From the November/December Peninsula Temple Sholom (Burlingame) bulletin:
(ALSO READ: Andy Altman-Ohr’s column about the Giants’ world championship)
Usually when I sit down to write my monthly column for the bulletin, I take stock of the things that have been on my mind recently. Sometimes there’s a compelling theological question or an issue affecting our Jewish community that I want to address. And while there certainly are many of those as I sit down to write, I have to admit that one of the things foremost on my mind right now is Giants baseball.
In spite of my love of baseball, in sixteen years as a rabbi, this is only the second column I’ve ever devoted to baseball and the first had to do with an ethical issue – a player spitting on an umpire. But this October we are celebrating a wonderful post-season ride, and I simply couldn’t resist. I’ve read many books and have seen many movies about baseball that aggrandize the sport. I personally don’t love baseball because I see it as a symbol of all that is good and pure in America. I know that the Giants are just a team and that baseball is just a sport. But I will share with you why I am so excited about this Giants team and why baseball has been important in my life.
For me, baseball played a key role in forming connections to important people in my life. Nearly forty years later, I still clearly remember the first game I went to with my father and brother. The Giants played the Cubs and won 5-3. The sun was shining, it was bat day and I was given a beautiful Willie Mays model. I loved the feeling of being with my father and brother and feeling connected to them through baseball. My Dad took me to many games each season, including Sunday double-headers. Often we would both keep score – a painstaking process that he carefully taught me. My parents divorced when I was young, so this time with my father at the ballpark took on even more significance. It was time I had him back again – with no phones, no television, and no other distractions. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized my father didn’t love baseball the way I did. He loved me. Our time at the ballpark is still one of my fondest memories, especially now that he is gone. And baseball is a bond my brother and I still share. Now that I’m a father, I have had many special moments with my three daughters at the ballpark, especially since we moved here in 2006.
I get excited about the Giants every season but there is something special about this 2010 team. There is no one star. Sure, Tim Lincecum and Buster Posey are terrific and most likely will be for many years. However, one gets the impression that on this team no one commands star treatment from the others and no one stands apart from the rest. This team was able to come together to do something that none of them could do alone and to create something greater than themselves.
This year’s club also gave us all a lesson about not giving up. Nothing came easily to this team, and there were so many points during the season and during the division series with the Braves where I thought the team might not be able to bounce back. Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper coined the motto of the season: “Giants baseball – torture!” And anyone watching any one of those excruciating divisional series games against the Braves felt the torture. There were plenty of times when they could have said, “This just isn’t going to be our year.” They could have accepted defeat but they didn’t. Instead, they rallied each other and gave their support to one another. In a touching gesture, Pat Burrell showed a menschy sense of empathy when he tried to cheer and console an opponent, Braves infielder Brooks Conrad, who made three costly errors in just one game. Pat Burrell showed that intensity and a will to win can be accompanied by compassion as well.
I may not get to make my own baseball movie, but I still can draw some life lessons from my lifelong love of the Giants. The first is that it’s important to carve out special time with those you love. Whether it is at a baseball game or somewhere else. Give those you love the gift of your time and your undivided attention. The second lesson is that teamwork really does make a difference. It’s a lesson I see enacted here at PTS on a daily basis. What we are able to accomplish as a community far exceeds what any of us can do alone. Third, even though something is hard – torture even – it doesn’t mean you won’t be successful at it. Having a clear vision or goal can sometimes lead us beyond what we thought we might be able to accomplish.
I will remember this Giants team for a long time – well, really, forever. They have given us a season full of fun. And by the time we read this column, the Giants may have brought the first world championship to San Francisco or they may have fallen to the Phillies and not even have made it to the World Series. Either way, it has been a wild and delightful ride, reminding me of what I love about baseball and what I cherish about my PTS community.