Dioceses nationwide ‘take Episcopalians out to the ballgame’

Southwest Florida Bishop Douglas Scharf, second from right, sits with his wife and two of his sons at the annual diocesan “Baseball with the Bishop” event at a Tampa Bay Rays game in 2023 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Photo: Courtesy of the Diocese of Southwest Florida

[Episcopal News Service] For many Episcopalians, baseball is a beloved summer tradition best enjoyed with both loved ones and fellow churchgoers. It’s so popular that several dioceses with cities that have major league and minor league baseball teams host annual group outings to games. 

Southwest Florida Bishop Douglas Scharf, who as a child played baseball, looks forward to his diocese’s annual “Baseball with the Bishop” gathering at a Tampa Bay Rays game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. For him, it’s an intergenerational opportunity for Episcopalians from different congregations to meet and form new relationships.

“It’s really wonderful to have people from across the diocese and from different small churches, big churches – all ages. ‘Baseball with the Bishop’ really brings a lot of different people together,” Scharf told Episcopal News Service. “It’s great to see … kids bring their baseball gloves ready to catch a foul ball.”

“Baseball with the Bishop” started in 2012, when the Rt. Rev. Dabney Tyler Smith was bishop of Southwest Florida. Between 300 and 400 Episcopalians attend annually. More than 350 have so far registered to attend this year’s gathering during the Aug. 28 game against the San Diego Padres. During the game, they will lead the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in the seventh inning after the diocese is introduced on the jumbotron.

“It’ll be a big moment of recognition for us,” Scharf said. “People who aren’t with the diocese don’t usually recognize me as the bishop right away because I’m not wearing a purple shirt at the game, but when they do, several of them will ask me about The Episcopal Church or the diocese. It happens almost every year.”

“Baseball with the Bishop” is also a small fundraiser. The diocese works with the Rays and FEVO Enterprise, a digital platform, to sell group tickets at a discounted rate. Proceeds from tickets sold through FEVO’s designated sales page for the diocese support the Episcopal Charities Fund of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, which provides financial grants to parish-based outreach and special needs ministries.

The Diocese of Arizona also uses its annual Arizona Diamondbacks outing in Phoenix to support a ministry. At this year’s outing at the Diamondbacks’ Aug. 21 game against the Cincinnati Reds at Chase Field in Phoenix, which was Faith and Family Night for members of religious organizations, the Diocese of Arizona dedicated proceeds from its ticket sales to the diocesan LGBTQIA2S+ Pride Ministry.

Arizona Bishop Jennifer Reddall, bottom left, takes a selfie with Episcopalians attending the Aug. 21 Arizona Diamondbacks game at Chase Field in Phoenix. Photo: Courtesy of the Diocese of Arizona

The Diocese of Arizona has been participating in Faith and Family Night since at least 2018, when the Rt. Rev. Kirk Smith was bishop.

The earliest known diocesan baseball event is believed to have started in 1986, when the Diocese of Ohio hosted its first Bishop’s Baseball Bash event with then-Bishop James R. Moodey. Some 700 Episcopalians gathered at the now-demolished Cleveland Stadium to cheer for the Indians, who are now called the Guardians. The event is no longer active.

The oldest known continuous annual diocesan baseball gathering began in 1993 in the Diocese of Los Angeles in California, when the Rev. Greg Larkin started “Episcopal Dodgers Night.” Larkin, who retired in 2022 after serving as rector of St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Camarillo, continues to organize the event annually and is affectionately known around the diocese as “Canon Baseball.”

Today, the tradition is called “Episcopal-Lutheran Dodgers Night” because it has been a joint event with the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in recent years. More than 1,000 Episcopalians and Lutherans have so far registered for this year’s outing at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, which will take place Sept. 3, when the Dodgers play the St. St. Louis Cardinals.

Scharf said he thinks baseball games are an appealing environment for fellowship outside of traditional church settings because it’s more laid back and slower paced than other sports. Larkin agrees but believes there’s more to the mass appeal.

“Well, obviously, baseball is God’s sport,” Larkin, who also grew up playing baseball, jokingly told ENS. But in seriousness, “at the risk of waxing poetic, there’s something about a summer evening at a ballpark that’s a little more relaxing than, say, a winter’s evening at a hockey rink or at a basketball stadium.”

Beyond fellowship and charity, Larkin and Scharf are excited for the competition. The Dodgers and the Rays are both first in their respective divisions as of Aug. 27.

“We had a couple of rough patches, but we’re back on track, and I’m predicting a Rays win on ‘Baseball with the Bishop’ night,’” Scharf said. “We got this.”

In Pennsylvania, the Diocese of Pittsburgh will host “Episcopal Night” at PNC Park during the Pittsburgh Pirates game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 15, which is also Roberto Clemente Day. They will join fellow Pirates fans in honoring the Puerto Rican right fielder and humanitarian who died in a plane crash in 1972 while delivering emergency relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He had played for the Pirates his entire professional baseball career.

Earlier this season, the Diocese of Texas hosted two “Episcopal Night at the Ballpark” events to cheer for the Texas Rangers in Arlington and the Houston Astros.

Episcopal gatherings aren’t just for MLB teams but also extend to the minors. On Aug. 30, Episcopalians in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina are invited to watch their bishop, the Rt. Rev. Daniel P. Richards, throw the ceremonial first pitch at Segra Park in Columbia, when the Columbia Fireflies will take on the Charleston RiverDogs. During the Diocese of Albany’s “Baseball with the Bishop” outing in July, Albany Bishop Jeremiah Williamson threw the first pitch at the Tri-City ValleyCats game against the Trois-Rivières Aigles at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, New York.

The Episcopal Church in Minnesota embraces both major and minor league teams. The Minneapolis-based diocese has hosted gatherings at both Minnesota Twins and St. Paul Saints games. At this year’s gathering on Sept. 11, Episcopalians in the diocese will root for the Saints as the minor league team takes on the Syracuse Mets at CHS Field in St. Paul.

“Major league or minor league baseball, it’s going to be a fun time,” Larkin said.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.