ANDREW S. CARROLL
Special to The Jewish News
N
ele 9
This fan's card
collection puts a
new twist on the
old question.
eil Keller is one of the
few people on earth
who remembers a
strapping Jewish kid from
Los Angeles named Aaron
"Al" Silvera.
Silvera joined the Cincin-
nati Reds baseball club in
1955 and finished his big
league career 13 games
later. That's 13 games.
But then, Neil Keller may
be the only person on earth
who collects Jewish bubble
gum cards — that is,
baseball, football and
basketball cards featuring
Jewish players.
For most people, Al Silvera
is a trivia question. For
Keller, he's a valuable addi-
tion to a collection that has
grown to 400 cards and is
worth an estimated $3,000.
"It's pretty neat what I've
done," confesses Keller, 30,
of Rockville, Md., as he pulls
out one of the three fat
albums in which he files his
card collection.
There, placed lovingly in-
side plastic sleeves, is a
gallery of the greats, the
near-greats and just plain
awfuls who, with icy stares
and swinging bats, put an
end to jokes that Jews
couldn't play sports. (Q.:
What's the world's thinnest
book? A.: "Great Jewish
Athletes.")
Sid Gordon. Ron
Blomberg. Barry Latman.
Howie Koplitz. "It looks like
a bunch of CPAs," says
Keller, a CPA.
Among Keller's collection
are five Al Rosens, the
Cleveland Indians star who
was voted the American
League's most valuable
player in 1953, and one of
every card printed featuring
pitcher Steve Stone, who
won the Cy Young Award as
a Baltimore Oriole in 1980.
Among the four Washing-
ton Senators in Keller's col-
lection is Mike Epstein,
nicknamed "Super Jew,"
who belted 120 homers in an
eight-season career that
ended in 1974. Not only does
he have most of Epstein's
cards, but he has unearthed
a rare double-Jew card,
featuring Epstein, then an
Oakland A, poised to put the
tag on California Angel
Richie Scheinblum.
Keller also has basketball
players, like ex-Denver
Nugget Danny Schayes, now
of the Milwaukee Bucks, and
football players like Ron
Mix, who played offensive
tackle for the Los Angeles
Chargers in the 1960s.
But baseball cards are at
the heart of Keller's collec-
tion, which he began only six
months ago.
"I used to have Mickey
Mantle cards, and like a lot
of people, I threw them out
or my mother threw them
out," he says. "Today, a
Mickey Mantle 1952 card
goes for $7,500."
Inspired by friends Mark •
Cantor and Mike Bernstein,
two veteran collectors,
Keller began to haunt the
sports memorabilia shows in
Above: These
ballplayers
helped put an
end to jokes
that Jews
couldn't play
sports.
Left: Keller
would like a
Hank Greenberg
card.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
65