I had a chance to catch up with La Jolla resident Mark Schindler who was a survivor of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, which took almost 9,000 lives and injured another 22,000 causing property damage of more than $10 billion.

The tragic event that took place on April 25 of that year has not been forgotten by Schindler, who has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and still has nightmares about what happened, but it has not let it define his life as he recently had the opportunity to play the infield at Petco Park on Sunday, July 31.

“I heard through the Padres season ticket holder website that the Padres would be offering a three-day Fantasy Baseball Camp,” he said. “Former Padres players and coaches would work with us for three days at USD; working on our hitting and fielding skills. And after playing three games at USD, we would play an actual game at Petco Park after the real Padres game, so I couldn’t turn it down.”

Trujillo: How did this camp start out for you and why second base?

Schindler: Well, it was so cool. I went out and bought baseball pants. When we met at the Western Metal Building for dinner and drinks on Thursday night, we were all given Padres home and away jerseys with our names and numbers on them. I was No. 5, which was my hero, Brooks Robinson’s number. We got to meet Padre legends like Mark Lorretta, Randy Jones, and Andy Ashby.

The next day, we met at USD, suited up, and took batting practice. I hadn’t done that in 30 years. We fielded some grounders and some fly balls, and then we played the first of our four games. They asked me what position I played. My favorite position was in the stands, so I figured that I’d take first base where I could hide out and not embarrass myself. Well, first base ain’t that easy, so the next game I tried right field, figuring, whoever hits out to right? But I was wrong again. I ended up at second base.

Trujillo: What was your experience like?

Schindler: Well, I got to tell you, I was terrified when I first stepped out on the field. I didn’t know what I was thinking by signing up for this thing. But these guys on my team, Luis, Steven, Chavo, and Andy Ashby’s brother from Kansas City, were great. The highlight for me was in the fourth game, the one at Petco Park. The lights were on. I had some friends in the stands who were rooting me on. I got the feel of the field. And every time I came up to bat, I could see myself on the Jumbotron as the announcer called out: “And now batting No. 5, Mark Schindler.”

We had lost the first three games. We were playing our last game and in the last inning of our Petco Park game. There were men on first and third with two outs. The coach, Andy Ashby, calls me over and whispers, “Mark, I want you to bunt this one down first base line, and bring our boy (on third) home.”

I said, “Andy, I haven’t bunted for 30 years.” It gave him a grin and went up to the plate. The pitcher threw a sinker and I put the bat out in front of the ball. The ball dribbled down on the first-base side of the pitcher. I was thrown out at first, but the run scored. The managers consulted with Randy Jones, who decided I was out but the run scored. My first and only RBI, I tied the game. We didn’t lose and for the first time in four games and the crowd went wild… not really.

Trujillo: What happened after the game?

Schindler: Plenty of beers afterward, courtesy of Andy, as we toured the clubhouse with Spencer, the clubhouse manager for the past 19 years. We all promised that we’d see each other again in Peoria, Ariz., for the five-day Padres Fantasy Camp next spring. Now that I’m still nursing my muscle pulls and strains, I’ll have to think about it.

Trujillo: It sounds like fun and a tremendous experience. How could it have been improved?

Schindler: You know Hector, there were no women at the camp. There are plenty of women on high school and college teams; plenty in leagues around town. They would have done just fine, and it would have been really cool to have a woman on the team with us.

I’m super happy I participated. The Padres organization is first-class and gave me an experience that I’ll never forget. Every time I go to a game for the next 20 years, I’ll remember when I was on the field at Petco Park that Sunday, but I’m only too happy to relinquish the outfield to Juan Soto, and first base to Josh Bell.

Trujillo: Did you play baseball in high school or college? Have you played in any adult leagues in San Diego?

Schindler: No. Nothing. If anything, I’m a basketball guy. No sports, no Boy Scouts, no piano lessons. It was just public school and then at 4 p.m. we took the bus to Beth Israel Hebrew School with Rabbi Esrog, three days a week. When I was a kid growing up back on the East Coast, everybody in my neighborhood went to Hebrew School on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

Trujillo: How did you first get interested in baseball?

Schindler: I was attending Loyola College in Baltimore and my dad had this bar in Keswick, Md., near John Hopkins University. It was kind of a shabby little bar named Carl’s Carnival Lounge, even though his name was Ralph; go figure.

Well back then, all baseball teams were associated with beer companies. The New York Yankees were sponsored by Ballentine Beer; The Minnesota Twins had Hamm’s Beer, the St. Louis Cards had Busch, etc. When the St. Louis Browns team was bought by National Bohemian Beer, they moved the franchise to Baltimore. And re-named them the Baltimore Orioles.

Trujillo: What else have you been up to?

Schindler: Hector, I’m still happily single, no new kids, no winning lottery tickets. I’m still living in La Jolla, with my pooch, Farmer. I do yoga-at-the-beach with Namaste Steve and his assistant Tom, four days a week. I remain a psychologist, with a caseload in East County, working with chronically mentally ill patients. This COVID crisis has taken eight of my patients and four staffers. I’ve been one of the doctors to keep seeing patients in person through this crisis, rather than using video and webcams.

And, since we last spoke, I’ve crossed off a number of bucket-list items for traveling around the world, including running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain; I’ve studied Yoga in Rishikesh, India at the “Beatles Ashram,” where they learned (transcendental meditation) from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; I’ve hiked to Machu Picchu in Peru, along with The Sacred Valley and Cusco, along with my family; I’ve taken the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul (Paris, Venice, Vienne, Prague, Budapest, and Istanbul); and we stayed at the Pera Palace Hotel (in Istanbul, Turkey) where Agatha Christie wrote, “Murder on the Orient Express”; And recently, I’ve followed Marco Polo’s Silk Route through Samarkand, and met the people of Uzbekistan.