SubscribeJewish Heritage Day at CitiField
Spend a surprise afternoon at CitiField yesterday as our friends Linda and Elliot invited us to the Mets-Astros game. As a bonus, it turned out to be the Mets’ annual Jewish Heritage Day.
My wife and I had not visited the new digs and it was quite a treat. The seats were excellent, practically straddling the right field foul line and, for most of the game, in the shade, offering a nice respite from the blazing sunshine and 90+ degree temps. I kept to my set for the whole game, so I didn’t explore the environs, but it seems like the news ballparks are really trying to win the hearts and minds of the Very casual to non-fan with dozens of restaurants, gift shops, and other amusements/distractions.
The Mets took the rubber game of the series from the Astros, 5-1 and it was “gratifying” that Ike Davis contributed a double and a run scored (although he seemed to have come close to getting ejected for arguing a called third strike).
As far as the JHD festivities, there didn’t seem to be too many.Other than the fact that there were a lot of Jews wearing kipot, you wouldn’t find anything to differentiate this from any other game. In fact, if memory serves, they didn’t even play “Hava Negila” on the PA.
We couldn’t see the scoreboard from our seats, so I don’t know if they put up the players’ names in Hebrew letters, but other than having the group ’613′ perform a few songs, there didn’t seem to be anything to differentiate this from any other game.
There was also a Teddy Bear giveaway from the Build-a-Bear Workshop folks, but it was just a plain ol’ bear in a baseball jersey. What, they couldn’t have put a kipa on then thing? Come to think of it, if their minor league Brooklyn Cyclones affiliate could come up with an Ike Davis bobble-head day, why not the parent club?
Glad you enjoyed the game, Ron, and a rare Mets win. Any visits to the “controversial” kosher stands?
I passed on on the way to our seats, but since I’m a vegetarian, I did not patronize the kiosk.
Impressive that you’re vegetarian, Ron. I’ve tried at times, but always seem lured back sooner or later. Definitely a healthier lifestyle and maybe one day I can finally take the plunge for good. Also makes keeping kosher a lot easier too.