Baseball game time moved to accommodate Yom Kippur

‘I guess that means I can play,’ says Jewish White Sox player

JTA — Kevin Youkilis, the Chicago White Sox Jewish third baseman, said he was pleased with the time change for the Sept. 25 game to accommodate Yom Kippur.

The game in Chicago against the Cleveland Indians was moved to 1:10 p.m. from 7:10 p.m., the White Sox said Tuesday. A “significant number” of White Sox fans had contacted the club over the game’s conflict with Yom Kippur, a team statement said.

“I guess that means I can play,” Youkilis, who reportedly has never played a game on Yom Kippur, told the Chicago Tribune. “I really didn’t know. I know there was talk that there was something about maybe changing it for the fans on that day. But it’s a good thing for the playoff stretch.”

The White Sox, who lead the Detroit Tigers by 2 games in the American League’s Central Division, said they had discussed the possibility of a time change with the Indians and the teams reached an agreement to move the game.

Youkilis was traded in June by the Boston Red Sox.

In the most recent move to accommodate the Day of Atonement, the Yankees and Red Sox in 2009 changed a Sept. 27 game from evening to afternoon following an outcry from Jewish fans of both teams.