About a year ago, I received a “cold-call” e-mail from Dave Cohen, an Atlanta-based play-by-play college sports announcer. He was working on a book of interviews with former Jewish Major Leaguers. Would we mind if he used images of a couple of our baseball cards? Of course not. I sent him the images, and promptly forgot about his project, until I received last month my complimentary copy of “Matzoh Balls and Baseballs”, his interviews with 17 former players, and an introductory reminiscence and reflection by Hank Greenberg’s son Steve.
It's a fun read, and nicely balances the baseball memories with the JEWISH memories of a mix of well-known and lesser-light players. Ken Holtzman, Norm Sherry, Ron Blomberg, Mike Epstein, Al Rosen, and Steve Stone are here, along with Elliot Maddox and Richie Scheinblum. But no less interesting are some of the stories of the players with much briefer careers: Larry Yellen, Steve Taussig, and a few others who might send you to the Baseball Encyclopedia or MLB.com to check their stats…except that they’re included in the book, along with images of their (mostly) Topps cards.
Besides being a good and informative read, “Matzoh Balls and Baseballs” has the distinction of being the FIRST published book of Jewish Baseball oral histories. There are a couple of others coming down the road, including one of interviews which we sponsored, but this attractive paperback is a great addition to any Jewish baseball library, as well as a great gift, either as a stand-alone or together with a set of our cards.
I’m delighted to be including it as an offering of Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc.
Martin Abramowitz
President
Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc.
For ordering information, click here.