Sunday, February 25, 2007

Opening Blog: An Introduction

I don’t really know how to start a running diary, so I guess I should just introduce myself to you all on the 'Opening Day blog.' My name is Dovid Green, and I am going to be playing this summer in the Israel Baseball League. A little background information; I grew up in a quiet suburb of Boston, MA. called Newton. Baseball-wise I always played ball, starting with Little League. I
can even remember the teams; The Padres, the Cubs, and for three years the Yankees which, growing up in Boston was a real mixed blessing. The two years that we had made the World Series though, we lost to the Red Sox, so all was right in the world.

My whole life, I have tried to be around the game. Whether it was being a manager for the high school team while in middle school, playing summer ball with local high school kids, or declaring sick days when Opening Day at Fenway Park coincided with Talmud class, I loved watching, playing, and experiencing baseball.

After graduating Maimo, I spent a total of three years in Israel pursuing my other real passion, my Judaism. Through studying Torah, hiking the hills of Tzfat, even just hanging out in Jerusalem, I loved experiencing and learning about my heritage. I followed that passion to Yeshiva University, where I was lucky enough in my senior year to be a part of starting YU's
first baseball team, and was its' captain for my senior year, and in my first year in Smicha.

Now I have put the Smicha on hold to be in grad school for psychology, but thankfully I get to keep playing baseball in the new Israel Baseball League.

I am about to sign off for the first time, but I wanted to share one thought; When I was a small boy, running around in shul, I had the same dream every kid has only with a little twist; I wanted to be a religious Jewish baseball player. The kind that plays the field all week, then every Shabbos can be seen in the local shul spending time with the kids in the community, while observing our oldest traditions.

Now every week when I see friends on Friday night, all their questions sound something like "are you really playing professional ball? What about Shabbos? This is the coolest thing ever!" (to which the answers are 'yes' 'we don’t play on Shabbos' and 'yes, even though that's not a question'). It’s the greatest thrill to think that quite honestly, its my dream come true.