Bookshelf review: Matzoh Balls and Baseballs

Conversations with 17 Former Jewish Major League Baseball players, by Dave Cohen. Havenhurst Books, 2010.

Hot on the heels, but apparently unconnected with the new documentary Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, we have this new oral history collection conducted by Cohen, described on the publisher’s website as “the familiar radio voice of Georgia State University for the last 27 seasons, covering Panther baseball and basketball on Atlanta radio.”

Seventeen former major leaguers who participated in the project include a few of the more recognizable names such as Al Rosen, Ron Blomberg, Steve Stone, Ken Holtzman, Mike Epstein, Norm Sherry and Elliott Maddox, players who spent several years in the Majors. But there are also several players who had then proverbial “cup of coffee,” enjoying but a brief moment in the big league sunshine, and it’s nice to see them represented here by Larry Yellen, Jim Gaudet, Don Taussig, and Morris Savransky.

Cohen guides them through the standard stuff about the highlights of their careers, but what is of more interest to its target audience is, of course, the Jewish stuff, whether religious or cultural in nature. There are anecdotes of anti-Semitism and amazement on the parts of the athletes, especially those from larger cities, who spent (some uncomfortable) time in the minors in the deep south, witnessing Jim Crow discrimination.

When speaking about their Jewish upbringing or how they felt about being part of a small cadre of major leaguers, several of the younger players reveal that they simply didn’t think about it that often; yiddishkeit was simply not a part of their lives. Nor did they recognize their “importance” on the cultural landscape. As we get further away from the era when many Jews were either immigrants or first generation American, clinging to the ways of the Old Country, I suppose it’s not surprising, with increased assimilation, that this is the prevailing attitude. Perhaps that attitude will be shared by younger readers, who might not see that have a minyan of Jewish players is that big a deal. But for older guys like me (and those even older), it is something in which to take pride, and kudos to Cohen for bringing these stories to print.