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MIKE ROSENBAUM
Special to the Jewish News
T
he next three inductees into the
Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
took unusual paths to their success.
Their plaques, presented by the
Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation, will hang at
the Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield.
The late Walter Godfrey was a rare, two-sport
college star. Sam Greenblatt began his amateur
hockey coaching career at age 37 when his wife
volunteered him to coach their son's team. The
late Alvin Rappaport achieved track and field
stardom despite competing on a tiny, seven-man
squad at the University of Detroit.
The three will be inducted at a dinner
Monday, Nov. 12, at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield. At the same time Detroit
Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman will
receive the Alvin Foon Award for his lifetime
achievements in hockey.
Walter Godfrey
2001 INDUCTEE
Basketball
Baseball
Sam Greenblatt
2001 INDUCTEE
Walter- Godfrey
Hockey
Godfrey first gained notice at Detroit's Cass
Technical High School. He was a three-year
starter in basketball and baseball. He earned All-
City honors in both sports and was an Ail-State
basketball player as a senior.
Godfrey joined a basketball team that was
winless in its previous season. With Godfrey
playing point guard, the 1949 Cass team reached
the city championship game his first year, then
won the title in his second and third seasons.
"He was one of the real stars of the team," says
his brother, Rabbi Jerry Godfrey.
Michigan State basketball coach Pete Newell
agreed. He offered Walter Godfrey a scholarship
and "told Walt that he was going to build the
team around him," Rabbi Godfrey says.
Freshmen couldn't play varsity sports then, so
Godfrey made his debut as a sophomore. True to
his word, Newell made Godfrey his starting
point guard and key player. But his success was
short-lived — classroom problems quickly made
him academically ineligible.
Prior to Godfrey's junior year, Newell left
MSU. Although Godfrey started for two more
seasons, the new coach didn't make Godfrey his
featured player, Nevertheless, his teammates
voted him captain his senior year.
Each spring, after the basketball season ended,
Godfrey joined the Spartans' baseball team. As a
senior, he was the team's No. 1 pitcher, ahead of
future major leaguers Ron Perranoski and Ed
Hobaugh.
Godfrey's 4-0 record in conference play helped
MSU win the Big 10 title in 1954.
Godfrey enjoyed a last sports hurrah after
completing his college career, when the Detroit
Tigers invited him to try out in 1956. Godfrey
attended spring training where, his brother
recalls, "no one hit him. Hardly anybody
touched him. He did:superbly in the tryout."
But he was dissatisfied when the Tigers,only
offered him a AA minor league contract.
Rabbi Godfrey says Tiger official Jim
Campbell told Walter, "'You really showed a lot
of poise, a lot of savvy. You had great control.
You mixed your pitches up. You were very
impressive. But we didn't see a major league
fastball.'
HALL OF FAME on page 107
Alvin Rappaport
2001 INDUCTEE
Track
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