The crowd of over 24,000, including more than 600 Jews, erupted in cheers and applause as 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Kathy Gross (born Katalin Steiner) threw out the first pitch at Jewish Community Day at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, Aug. 10.
Gross grew up in Budapest, Hungary, and was six when the Nazis invaded. Luckily, she was hidden from the Nazis, along with a few other children. Most of her family was killed in the Holocaust but Gross’ mother, who survived, both by faking her death and later by getting false papers that enabled her to hide in Budapest, recovered her daughter after the war. They stayed in Hungary until 1956. After the Hungarian Revolution, the pair immigrated to England. In 1962, Gross came to the United States, where she became a U.S. citizen.
Gross told Jewish News she had been practicing “late at night” for her big moment at the plate. George Weisz, chairman of the board of Scottsdale Community Bank, escorted Gross onto the field.
Jewish Community Day was organized by the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix (CJP) and other Jewish organizations in the Valley. There was a separate area to gather off the main concourse and the Chase Field Security team provided security, along with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Phoenix Police Department and the Jewish Community Security team.
“For an afternoon, we were able to publicly express pride in our Judaism without fear for our personal safety,” said Andrea Cohen, CJP’s director of youth philanthropy and community engagement.
Members of the community wandered in and out of the secure area before the game started.
Kim Binder regularly comes to the ballpark with her family from her home in Yuma. She said she recently uncovered the fact that her grandmother was Jewish and is embracing her newly discovered faith.
“I knew there would be resources here to help me connect to my Judaism,” she said.
Resources included programming offered by CJP, Jewish Free Loan, coloring pages and sign making for kids. Chabad of Downtown Phoenix was on hand to help gentlemen wanting to put on tefillin and there was a display on the historical contributions of Jews to baseball, including a “Jews in Baseball” art print with copies for people to take home. The giveaway for the day was a clear, drawstring backpack with D-Backs written in Hebrew.
“I love going to baseball games and this was a great opportunity to be a community and do something fun together,” said Beth El Phoenix Cantor Sarah Bollt.
Jaimie Pittman came to the game with her husband, Joshua. She said they try to get to one baseball game a month even when they travel. When they visited New York last month, they went to a Mets game. They attended the Jewish Community Day event in 2024.
“When we came last year, we found our synagogue,” said Joshua.
Jaimie said that they were talking to some people last year and mentioned they were looking for a Conservative synagogue. Someone suggested Congregation Or Tzion in Scottsdale, and the couple tried it out and are now members.
There were many attending Sunday’s game who also came last year, including 10-year-old Ronen Wolf Brom. “It was nice when we came last time,” he said and then he added his other reason for coming: “to support the Jewish community.”
Karen Otero-Fisher, membership vice president of Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley, passed out printed squares of paper with the lyrics to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” printed in Hebrew for the seventh-inning stretch.
Hannah Creviston visited the community area with her 4-year-old daughter, while her almost-11-year-old was singing in the youth choir on the field, led by Temple Solel Cantorial Soloist Todd Herzog. She was happy to be there “to show solidarity to the Jewish community.”
The youth choir, made up of children from all over the Valley and various synagogues, sang the National Anthem before the game began.
On the main concourse there was a table for the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. They were passing out the familiar “Blue Square” pins. In March 2023, the Blue Square launched as a universal symbol of unity in the fight against hate.
Ethan Hott, a Paradise Valley native and Division 1 baseball player at Stanford University in California, recently joined five other student athletes as Blue Square Athlete Ambassadors in partnership with the Foundation. Hott manned the table part of the day to talk to guests.
Read about Ethan Hott here.
The Foundation produced the “Timeout Against Hate” video that was shown in the stadium after Gross threw out the first pitch.
PJ Library also had a table set up across from Baxter’s Den in the Sandlot children’s area on the upper concourse, where families could learn how to receive free books for Jewish children from birth to age 12.
Baxter’s Den is named after D. Baxter the Bobcat, the Arizona Diamondbacks mascot. Many people wonder why the team mascot is a bobcat and not a rattlesnake. The story goes that Brantley Bell, son of former Diamondbacks second baseman Jay Bell, suggested the idea of a bobcat mascot because of the “BOB” nickname for the stadium (before the stadium was named Chase Field, it was called Bank One Ballpark, or BOB for short). The rest is history and D. Baxter the Bobcat was officially introduced to fans on June 23, 2000. (D. Baxter plays on D-Backs, the team’s nickname.)
Before the game, Cohen surprised Baxter with his very own custom-made baseball jersey, complete with “Baxter” in Hebrew on the back.
“The public-space Judaism experience at Chase Field felt so, so good,” said Cohen after the event. “The overwhelmingly beautiful welcome given to Kathy Gross and George Weisz as they approached the mound, the on-field presentation to Baxter of a Hebrew jersey, the cheers for our kids as they sang the National Anthem — Jewish pride was felt, and welcomed, throughout Chase Field. It was such a gift.”
The day was a gift for the Diamondbacks, too, as they won 13-6 against the Colorado Rockies. JN
Jewish News is published by the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, a component of the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix.