Jewish Dream Team [pitchers]

Dream Team - If one were asked to create a fantasy roster composed of Jewish players it would include many of the gentleman seen here. Arranged according to position, the pitchers on this dream team include Barney Pelty, Steve Stone, Ken Holtzman and the incomparable Sandy Koufax, who famously declined to pitch on Yom Kippur. At catcher and first base are Harry “The Horse” Danning and powerful Hank Greenberg, “The Hebrew Hammer.” The infield features the curious selection of shortstop Lou Boudreau, who was raised as a Catholic despite his mother being Jewish, followed by keystone sacker Ian Kinsler and third baseman Al Rosen. In the outfield are Shawn Green, Lipman “Lip” Pike (the first Jewish pro player) and Sid Gordon. On the bubble are four players whose Jewish heritage has been contested: Rod Carew, a native of Panama whose first wife was Jewish, and who may or may not have converted to Judaism; Deadball Era pitcher Erskine Mayer, whose paternal grandparents were German Jews while his maternal lineage can be traced to the Mayflower; shortstop Buddy Myer, who claimed that everyone assumed he was Jewish because of his surname; and steroid user Ryan Braun—who would surprise no one if he claimed to be an extraterrestrial working for the Church of Scientology—whose dad was Jewish.