Danielle Solzman
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story is a documentary that details the many Jewish ballplayers in the history of the game.
There’s a sense of pride one feels upon learning a baseball player is Jewish. There were 160 Jewish ballplayers in history as of the film’s 2010 release. As a Jew, one feels a bond with them and wants them to perform well. I think back to my first visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in an era before smartphones back in 2001. If I were to go today, I would take so many plaque selfies that it’s not even funny. I had a throwaway camera back in 2001 so I had to be very selective about which plaques to take photos with. As a St. Louis Cardinals fan, the obvious choices would have been Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, and Lou Brock. Instead, I went with Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax. That’s what they mean to me as Jewish baseball players.
Peter Miller beautifully directs the documentary while Dustin Hoffman narrates. Ira Berkow penned the script. They briefly cover some of the many Jewish ballplayers. The film wisely decides to focus on a few of the premier Jewish ballplayers in baseball history: Hank Greenberg, Al Rosen, and Sandy Koufax. Andy Cohen to a lesser extent as the New York Giants made an attempt to woo Jewish fans. They touch on some of the more recent players like Kevin Youkilis, too. The executives are not ignored: the film includes former MLPA executive director Marvin Miller and MLB commissioner Bud Selig.
Lipman Pike was the first professional Jewish ballplayer back in 1871. Playing for the Troy Haymakers, he would boost baseball’s popularity with the Jewish immigrants in the US.
It wouldn’t be until the 20th century before Hank Greenberg became a Jewish superstar with the Detroit Tigers, winning the AL MVP in 1935. Greenberg took some time off to serve during the war and would never be the same player afterwards. He finished his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where there was a moment where he collided with then-rookie Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Greenberg suffered antisemitism during his playing career so he gave advice to Robinson.
“More than anyone else, [Greenberg] is the person who is historically responsible for the attachment of American Jews to America’s game,” says Martin Abramowitz.
It was Greenberg who played after a few waves of Jews immigrated to America. The America that existed in the 1930s would be slightly different from the one that existed when Sandy Koufax became a phenom pitcher with the Dodgers. While Jews would still face antisemitism, they were also able to assimilate into the American culture. When Bud Selig bought a majority share of the Seattle Pilots and moved them to Milwaukee, there might have been one other club owned by Jews. But as stereotypes were shattered, traditions would get passed on from one generation to another.
In the 1950s, Sandy Koufax began his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, later the Los Angeles Dodgers. It wasn’t until 1961 in which Koufax really began to become a dominant pitcher. He would win three Cy Young Awards and throw four no-hitters—one of which was a perfect game. If not for injuries, he probably would have finished with historic numbers. Koufax does not give many interviews. The fact that they got him to appear in the film is huge. One cannot discuss Koufax without bringing up the time he chose not to pitch on Yom Kippur during the 1965 World Series.
While Babe Ruth was slugging home runs out of the park, the New York Giants recruited the likes of Moe Solomon and Andy Cohen to drive Jews to the Polo Grounds. While Hank Greenberg was hammering home runs, catcher Moe Berg acted as a spy for the US. Later on, Al Rosen broke through with Cleveland but quit when then-GM Hank Greenberg decided to trade him. Free agency wasn’t a thing at the time so Rosen would retire at 32 years old. Funny enough, Marvin Miller mentioned how the table was filled with both Jews and Blacks when Curt Flood sued baseball. Their witnesses were both Greenberg and Jackie Robinson.
The interviews accompany never-before-seen clips and photos of Jewish ballplayers, let alone highlights from classic games. Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard shares a story of listening to Vin Scully calling the Dodgers game on the radio. That’s how he became a Koufax fan. Howard speaks to Scully’s storytelling abilities and knowing history, Koufax’s perfect game.
Jews and Baseball was released in 2010 and of course, Team Israel—featuring many Jewish-American players—made it to the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics since then.
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story is a must-watch film for baseball fans. Much like the history of comedy, it’s the story of Jews in America.
DIRECTOR: Peter Miller
SCREENWRITER: Ira Berkow
NARRATOR: Dustin Hoffman
FEATURING: Martin Abramowitz, Maury Allen, Rebecca Alpert, Yogi Berra, Ron Blomberg, Charles Bronfman, Bob Feller, Shawn Green, Adam Greenberg, Hank Greenberg, Melanie Greenberg, Steve Greenberg, Ron Howard, Roger Kahn, Larry King, Sandy Koufax, Peter Levine, Elliot Maddox, Marvin Miller, Murray Olderman, Michael Paley, Al Rosen, Marv Rotblatt, Bud Selig, Norm Sherry, Fred Wilpon, Kevin Youkilis
Seventh Art Releasing released Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story in theaters on November 5, 2010. Cinedigm now handles distribution. Grade: 5/5
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