Candle Lighting Time Is 7:50 Sabbath Services Start at 9:30
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Candle lighting time is 7:50 Sabbath services start at 9:30 What do Danny Kravitz, Hank Greenberg, John Grabow, and Ike Davis have in common? They are all Jews who played for the Pirates There is a long standing stereotype that says that Jews can’t play sports, that they have brains, but no brawn. In 1907, Harvard president Charles Elliot said, “Jews are definitely inferior in stature and physical development.” A 1998 New York Times article referred to, “that reputedly rare species – the Jewish athlete.” Well, last week I was watching the Bucs play the Tigers at PNC Park, and there, on the Tigers bench, sat Manager Brad Ausmus, a Jew, and out at second base was an All Star by the name of Ian Kinsler, another Jew. And one of the greatest sluggers of all time, a former Tiger, and later in his career a Pittsburgh Pirate, Hank Greenberg, was also a Jew. Current Jewish players in MLB also include Ryan Braun of the Brewers, Ike Davis of the A’s, Scott Feldman of the Astros, Jason Marquis of the Reds, Craig Breslow of the Red Sox, Jason Kipnis of the Indians, Danny Valencia of the Blue Jays, Sam Fuld of the A’s, Ryan Lavarnway of the Orioles, and Joc Pederson of the Dodgers. So who were the best Jewish players ever? Let’s start with Sandy Koufax, perhaps the best left handed pitcher of all time. How good was Koufax? Well, the fans who voted in Baseball’s balloting for the All Century Team picked Koufax as the top lefthander of the century, trailing only Nolan Ryan in the overall voting for pitchers. Or how about this quote from Pirates Hall of Famer Willie Stargell who said, “Hitting against Koufax is like drinking coffee with a fork.” Sandy Koufax was only 19-years-old when he first arrived in the major leagues in 1955. A Brooklyn native playing for the hometown Dodgers, Koufax had an excellent fastball and a wicked curve, but in the early years of his career, he was known as much for his wildness and inconsistency as he was for his great potential. It was not until Dodger’s backup catcher Norm Sherry, who was also Jewish, discovered a correctable flaw in Koufax’s pitching mechanics that Koufax began his ascent to greatness in 1961. Over the next five seasons, Koufax simply dominated the game of baseball. From 1961 through 1966, Koufax won 129 games while losing only 47. He led the league in ERA five times, in strikeouts four times, and his 382 strikeouts in 1965 is still the National League record. Koufax won three Cy Young Awards at a time when the award honored the best pitcher in all of baseball, not just in a single league as it does today. He was the National League Most Valuable Player in 1963. He pitched four no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1965, a year in which he went 26 – 8, and was named World Series MVP for the second time after shutting out Minnesota twice in the Fall Classic. And he was true to his religion as well, refusing to pitch the opening game of the 1965 World Series, which fell on Yom Kippur, but instead spending the day in the synagogue. Unfortunately, arthritis in his pitching elbow forced an early end to Koufax’s career, and he was forced to retire at the end of the 1966 season. In 1972, Koufax was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. At age 36, he was the youngest player ever to be inducted. Hank Greenberg, was not the first Jewish player in MLB history but he was the first Jewish superstar. the Hall of Fame first baseman challenged Babe Ruth’s magical record of 60 home runs when he hit 58 in 1938. Greenberg was the subject of vicious anti-Semitism during his career and there are many who believe that Greenberg was frequently intentionally walked late in the season to prevent him from breaking Ruth's record. Greenberg refused to link the walks to an anti-Semitic attempt to deny him the record, but it is interesting to note that Greenberg was walked in over 20 peercent of his plate appearances in September, by far the highest percentage in his career. Greenberg was the American League MVP in 1935 and 1940 but not it 1938 when he hit the 58 homers or in 1937 when he drove in 183 runs. Greenberg ended his big league career in 1947 when he hit 25 homers in his only year as a Pirate. If you’ve never seen it, the movie, “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” is a must see. AL Rosen was the unanimous choice for AL MVP in 1953 when he hit .336 with 43 homers and 145 RBI for the Cleveland Indians. A three time All Star, the Indians third baseman hit .285 with 192 homers and 717 RBI in his 10 big league seasons. Other Jewish Major leaguers of note include: Cal Abrams (1949-1956) Robert “Bo” Belinsky (1962-1970) Ruben Amaro, Jr (1991-1998) Ron Blomberg (1969-1978) Jose Bautista (1988-1997) Lou Boudreau (1938-1952) Harry Danning (1933-1942) Goody Rosen (1937-1946) Moe Drabowski (1956-1972) Scott Schoeneweis (1999-2010) Mike Epstein (1966-1974) Art Shamsky (1965-1972) John Grabow (2003-2011) Larry Sherry (1958-1968) Shawn Green (1993-2007) Norm Sherry (1959-1963) Ken Holtzman (1965-1979) Adam Stern (2005-2010) Gabe Kapler (1998-2010) Steve Stone (1971-1981) Jesse Levis (1992-2001) Philip Weintraub (1933-1945) Mike Lieberthal (1994-2007) Steve Yeager (1972-1986) Buddy Myer (1925-1941) Kevin Youkilis (2004-2013) Dave Roberts (1969-1981) Moe Berg wasn't the greatest player ever to play major league baseball, but he may have been the smartest. His life story is so intriguing that it has been the subject of three books, including an outstanding biography, The Catcher Was A Spy; The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg, and a feature film, Cloak and Dagger. Moe Berg was born in Newark in 1902, the son of Russian immigrants. As a youngster, Berg had a keen intellect, and a love for foreign languages that was exceeded only by his passion for the game of baseball. Berg was an outstanding shortstop, and when he graduated from Princeton in 1923 with a degree in languages, he was highly recruited by both the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, both of whom were anxious to sign him because of his appeal to New York City's Jewish fans. Berg signed with the Dodgers, but had an awful rookie season, hitting only .186, with 22 errors in only 47 games. Berg spent the next few years shuttling back and forth between France, where he continued his foreign language studies, Columbia University, where he earned a law degree, and the minor leagues. Berg frustrated his baseball employers by refusing to report for spring training until after his law school work at Columbia was completed each spring, and Berg’s career seemed to be going nowhere, as his weak hitting kept him out of the every day lineup. In fact, St. Louis Cardinal’s scout Mike Gonzales is supposed to have coined the phrase, “good field, no hit” when describing Berg’s early career. Berg’s career changed dramatically in 1929. The White Sox, for whom Berg was then playing, already had one catcher out with an injury, when the starting catcher also got hurt. The Sox manager wasn’t sure what he was going to do until he heard Berg say, “You’ve got a big league catcher sitting right here.” Berg was referring to the Sox backup first baseman who had caught on a few rare occasions in the minor leagues, but the manager thought Berg was referring to himself and sent him in to catch. The result - Berg would spend the rest of his major league career behind the plate. Berg spent 15 major league seasons with the Dodgers, the White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Washington Senators, and the Boston Red Sox, but he played in just 663 games. His lifetime batting average was only .243, and he hit only six homers and drove in just 206 runs. When his playing career finally ended, Berg spent two years as a coach for the Red Sox, calling it quits on January 14, 1942, the same day his father died. But the Moe Berg story encompasses far more than just his baseball career. As I mentioned previously, Berg was an accomplished linguist who spoke at least seven languages fluently, prompting one former teammate to say, “He can speak seven languages, but he can’t hit in any of them.” Berg’s Princeton background, his aptitude in foreign languages, and his law degree made him a media favorite, and after several appearances on the old radio quiz show Information Please, he was nicknamed Professor Berg. Still, Berg was considered to be very much a mystery man, with few friends in or out of baseball. In 1934, Berg made his second trip to Japan as a member of a major league all star team, a real oddity considering his mediocre stats. Was Berg really there as an all star or was there something more sinister to the story? Could it have been that Berg, who spoke Japanese fluently, was really there on government business? The truth may never be fully known, but it is known that while in Tokyo, Berg requested a room that gave him a panoramic view of the city.