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Phil Jacobs

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Executive editor — issues and opinions

Orioles inaction not very kosher


It’s not a big deal for the Orioles.
Certainly, the concerns are to get a competitive team on the field and more so to bring in as much cash as possible.
So the little kosher stand in left field while important to the kosher consumers doesn’t seem to be a priority for the Orioles.
That’s a shame.
I’ve been a suffering Orioles fan my entire life. You probably have been also. The disposition of my day was predicated at one time by whether or not the little cartoon bird on the front page of the Morning Sun was smiling or frowning. Again, you know the drill.
My bar mitzvah was held on the third game of the 66 World Series. Yes I remember my parsha, and the pride my parents had. But I also remember worrying more about what was going on at 33rd Street.
I was proud when the Orioles made a kosher food concession stand available. It made me feel as if they really wanted me there, that they really cared about my needs. I didn’t have to bring in a peanut butter sandwich or be tortured by the smells of the treif foods cooking all around the ballpark. It made me wish that Boog would discover Judaism and turn his barbecue stand into Glatt Kosher.
So now it appears if, barring some late rally, that now those who keep kosher won’t even have a hot dog to look forward to at Camden Yards.
It appears to be that the O’s seem indifferent to the kosher food needs of some of its clientele. The buzz in the local kosher food world is that the profit margin is just too small to operate there. The O’s could change that if they really wanted to.
They’d think nothing of throwing around monies for high priced journeymen ball players who couldn’t hold Brooks Robinson’s batting glove. That’s what really hurts. Many of us have been following this team for generations. The players and executives come from other parts of the country, the world, and then they go. We’re still here. The Orioles still want our allegiance. We give it to them.
Now, though, you keep kosher, you can go to the Washington Nationals stadium and get what you need.
Getting a kosher dog at the stadium is almost a rite of passage that we give to our children.
I just don’t think the O’s tried hard enough here.
Kosher doesn’t mean much it seems.
So it’s back to bringing in sandwiches again. It’s just one more “thing” that tips the scales either way for some families when it comes to going to the ballpark.

 

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/19/09 at 01:56 PM

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Comments (2)

Comments

typical orioles. this SUCKS. why can’t this team remember that we are CUSTOMERS. They feel that there is an inalienable right to treat us like garbage. I used to go to at least a dozen games a year. I used to organize a shul even where we sold at least 100 tickets to a sunday game. No more. King Pete will not get my money until they show us that they CARE ABOUT THE FANS.

Posted by edward k leventhal on 03/26/09 at 12:01 PM

Excellent articulation of the issue! The profit margin is said to be so minimal, especially given the cost of a quality glatt kosher hotdog vs. an “Esskay Frank” that it comes down to not how much of a profit, but how big of a loss.
The other issue is of course when the holidays fall, when the fast days fall (for all of which, certainly the holidays and the 9th of Av), the kosher stand was closed.
So while the Orioles can pay their vendors, their cooks and their other staff off of what they make from the sale of an Esskay Frank, it would be virtually impossible for a kosher vendor to be able to cover the material expenses, his staff AND a mashgiach (kosher supervisor) on the margin dictated to Aramark by the Orioles organization.

The other issue is the high cost in general of food, which forced my family to become “masters of our own dinner” last year. We actually attended a game without buying ANYTHING other than the tickets.

I made the suggestion that at minimum, the Oriole should get a glatt kosher hot dog/food vending machine such as they have at Fenway in Boston.

I’ll let you know if I hear back from them.

Posted by Rabbi Jeffrey Frances on 03/20/09 at 12:46 PM

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