GSU broadcaster's book profiles Jewish major leaguers

I like books off the beaten path, so in early 2003 I went to an author signing in Alpharetta. The book was “Cup of Coffee: The Very Short Careers of 18 Major League Pitchers,” by Rob Trucks. One of those interviewed, pitcher Larry Yellen, was at the book signing.

I’m a Jewish guy, and I found out Larry is a Jewish guy. But I knew nothing about his career. I knew about the careers of Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg, but who are the other Jewish guys in baseball and what are their stories? How did they leave their mark on the game?

I Googled a list of Jewish baseball players, and tried to see how many I could recognize from when I collected baseball cards as a kid living just outside of Boston.

So I just started tracking guys down. Yellen, as well as Ron Blomberg, baseball’s first-ever designated hitter, live here in the Atlanta area, so I started with them.

Some were a little cautious. They thought I was looking for negative stuff like how they dealt with anti-Semitism. I just wanted to know about their careers, and if discrimination was part of their career, I wanted to know that, too.

With some players, those who’d played in New York, their stories were different. They were put on a pedestal because they were Jewish and were embraced by the community. Some didn’t want to talk about it at all. Elliott Maddox and Jim Gaudet seemed to be a little more religious than some of the others, which is not surprising considering they made the decision to convert. Elliott’s African-American, so his story was even more interesting to me.

The former players I interviewed had some great stories to tell.

Like Barry Latman, a pitcher who played mostly with the White Sox and Indians. After meeting Ty Cobb through a friend of his father, Latman continued to exchange letters with Cobb, who would offer encouragement and sometimes critique performances.

Like former Dodgers catcher Norm Sherry, who is credited with helping a young Koufax gain some control with his pitches.

Like Ken Holtzman, a member of three World Series-champion teams while with Oakland.

Now a hitting instructor, Mike Epstein talks about the seasons he spent playing for Ted Williams during Williams' stint as the manager of the Washington Senators.

There’s also Steve Stone, the only other Jewish pitcher to win a Cy Young Award beside Koufax. Going back, Al Rosen, a former boxer, would challenge anyone spewing anti-Semitic remarks his way. He just missed baseball’s Triple Crown in 1953.

The further back you go, there was a stereotype that Jews didn’t play baseball, didn’t get dirty playing sports. Some worked harder to prove the stereotype wrong. In earlier days, Jewish families, like other new immigrants, didn’t understand their sons could make a living playing a game.

Today there are websites that daily update the stats of current Jewish players, like Kevin Youkilis, Ryan Braun, Ian Kinsler and Gabe Kapler.

An estimated 160 to 175 Jews have played Major League Baseball. Some players from the late 1800s and early 1900s changed their names so as to not be identified as being Jewish.

Some of the players I interviewed could not understand why I would separate them from any other player based on religion. But like Steve Greenberg, who is Hank Greenberg’s son, wrote in the foreward to my book:

It’s important for any community, not just Jews, to celebrate their great athletes, scientists and artists. It’s part of the American heritage to have that sense of pride in your people and how they contribute to the great American society.

-- As told to Michelle Hiskey for the AJC