Jewish baseball history discussion

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Posted By: Alan

For those in the Washington, DC area:

Chaim Kempner Author Series presents: Jewish Major Leaguers

Washington DCJCC
1529 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 518-9400

Date: 5/25/2008 from 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm (Eastern Time)

Jewish Major Leaguers: who have they been, what have they accomplished, and why do we care so much?

$9, Discounted Member Price $6; Popcorn and peanuts will be served!

Contact: Tali Chitaiad at (202) 777-3254 or talic@washingtondcjcc.org
Hosted By: Literature, Music & Dance Department
RSVP by: May 25, 2008 at 4:30 pm (Eastern Time)

Popcorn and peanuts will be served!

Dr. Martin Abramowitz, President of Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc.
Stan Kasten, President of the Washington Nationals
Aviva Kempner, Director of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
Mark D. Lerner, Principal Owner, Washington Nationals Baseball Club

The Chaim Kempner Author Series proudly announces that Mark D. Lerner, Principal Owner, Washington Nationals Baseball Club, will join the discussion on Jewish Major Leaguers on Sunday, May 25 at 7:30 pm at the Washington DCJCC. Martin Abramowitz, President of Jewish Major Leaguers will lead the discussion, and will also be joined by Stan Kasten, President of the Washington Nationals; and Aviva Kempner, director, writer and producer of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg.

Join us for a discussion on the impact of Jewish Major League Baseball stars as the baseball history and trivia cards, Jewish Major Leaguers, is released, and in honor of the Washington Nationals new stadium. As 2008 marks the 75th anniversary of Hank Greenberg’s rookie season, the set includes a special tribute of ten cards chronicling the life and career of America’s first Jewish baseball superstar, written by Pulitzer Prize winning sportswriter (and Greenberg biographer) Ira Berkow.

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Posted By: CN

I know that Jewish ballplayers were discriminated in thje past as were blacks but is a seminar necessary to discuss this as Jewish Ballplayers have become common using the Red Sox as an example. Why don't we just focus on the best players in baseball. I remember when I heard Rod Carew was Jewish and I did not celebrate his religion. My best friend who happens to be Jewish played 2 years in the NFL and played on the same Florida team as Emmit Smith and Trace Armstrong and he hates the fact that his being Jewish has been brought up. I think that a persons religion should have no bearing on his standing whether Christian, Buddhist,Muslim or Jewish.I will always root for my players based on my team. CN

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Posted By: William Cohon

there are sociological and historical perspectives that figure in, albeit not for you. As Jews were struggling to establish a secure place in the fabric of American society, there were numerous events and circumstances defining us as unwelcome outsiders. In the T206 days, it must have been a thrill to see the occasional success story in a venue so thoroughly American as Major League Baseball. Barney Pelty, "the Yiddisher Curver," for example, probably helped young Jews to feel more hope for a bright future in the midst of a poverty-stricken, tenement existence.

A generation later, Greenberg led the Tigers to the top, proving to the public the viability of Jewish contribution to American society. When he refused to play on Yom Kippur, it proved to everyday Jews that they didn't have to abandon their heritage to make it in the mainstream culture.

Many Jews are quite assimilated, and see no reason to display any traits that mark them as Jews. Personally, for me, the days when there was societal pressure to hide one's Jewishness are too recent to ignore, and I prefer to be more overt. But regardless of where one stands on that issue, it is a fact that Jews are not merely practitioners of a common religion. Jews are members of a common ethnicity. We are an ancient people, cast out of our land in ancient times, struggling to survive. Taking an interest in Jewish ballplayers is probably one way we do it.

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Posted By: josh

You hit it right on the button! One couldn't of said it better. I wish I was in the area to attend this!

Josh