The Tigers' Fantasy Camp takes these
players back to their childdood.

GEORGE CANTOR

Special to the Jewish News

ou threw the tennis ball against the steps of
the house on Sturtevant Street and imagined
you were Frank Lary going through the
heart of the Yankees' batting order.
Or maybe it was on Tuxedo or Buena Vista —
one of those old Detroit streets with lots of steps
leading up to big front porches.
Thwack! Pop up. Thwack! Bouncer.
Dreams die hard. Suddenly, you're in your 30s
with a family to support and a clothing line to rep
and the fantasies buried deep in the long ago.
Or maybe not.
Jerry Lewis of West Bloomfield has been running
the Detroit Tigers Fantasy Camps for the last 21
years. Every winter, just before another spring train-
ing begins in Lakeland, Fla., he and a couple hun-
dred other campers live out the dream of playing
ball with the Old English D on the front of their
uniform shirts.
"We have so many repeaters, guys who have been
there a dozen times or more," Lewis says. "It seems
to touch everyone who loves baseball, who always
wondered what it would feel like to come to bat for
the Tigers, just one time."
Lewis estimates that about 15 percent of the
campers each year are Jewish. Most of them, like
Lewis, belonged to that old front-step baseball
league.
"The camaraderie, the bonding that goes on
between the campers and the former Tigers is
incredible," he says. "It reaches across all religious
and racial lines. It's what keeps them
coming back every year."
And the memories are incredible,
too. For insurance agent Joel Garfield
of West Bloomfield, it was the chance
to stand next to Al Kaline as the Tigers' great hit
fungoes to the campers, and to field their return
throws while wearing his genuine Al Kaline mitt.
"He signed it right above the original stamped
signature," Garfield says. "I went to the fantasy
hockey camp, too, so I can tell people I'm the
only person to play with Al Kaline and Gordie

y

Jewish Fantasy campers: Front row, Jordan Levine, 23, Bill Goldenberg, 57,* Jerry Lewis, and Lyle
Danuloff; 59. Back row, Barry Levine, 60, Sy Ginsberg, 60, Joel Garfield, 61, and Lenny Malach, 51

Howe in the same year."
For corned beef producer Sy Ginsberg
of Novi, it was the chance to meet his
boyhood idol, catcher Joe Ginsberg. "His
dad owned a bar on Conant and my dad
was a liquor distributor in that area, so we decided
their paths must have crossed and we were practical-
ly cousins," Sy says. "We've remained close friends."
For psychologist Lyle Danuloff of Farmington
Hills, it was watching his friend, stockbroker Bill
Goldenberg of West Bloomfield, "become 12 years
old again."

SHEER FANTASY

on page 53

To honor the 76th Major League Baseball All-Star
Game on Tuesday at Comerica Park, the Jewish
News compiled these Jewish-flavored stories.
We include a look back at Jewish All-Stars
through the years, All-Star memories, local Jews
who create their own baseball fantasies each year,
and an interview with the Detroit Tigers' highest
ranking Jewish executive.
A story on the All-Star Fanfest at Cobo Center
is in our Arts & Entertainment section, page 37.
Enjoy our package, the game and the memories!