Baseball and Jewish greatness

Speaking of baseball, I’m eagerly awaiting my review copy of Peter Miller’s “Jews and Baseball,” a documentary that I can only assume does for baseball what “The First Basket,” which I mentioned here and in my feature on the rich history of Jews in professional basketball, did for my favorite pastime.

In particular, I’m looking forward to what I’ve been told is the longest sit-down interview ever given by Sandy Koufax. Shtickball sums it up as:

A big part of the film is devoted to Sandy Koufax and his legacy as the greatest Jewish ballplayer ever. Koufax is notoriously stingy about giving interviews, but agreed to participate in the film and comes off as a genuinely thoughtful, nice guy. The film also deals with Koufax (and later, Shawn Green’s) decision not to play on Yom Kippur. Both players’ teams were bidding for the playoffs, and the decision to ‘be cool, stay in shul’ showed not just piety but a sincere effort to stand in solidarity with the Jewish nation. Their decision to observe the holiest of Jewish holidays rather than play (admittedly crucial) games established Koufax and Green as great Jewish role models.

More on the film here. I’ll let you know when I’ve had a chance to watch.

In the meantime, enjoy some current Jewish dominance on the diamond. Braun and Kinsler have been raking.