Jewish Major Leaguers in Their Own Words

Peter Ephross was a longtime editor for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service and has published in Publishers Weekly, the Village Voice, and Forward. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Martin Abramowitz is the president of Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc., which documents American Jews in baseball and sponsored many of the interviews in this book.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments      Preface      Introduction      BOB BERMAN, Washington Senators, 1918      AL SCHACHT, Washington Senators, 1919–1921      ANDY COHEN, New York Giants, 1926, 1928–1929      HANK GREENBERG, Detroit Tigers, 1930, 1933–1941, 1945–1946; Pittsburgh Pirates, 1947      HARRY DANNING, New York Giants, 1933–1942      GOODY ROSEN, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1937–1939, 1944–1946; New York Giants, 1946      SAM NAHEM, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1938; St. Louis Cardinals, 1941; Philadelphia Phillies, 1942, 1948      CY BLOCK, Chicago Cubs, 1942, 1945–1946      AL ROSEN, Cleveland Indians, 1947–1956      MICKEY RUTNER, Philadelphia Athletics, 1947      MARV ROTBLATT, Chicago White Sox, 1948, 1950–1951      CAL ABRAMS, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1949–1952; Cincinnati Reds, 1952; Pittsburgh Pirates, 1953–1954; Baltimore Orioles, 1954–1955; Chicago White Sox, 1956      SAUL ROGOVIN, Detroit Tigers, 1949–1951; Chicago White Sox, 1951–1953; Baltimore Orioles, 1955; Philadelphia Phillies, 1955–1957      LOU LIMMER, Philadelphia Athletics, 1951, 1954      ED MAYER, Chicago Cubs, 1957–1958      LARRY SHERRY, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1958–1963; Detroit Tigers, 1964–1967; Houston Astros, 1967; California Angels, 1968 and NORM SHERRY, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1959–1962; New York Mets, 1963      MIKE EPSTEIN, Baltimore Orioles, 1966–1967; Washington Senators, 1967–1971; Oakland Athletics, 1971–1972; Texas Rangers, 1973; California Angels, 1973–1974      RON BLOMBERG, New York Yankees, 1969, 1971–1976; Chicago White Sox, 1978      ELLIOTT MADDOX, Detroit Tigers, 1970; Washington Senators/Texas Rangers, 1971–1973; New York Yankees, 1974–1976; Baltimore Orioles, 1977; New York Mets, 1978–1980      JOSE BAUTISTA, Baltimore Orioles, 1988–1991; Chicago Cubs, 1993–1994; San Francisco Giants, 1995–1996; Detroit Tigers, 1997; St. Louis Cardinals, 1997      JESSE LEVIS, Cleveland Indians, 1992–1995, 1999; Milwaukee Brewers, 1996–1998, 2001      ADAM GREENBERG, Chicago Cubs, 2005      Appendix: Jewish Major Leaguers      Index

“The greatest contribution of this ambitious book is the opportunity to read players’ perspectives on Jewish identification and to understand the choices they made. This book will satisfy readers interested in learning more about the lives of a diverse group of Jewish major leaguers...all of the players’ stories will be informative and interesting, engaging and enjoyable”—Nine; “the stories of the trials and tribulations of Jewish ballplayers are brilliantly recounted...a solid job...the wonderfully told stories of the players included give the reader an intimate feeling of what life was, and is like, as a Jewish Major Leaguer”—Washington Jewish Weekly; “manages to break new ground...a worthy addition to Jewish baseball fans’ bookshelves...fascinating personal vignettes”—Jewish Book Council; “engaging and stimulating...a source of pride for Jewish baseball fans”—The Buffalo Jewish Review; “a superb job...we get more of a ‘what’s it like’ for Jewish ballplayers...a very good book...highly recommended...in fact, I give it the following grade: A+”—The Kentucky Democrat; “Jewish Sports fans in general and baseball fans in particular will enjoy and appreciate this book”—Jewish Journal, Dade County.