On Wednesday, Aug. 24, Giants fans will have the opportunity to ask “Why is this night game different from all other night games?”
Will there be garlic fries? Yes, that’s the same. Will the beer cost too much? Yes, that’s the same, too. Will the Giants’ harrowing bullpen necessitate vast quantities of the aforementioned beer and fries? Likely.
But that contest vs. the Philadelphia Phillies is also “Jewish Heritage Night” at SBC Park, the Giants’ first foray into all things Semitic after positive experiences last year with other ethnic nights.
“It all started with the success of Italian and Irish night. And we didn’t have to brainstorm much, with the Jewish population in San Francisco and the Bay Area, that we should have Jewish night at the ballpark,” said Craig Solomon, the Giants’ manager of season-ticket sales.
“Since I’m Jewish, I definitely … wanted this to be as successful as those two nights.”
Irish night featured plenty of Guinness (not for free) and the adorable wee dancers from the Ann Healy Irish Dance School, and Solomon envisions entertainments for Jewish Heritage Night as well.
Jared Dillon, the team’s director of group sales, hopes for a klezmer band to perform before the game and the seventh-inning stretch, and figures kids attending the game may be awarded a card or two from the Jewish Major Leaguers set if the Giants can come up with enough of them to give away.
One thing attendees are certain to come up with is a traffic-cone-orange T-shirt emblazoned with the team’s logo and “Go Giants!” in both English and Hebrew.
The team is holding a block of tickets in the left-field bleachers, which sell for $22 apiece; interested parties are encouraged to purchase seats online at www.sfgiants.com/specialevents. Organizations drumming up 25 or more attendees can contact the group sales office at (415) 972-2298 for seating throughout the park.
About 450 tickets have already been sold, and with outreach kicking into gear in the month leading up to the game, Solomon and Dillon hope to reach 1,500 to 2,000.
In the same week as “Jewish Heritage Night,” the team will also be hosting Irish, Italian and Asian-American nights at the park, creating something of an “International Week.”
If all goes well, the Giants would follow the lead set by the New York Mets six seasons ago and make “Jewish Heritage Night” an annual affair.
“We’re hoping to grow this into one of the biggest events of the year,” said Dillon.
Frank Winston, an early and enthusiastic proponent of the heritage night who is commissioner of the Northern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, said he’s delighted the concept has come to fruition. He plans on leading a “delegation” in the left-field bleachers.
You can also count him in for some fries, brews and clenched teeth when manager Felipe Alou hands the ball to the ‘pen.