unless the Red Sox and Angels series played a Game 5 of their series the same day in Los Angeles. That West Coast Game would almost certainly be played following the Rays-White Sox game, which could then start as early as 5 p.m.
That’s what Silverman would certainly prefer. He said he does not need to be at services at his reform synagogue until 8:15 p.m. So he could perhaps get the entire game in, or miss it altogether.
Friedman said he still wasn’t sure how he’ll handle his two religions, Judaism and baseball. “I’m wrestling with it,” he said anxiously.
Sternberg named his son, Sandy, after the Dodgers’ pitcher Sandy Koufax who famously did not pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because of the holiday.
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Read Comments (11) — Post Yours »
1
Oct 02, 2008 at 03:55 PM anonymous Says:
Shlomo calls his Rabbi and says, "I know tonight is Kol Nidre, but the World Series starts tonight and the Yankees are in it. I've always been a Yankee fan. I've got to watch the game on TV."
"Shlomo, that's what video recorders are for."
And Shlomo says, "You mean I can videotape Kol Nidre?"
2
Oct 02, 2008 at 04:26 PM YANKEL Says:
What a dilemma they face. Maybe they should ask the rabbis of their temples what to do. I wonder why they have an 8:15 Kol Nidre at the reform temple.
3
Oct 02, 2008 at 05:27 PM Frummy Says:
Why can't they make kol nidre a day earlier??
4
Oct 02, 2008 at 07:18 PM Anonymous Says:
the owner of the White Sox is also Jewish-Jerry Reinsdorf
5
Oct 02, 2008 at 07:16 PM bigwheeel Says:
We can all laugh at a good joke (like in comment#1) But the fact remains that to those Jews [who are standing at the top of the mound] it IS a big Nisayon, (even though "Reform" is not up our alley!). They, as Baseball fans, and having some sort of Religious affiliation are facing a terrible dilemma! But the Kiddush Hashem that they create --on their level-- will be tremendous, as was the choice of Sandy Koufax, when he stayed away from the game on Yom Kippur!!!
6
Oct 02, 2008 at 09:56 PM Yankel Says:
Frummy: That's a brilliant suggestion. Change is something that they seem to endorse. Compared to some of their movement's other changes making Kol Nidre the eve of the 8th or 9th of Tishrei should be easy.
7
Oct 02, 2008 at 10:50 PM Charlie Hall Says:
Hank Greenberg also skipped a game for Yom Kippur back in the 1930s.
8
Oct 03, 2008 at 12:14 AM a gita mentch Says:
the only thing interested (real nisayon) that could happen this year is if the redsox will play the deciding game 5 on yom kippur and Kevin Youkilis is right now their best player, it will be an interesting decision and people will talk about it
9
Oct 03, 2008 at 01:37 PM Pashuteh Yid Says:
Kevin Youkilis is a gaon and a tzaddik. It is said that he chazers half shas on the way up to an at-bat, and the other half on the way down. He sits and learns when on the bench.
10
Oct 03, 2008 at 03:06 PM bigwheeel Says:
“ Kevin Youkilis is a gaon and a tzaddik. It is said that he chazers half shas on the way up to an at-bat, and the other half on the way down. He sits and learns when on the bench. ”
Pashuteh Yid (HGHT"Z R' Lipa spells it slightly different) Hashem has the TRUE scales of Justice. Who knows, maybe R' Youkilis' staying away from [pitching] a World-Series Game on Yom Kippur is (on his level) equal to [or superceeding] our sitting with an open Sefer and digesting a Zaftig Loshon Hora!!!
11
Oct 20, 2008 at 12:04 AM rav shlomo carlebach Says:
my holy brothers and sisters..We all have nisyonit and and lets give a huge shkoyach that they said they wouldnt play