10 Jewish Baseball Stories to Follow in 2014
Permanent linkShabbat as a Choice
Permanent linkMaybe I Should Go Back to Hebrew School
Permanent linkGreek Taverna-Style Fava Beans
Permanent linkHappy Birthday, Destiny!
Permanent linkKid Rules vs. Adult Rules
Permanent linkOur Computers; Ourselves
Permanent linkPassover: Your Winter Cure
Permanent linkConfidence
Permanent linkA Jew, a Guru and a Hot Tub
Permanent linkBecoming the Perfect Jewish Dad
Permanent linkI’m gonna be a dad!
Woo hoo! Yipee! Yep, cue the cheesy song and slow motion fist pump, the one-man horah, etc. That was me, almost six months ago.
In the beginning, I was overcome with joy. After we married, my wife Ashley and I decided to start a family right away. We were completely blown away with both the miracle of our pregnancy, its timing, and how smooth it’s been from the start. Ashley was in denial, of course, and so we had to take the pregnancy test twice, just to make sure. Somehow, though, Ashley strongly felt that day that the test results would change overnight to negative, and that this was all a dream. I was already singing into her belly, tears of joy streaming down my cheeks. What a miracle, I kept thinking. What a miracle.
Everyone’s right: you’re whole life perspective does change in an instant, once you know that you are bringing another life into this world and are responsible for its nurturing, upbringing and guidance through life. This news can be both exhilarating and a little scary. Let me tell you why it was especially true with me.
The moment I knew I was going to be a father, or at least when the idea of becoming a father was more than just “talk,” I did what I think most Jews end up doing: sit back and brace for the nonstop barrage of advice from the family. But aside from the overwhelming family support, another reaction I had that I’m sure many can identify with is trying to accumulate as much information as possible on the subject at hand, so as to be best prepared and capable of handling any situation that arises. Well, I learned pretty quickly that while you really don’t stop learning, it’s nearly impossible to prepare in every possible way for the arrival of a baby.
But that didn’t stop me, so I began scouring the Internet for daddy resources, including advice for Jewish dads-to-be. Out of the several dozen websites that I perused and analyzed, Men’s Health Dad and Kveller rose to the top. Titles such as “30 Ways to Be the Best Dad Ever,” “5 Smart Ways to Raise Your Kids” and even “How to Cradle a Baby” caught my immediate attention, sincerely showing dads some practical and philosophical ways to improve and enhance their abilities as a parent. One of my favorite articles was babycenter.com’s “7
Fears Expectant Fathers Face” and went down the list to see how many of these fears I have.
Security fears
Absolutely! Everything from providing enough income and space for my family and I to grow and live comfortably, to the newfound emotional support and presence I need to have as a father. Am I ready for my wife and child to lean on me?
Performance Fears
Not that kind of performance! The article quotes the performance anxiety many of us encounter during major life events, such as concerto, graduations and baby deliveries. Good thing statistics say only 1 of 600 men passes out in the delivery room, and only because of air conditioning failure.
Paternity Fears
Not the baby’s daddy? The thought never crossed my mind and I can’t relate to this fear.
Mortality Fears
I plan to have a mid-life crisis, just like any middle-aged parent. Other than that, the prospect of having a child makes me feel younger and more alive, not the pending death sentence we all encounter at some point. Judaism does a great job of keeping the focus on the present moment, on the life cycle event at hand and respecting each aspect to the life cycle. Reminds me a lot of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle.”
Fear for Your Partner or Child’s Heath
I couldn’t believe when I read that when our grandparents had children in the 1920s, the main cause of death for women under 50 was childbirth. Thank goodness, both baby and mommy are 100 percent healthy and doing well.
Relationship Fears
This actually began when we brought our puppy Rebbe home; for the first six months it was all about him, and he was all about her. Boy, did I feel like the third wheel like never before! Ashley and I agree that raising a child requires a partnership, so hopefully neither of us will encounter abandonment issues when the other is with the child, especially when shopping for the absolute cutest PJs to wear to bed.
Fears of “Women’s Medicine”
No, I didn’t make this category up, it’s for real. OBY/GYN may not be every man’s forte, but I refuse to let something I do not fully understand dissuade me from supporting my wife and doing everything in my power to learn and to feel comfortable at the appointments and classes.
As I prepare for the arrival of my newborn child, I have learned many lessons along the way. But I’ve learned an important lesson through these countless hours of research, classes and being by my pregnant wife’s side the last many months. In my pursuit to become the best prepared Jewish dad possible, I discovered that I already have all those qualities without having to search high and low for the wisdom of some far-away spiritual guru or “Fatherhood Expert.” I have surround myself with friends, family and a strong Jewish community that not only provides support to me and my wife, but also grants me access to countless generations of baby-raising wisdom. I was blessed that my parents provided me and my siblings with a rich, immersed Jewish experience from the moment we were born, helping to shape us to who we are today.
Fatherhood is something I have looked forward to since I was a young boy. I look forward to those precious moments when I am able to share and fully immerse myself in being a Jewish father to my child. I imagine myself reclining in my lounge chair, my child on my lap, reading Jewish stories (in Hebrew, if possible) and showing her the beauty and wonder of our religion and culture. I can picture myself showing my child how to welcome Shabbat, spell her name in Hebrew, and make tasty hamentashen. I will watch my child grow from newborn to adult in an instant, and can see in my mind all of the memories paved along the way. I only pray that I can lead my child down that path safely, happily, and Jewishly.
L’Chaim!
18 More Reasons That I’m Finally an Adult
Permanent linkIf there’s one thing my mother has taught me, than she wasn’t a very good mother because mothers should teach you more than one thing. Luckily she is a very good mother and I’ve learned a great deal of things. But that’s not the point of this. The point is that as an adult, if there’s one thing I know for sure, well then let me know what it is because I have no idea what it is.
The only thing I do truly know is that, despite my best efforts, it appears that I am an adult. I may have written something about it before. Hence the word “more” in the title indicating that previously I may have explained my understanding of being in adulthood, whether I like it or not. Perhaps you could even see those explanations by clicking here.
Now that you’ve seen those explanations by clicking there, like all the other good attractive Oy! readers, the following “more reasons” shall truly show why I realize that yes, I am still finally an adult. Enjoy.
1. Parts of my body are starting to hurt for absolutely no reason. What’s scary is I didn’t realize I had those parts of my body.
2. When it’s bad weather out and I know friends or loved ones are going to be forced to drive in it, I become a Nervous Nelly. Or perhaps … an Anxious Adam. Heh heh.
3. I feel guilty about not coming home for the big holidays like Passover and Rosh Hashanah. Not because I’d miss out on seeing my family, but because I’d miss out on the chance to take home a week’s worth of free leftovers.
4. I’m able to reference things that happened a decade ago because there are now significant things in my life that have happened a decade ago and I don’t like the fact that I can so freely use the phrase a decade ago.
5. It’s tough when I get a haircut because my go to conversation starter of “So, what do you do?” doesn’t work there.
6. As an adult, when it comes to eating candy, I now always eat as much as I want because, well, I only live once. #rolo
7. I can now successfully argue with my parents and win because I am legally allowed to use the phrase, “Because I said so” as a debate tactic.
8. I’ve finally figured out what I want to do with my life. Nothing. Nothing sounds fantastic. Just have to figure out how to do nothing and get paid.
9. I’ve started to try and predict what I’ll die from. I’m assuming the mostly likely cause will be a bad case of death. Bah-dum … I’m so sorry.
10. I started to floss. For my heart health. Because that’s a thing.
11. I have a strong opinion on a lot of things, but the older I get, the harder it is to have a firm stand against gravity.
12. I’ve finally gotten in shape because I’ve accepted “amorphous” as a shape.
13. I’ve come to the full understanding that pants, while being of the utmost necessity in public, are the greatest nuisance in private.
14. Every night, my only hope is that I’ll be able to sleep through my insomnia.
15. I get mad at people for not at least trying new foods. I’m looking at you Trudy Miller, (my sister) who is currently studying abroad in Israel and refuses to try hummus. What is wrong with you!? It’s hummus! In Israel! You can’t get better than that!
16. This winter I succumbed to buying thermal underwear. The reasons being that I live in Chicago, it’s cold for six months of the year and they were all out of thermal onesies.
17. The toughest part about observing Passover has become that I’m not supposed to have beer because beer is essentially “liquid bread” and even if they invented a “liquid matzo” that would be the worst thing that has ever existed.
18. I have officially enrolled in my first 401k. However, I think I'm screwed; I haven’t even done a 5k.
Purim Treats
Permanent linkI have fun and delicious recipes to help you celebrate Purim and fulfill the mitzvot. My brittle with delicious pistachios and sea salt makes a fun gift or treat for your mishloach manot (Purim baskets) or your own celebration.
The drinks can also help you in your effort to fulfill the mitzvah of becoming completely blotto.
White Chocolate-Pistachio and Sea Salt Brittle
This brittle has everything I like: crunch, salt, decadent pistachios and sweet white chocolate.
My brittle has the fragrant addition of vanilla beans. I add the pods to the mix while the sugar is caramelizing to ensure a stylish and aromatic confection.
I also never use high fructose corn syrup. I prefer to use agave or honey. These sweeteners are tasty and a better choice, and since you are making this brittle for friends and family, go with the healthier option!
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
2 vanilla beans, scraped
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup Agave syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces shelled pistachios
Fleur de sel or crushed Maldon sea salt
8 ounces white Chocolate, chopped
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly
1. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, scraped vanilla and pods, butter and agave and bring to a boil.
2. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is deep amber and has the very first hints of a lightly burnt aroma (about 10 minutes).
3. Remove from the heat. With tongs, remove the vanilla pods and then carefully stir in the baking soda. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the pistachios, then immediately scrape the brittle onto the lined baking sheet.
4. Spray a sheet of parchment with oil or lightly grease with butter. Lay the parchment on top of the brittle and using a rolling pin, gently roll the brittle to an even thickness. DON’T TOUCH IT! It is HOT!
5. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into large shards.
6. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and dip the cooled brittle into the chocolate. Transfer the brittle to a parchment lined pan and allow the chocolate to harden.
Mitzvah Mind Meld
8 ounces gin
8 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 4 limes)
1/2 cup thinly sliced Persian or Kirby cucumber, scrubbed but not peeled
Tonic water
Lime wheels, for garnish
Fill four glasses halfway with ice. In a cocktail shaker, combine gin, lime juice, cucumber slices, and a small amount of ice. Shake vigorously for 1-2 minutes, and pour into ice-filled glasses, making sure cucumber slices are evenly distributed. Top with tonic water; garnish with lime wheels.
Bloody Haman
24 ounces tomato juice
8 ounces vodka
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon olive or pickle brine
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
Garnish: celery stalks, dill pickle, green olives, wedge lemon or lime
People of and in the book
Permanent linkI know, I know it’s not kosher to review books before you’ve finished them, but when you’re too angry to keep going, that’s sort of a review in itself, right?
Let me back up. I always get excited when I find Jews in fiction and media. Part of me thinks this is because I grew up in a small college town with a vibrant but small Jewish community, mostly university faculty and a rotating cast of students. Even moving to Chicago didn’t take away that pleasant moment of surprise when you realize someone is Jewish too.
The next best feeling is realizing that a character in a book or a film or a show is Jewish too. When a story in your favorite genre (fantasy) features a whole culture that’s an explicit analog of medieval Spanish Jews? I did a little dance when I found out about Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Lions of Al-Rassan, I won’t lie.
Kay, who is Jewish, published Lions in 1995, just before Game of Thrones was first released, but readers may recognize some of the same nation-jostling and king-killing in Al-Rassan, which is based on Moorish Spain and populated by three major religions. The Jaddites resemble Christians, the Asharites mirror Muslims and the Kindath are clearly Jews. The Kindath are wanderers, frequently persecuted, occasionally allowed to flourish and happily slaughtered when other people get unhappy.
There’s more to the story than that, but the point at which I stopped, about three-quarters of the way through the book, depicted the beginnings of a massacre. I was exhausted by it. I was done. And even though this novel borrowed from and transformed real history, I was tired of it. I don’t want more stories about Jews as victims and only victims, no matter how learned or talented or valuable they are when tolerated by the wider culture. I don’t want that to be our
inevitable story.
This is the fear that dogs me as soon as I realize characters in books or films or shows are Jewish. Will they be the plucky/tragic survivors whose suffering gives meaning to non-Jewish characters (nowhere more egregiously than for Spielberg’s Oskar Schindler)? Will they be neurotic man-children, a la Woody Allen? Will they be high-maintenance suburban princesses or sexy, ruthless Israeli soldiers? Will they even be from anywhere other than New York?
The stereotypes are insidious, even if you think you’re aware of them. Once upon a time, when I was taking improv classes, I made up a character with a nasal accent who tried to solve everything by pushing bagels on my scene partner. After, I felt ashamed, and I tried to figure out why I’d done it. I think it was because I believed I could get a laugh, that everyone knew that caricature and enjoyed it.
That isn’t the Jewish community that I know. I’m grateful for the Jewish characters who are as vibrant and diverse as the people I love, and for the creators who are working to do more. For my next read I have People of the Book, a Jewish sci-fi anthology, which should be interesting. Author G. Willow Wilson wrote the fascinating Alif the Unseen about a universe much like ours that operates according to Islam and Islamic mythology; I would very much like to see a Jewish book like that.
I don’t want to imply that we should smooth over or ignore our own history. Suffering is, of course, very much a part of the Jewish experience, and we should honor that. But just yesterday I learned about Qalonymos ben Qalonymos, a writer born in Arles, France, in the 13th century. “On Becoming a Woman” (in the original Hebrew, with translation) is a stunning poem written in 1322, and I find it somewhere between unlikely to impossible that it’s not speaking from the perspective of a transgender woman. In Provence, in the 1300s! We have this! How am I only hearing of it now?
We have so many tales to tell and people to be. I look forward to the new and wonderful ways in which we’ll do it.
Brave
Permanent link“Brave,” a song sung by Sara Bareilles, has been getting lots of airtime on my iPod these days. The song just lifts me up.
And it begs to be played loud. “Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out,” she sings. “Honestly, I wanna see you be brave…maybe one of these days you can let the light in.”
Written by Bareilles and Jack Antonoff, “Brave” was inspired by Bareilles’ close friend coming out of the closet, and it’s also become an anthem for patients battling life-threatening illness. (Check out the online video of Joshua, a 4-year-old cancer patient, singing the tune alongside Bareilles.)
But the song has a broader message for all of us, no matter what struggle we’re facing in the moment.
There’s no quality I admire more than courage, possessing the chutzpah to stand up for what you believe in, no matter how much external forces and momentum try to sway you otherwise. I think of the times I’ve tried to muster my own courage—where I’ve made the tougher choice, or stood up for what wasn’t necessarily popular. It’s in those instances where I’ve grown the most, morphed into a stronger version of me.
This month, we’ll observe Purim, one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar. The story, told in the Book of Esther, celebrates the courage of Queen Esther risking her life by telling the king about Haman’s plot to kill the Jews of Persia.
Throughout modern Jewish history, we’ve witnessed the courage of Jews taking big risks in the face of peril—people like Golda Meir, Elie Wiesel, and Natan Sharansky.
Hannah Szenesh, too, defined courage. One of 37 Jewish paratroopers from Mandatory Palestine, she rescued Hungarian Jews during World War II. She was later arrested at the Hungarian border, imprisoned, tortured, and then tried and executed for refusing to surrender details of her mission. Szenes, who wrote beautiful poetry during her lifetime, is regarded as a national hero in Israel.
Courage is all around us. Heroes in uniform—police officers, firefighters, and men and women serving in the military who protect our freedoms here and in Israel—run toward danger every day when everyone else is running away from it.
Jeff Peretz is a man of courage, but he’d probably disagree. Shortly after 9/11, I interviewed Peretz, a Jewish firefighter from Chicago’s West Side. After the planes hit the towers, he and nine other Chicago firefighters used their vacation time to help the victims. They drove caravan-style through the night from Chicago to New York. At Ground Zero, they used heavy machinery to lift debris from the site, and they also attended funerals—five a day—for fallen police officers and soldiers. I asked Peretz at the time if he considered himself a hero. “No,” he said, brushing off the question. “It’s my job. They would do it for us if it were the other way around.”
Sometimes courage wears no uniform. Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl, was 15 when she was shot in the head by the Taliban for refusing to be silenced about her right—and all girls’ right—to an education. Malala, as she’s known around the world, has become a symbol of peaceful protest, the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Little kids can show big courage. Take 11-year-old Tommy Cooney, of Massachusetts. He discovered his 6-year-old friend, Danny Keefe, who suffers from a speech impediment due to a brain hemorrhage, was getting picked on by other kids because Keefe prefers to wear a suit and tie to school. To make his younger friend feel less alone, Cooney decided to dress in a suit and tie too, and encouraged other kids to wear fancy threads to school.
Be brave. In small ways. In big ways. Never let fear stop you from standing up for the things you believe in, the things you want to do, the things you know to be right. They won’t seem as scary after you do them.
Let the light in.
My 5 Favorite Health Tips
Permanent linkEverything is in fives these days: 5 top ways to burn calories, 5 best exercises, 5 healthy desserts … I’m not sure if it’s because of our short attention spans, or writers are getting lazy. Maybe the same marketer that said Power Point slides should only have three bullet points said fitness information is best in groups of five. I will play along with that new rule, and give five of my favorite health tips.
1. Pushup Holds
Some trainers refer to planks as holding yourself up in the pushup position; I think of planks as something you do on your forearms. Anyway, I love this simple exercise. If you have trouble doing pushups this is a great way to get stronger. This exercise helps your shoulders, chest, back, hips and core. With no equipment, you can hold this position for 30 seconds to a minute and really feel it. If you have any wrist pain, you may want to skip this exercise and do it on your forearms instead. The perfect form is head straight, hands underneath your shoulders (many people go to wide) and feet straight back. Don’t let your hips drop.
2. Cottage Cheese
I know some people think it’s gross, but I am a huge fan of cottage cheese. I buy the 4-percent fat, which tastes the best and usually has the lowest amount of sodium and sugar. This is a great post-workout food to eat because of the high protein content and the fat also keeps you full longer.
3. Goblet squats
I love this exercise! This is a great way to hit quads, butt, and stomach without a lot of pressure on your spine. Of course if you have any pain with this or any other exercise I’ve listed, do not do it. I recommend doing three sets of this during your leg workouts, 10-15 reps with a weight that’s challenging but still allows you to complete 10 reps. Check out this video for a simple demonstration.
4. LEGS
I hear this all the time, “I do cardio, don’t have to exercise my legs.” Yes, you do. I’m not suggesting squatting heavy weights or joining a bar class where you squat a million times, but you need to work on your legs. Weight training with your legs releases the greatest amount of growth hormone compared to any other part of your body. Often times, a stronger butt can help with back, knee, or hip pain. It’s important to have great form when exercising any muscle group but especially the legs. Email me or work with a trainer to make sure your form is right.
5. Cook
If you follow me on twitter @fitwithkrit or other social media outlets, you see that I cook a lot. I do this for two reasons: I love to cook and it allows me to control what goes in my food. I can go easy on the salt, sugar, pick leaner cuts of meat, add extra veggies, and season with my favorite flavors. Additionally, it saves some money.
What are your health favorite tricks and tips? Send them my way at rkrit@fitwithkrit.com or post below for others to see.
My Oscars Recap: A Personal Selfie
Permanent linkThis year, I failed at the Oscars. I failed at the Oscars because I didn’t watch them. I didn’t even write about them, something I’ve done extensively for the last four ceremonies on my blog, moviemusereviews.com. This year, however, I did nothing. The Oscars were the red carpet/stairs and I was Jennifer Lawrence, only no one saw me fall.
Even that bad joke is really a 2013 Oscars recap joke, that’s how bad it is, and as much as I want to shake my blunder off like it’s nothing, I just can’t seem to let it go.
Ok, that was a 2014 Oscars joke. (I said I didn’t watch them – I didn’t say I had no idea what was going on.) But even though I knew who and what films were nominated and could swear to you that almost 100 percent of my mental Oscar predictions came true (saw the Gravity sweep with a loss in Best Picture to 12 Years a Slave coming for miles), I felt out of touch, like someone should try revoking my cinephile license.
I was in Houston Sunday night, staying with some wonderful friends who moved there from Chicago a couple summers ago. I intended to be home for the Oscars, but flights are cheaper on Monday mornings. Although my friends don’t have TV, our plan was to stream the ceremony, which ABC offered for the first time this year, but when the time came, it wasn’t working. We tried again and again, but eventually we gave up. So we spent more quality time together instead, which I treasured, but the movie nerd part of me was crushed; I essentially ignored his annual birthday party.
I also acted like I didn’t so much as care his birthday was coming up. For the years prior to this one, I would start preparing for the Oscars Dec. 1 by following the awards season buzz like a hawk, studying up to make Oscar nomination predictions. After the nominees were announced in January, I’d spend the weeks leading up to the ceremony analyzing every single category (even best documentary, short subject, despite not seeing any of the nominees) on my blog and predicting the winners. By Oscar Sunday, the suspense would boil over, and I would be glued to the screen. After analyzing the show the next day, I would sigh in relief that it was over and do the whole thing again 9 months later.
And I did it all for fun. I did it for free. I did it because I loved it. Just as I did with everything else on my blog, and another website (or two) that I wrote and edited content for over the course of three years.
Then, last March, I got a full-time job with JUF and Oy!Chicago, a job that has nothing to do with movies (except when I write these blog posts). (In a cruel poetic twist of course, I received the call with the job offer while at a movie theater.)
It all went downhill from there for the movie nerd part of me. I struggled to see movies in theaters or at home, especially in a timely fashion, and some reviews took weeks to complete. I wrote no feature stories or fun movie content to supplement the reviews I did write. My movie mojo had disappeared.
Everyone has their Super Bowl. Everyone has something that not’s a value or a priority but a pure love: a sport, a hobby, an event, a holiday or even a second professional passion, which every so often comes to a boiling point. It’s a time when the world stops and we must stop anything from tampering with our little love affair; we want to completely lose ourselves to it. For some people, that’s the Oscars. For me, it’s the Oscars, the actual Super Bowl, my fantasy football draft, and a few other things. At times, however, for one reason or another, our lives interfere with and impede our Super Bowls, and that disappointment stings a little.
The real challenge, however, isn’t dealing with the pain of a missed Super Bowl. It’s not about forcing yourself to understand that this passion isn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things and that you should get over it. Rather, it’s being able to recognize that where you are, what you’re doing, or who you’re with, is totally worth missing a Super Bowl for.
Interview with former MLBer Justin Wayne
Permanent linkAs my congregants know I have a wall full of Jewish MLB rookie cards hanging in my office. A congregant walks into my office, looks at the hanging cards and says "hey, that's Justin." Of course, I immediately asked for his contact information and Justin was gracious enough to answer some questions. We spoke on the phone for a while and he has some great stories. Although his career in the majors was short, Justin had a lot of amazing baseball moments including meeting Sandy Koufax. Below is a little more about Stanford great and Jewish MLBer, Justin Wayne.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Both parents from New York, who moved out to the Islands before my brothers and I were born. We played every sport growing up, not focused specifically on baseball until late into high school. Along with going to the beach as often as possible when we were younger, our priority was academics and family. I have visited South Korea, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, many countries in the Caribbean, and all the states except Montana. My interests in school were always geography, math and sciences. I have been living in Florida since I finished college, and now that my brothers live in South Florida with me, it seems to be the place that I will stay. I will be getting married this fall and look forward to having little Jewish athletic scholars of my own.
What was it like growing up playing baseball in Hawaii? Was it harder to get noticed?
Baseball was very competitive in Hawaii. Many times we participated on travel teams during the summer and competed in the continental United States. These travel teams have showcased Hawaii’s talent since before I was around. In high school, we had scouts come to the islands to evaluate us just about every week of the baseball season. Some professional teams even had local scouts, including scouts that worked for the Major League Scouting Bureau, that were able to watch us develop even before high school.
What was your experience at Stanford like? When did you know it would lead to the MLB?
I was so lucky to be able to attend Stanford. Everything from the academics to the athletics is top notch, as well as the ability to meet and become friends with kids from all over the country. I probably realize it more now than while attending, but the campus might be the most beautiful in the whole country. Once I became familiar with the Stanford baseball team, I saw many of my teammates using the program as a stepping stool to a career in professional baseball. I would say sometime during my sophomore year I began to believe that I might also have the chance to follow that path that so many before me took: an opportunity to live out all of our childhood dreams and play in the Major Leagues.
You were drafted 5th overall by the Montreal Expos. What was that moment like?
Because we knew there was a good chance a team would be calling us that day, my roommates and I,
including my older brother who was in town, were all waiting in our apartment. When the phone rang, it was as if I had forgotten about all the hard work that had been put in up to that point. It seemed just too good to be true. I wanted to call everyone I knew and let them know that I had just been given the key to the candy store. Not a lot of time was given to celebrating, as we were in the middle of getting ready for school finals, and preparing to go the College World Series. It will surely be a day that I will never forget.
Eventually you were a key component in a blockbuster trade involving Carl Pavano and Cliff Floyd. What is it like to be traded at that level?
I was just getting back from the Double-A All Star game in 2002, and was caught completely by surprise. Mixed feelings quickly spread through my mind. Did I let my team down? Did they not think I was capable? Were they trying to get rid of me? But from the positive end, another team was so interested in me, that they must have seen me as a valuable asset and a player that would make a positive impact on their club. This was an exciting feeling. A new situation gave me new opportunities. Within two months of the trade, I made my first appearance with the Florida Marlins.
What was the moment like when you were finally called up to the Majors?
I was sitting in our Calgary locker room, which is where the Triple-A team was for the Florida Marlins, when I was given the news that I would be called up at the beginning of September. As soon as I was told that I would make my first start with the Big League club, I tried to contact every person I knew that would be able to make it to New York to watch me pitch against the Mets. With family in town as far away as Hawaii, I was a nervous wreck. But what I had learned was that you could channel the anxiety, nervousness, and unknown to your advantage. Except for not covering first base on a double play opportunity, that moment will be like none other in my life. It seemed like every second flew by with anticipation, but I have such a clear memory of everything that happened that day as if it was yesterday.
Looking back on your experience, did you learn any specific life lessons?
Life lessons happen every day of our lives, sometimes without us recognizing it until we are much older. With all competitive athletes in any competition, whether in the Major Leagues or not, you will always find some that will, and some that won’t. I am not talking about winning and losing, but of putting yourself out there and not knowing what the result will be, just that you did everything you could to succeed. There will always be someone bigger, someone stronger, someone more capable. But if nobody works harder than you, nobody studies more than you and prepares to do the best that you can do, then you will never have to live with regret. You will never have to worry about the unknown, because you maximize what you are capable of, and that is success. In the classroom, on the field, with relationships, with life.
What was your Jewish upbringing like? Was it fun having brothers who also were very talented baseball players?
Our Temple (Emanuel) in Hawaii was a lot of fun. We had about 9-10 students in each grade. Most of the kids we grew up with were not Jewish. From my high school, I think there were five Jewish students in my grade, out of 450. While my brothers each had their bar mitzvah in Hawaii, I had mine in Oceanside, N.Y. (with a cousin who was very close in age). This was a significant change, as they had about 50 kids per class at their Hebrew school. This, along with the fact my brothers and I were close in age, created a very close relationship between the three of us. The three musketeers if you will. And the yes, the competition between us was always high. Sometimes to the point we got in trouble for it.
What do you do these days?
I separated myself from baseball to give myself a chance to pursue other ideas. I am now working as a financial professional, dealing with protecting and creating wealth for my clients through a quantitative and holistic approach. This has a lot to do with what I have always been passionate about, which is numbers and economic trends. I also am a great uncle to my niece and nephew.
Anything else you want to tell the TGR fans?
There are not many things in life more exhilarating than to assimilate one’s self with a sport, team or
player. Being a fan of the game is something that you can never outgrow. I will never lose my passion and love for the game of baseball, even though my playing days are in the past. We just carry that with us and pass it down to the people we show it to.