Commentary

Quotable

"If I can make a Jewish
kid proud of playing
baseball and give him more
confidence, I'm very proud
of that."

— Kevin Youkilis, third baseman,

Boston Red Sox, Moment

magazine, Sept.-Oct. 2011

standing
guard ...

... For Israel
And Our Jewish
Community

Buy Israeli products as you shop
for the Jewish holiday season. Wine,
flowers, candy, candles and other
necessities. As you prepare your
shopping lists for the yom tovim
(holidays), please search out Israeli-
made products at local grocers and
retailers.

— Prepared by Allan Gale, Jewish
Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit

©Oct. 6, 2011, Jewish Renaissance Media

Greenberg's View

A Brooklyn Jew In Dodger Blue?

G

iven all the tsores we worry
about as a people, do we really
need that?
The "that" is the discovery that
Ralph Branca, the former Brooklyn
Dodgers pitcher, who argu-
ably threw the most infa-
mous pitch in baseball his-
tory is Jewish.
Oy vey!
Yes, a New York Times
reporter Joshua Prager
conducted the research
and broke the news to the
85-year-old, telling him that
his mother, Kati, was Jewish.
Branca, raised as a
Catholic, who said he knew
nothing about his Jewish
heritage, apparently did not have much
of a reaction. But on learning his his-
tory, he said he asked his wife: "Do
you know you married a Jew?"
Now this revelation comes in the
face of increasing anti-Semitism
around the world and an Israeli-
Palestinian conflict whose peace
prospects are as good as, well, Branca's
pitch.
Even Job's patience would run out.
Enough already!
Some background:
The Brooklyn Dodgers were in a
playoff pennant series with the New
York Giants in 1951. Leading 4-2 in
the bottom of the ninth and ready to
clinch the pennant, Branca served up
his fastball and the Giants' outfielder,

Bobby Thomson, who had a history of
great success against Branca, lifted the
ball over the leftfield wall for a three-
run homer, clinching the game and the
pennant on Oct. 3.
The home run became
known as the "shot heard
'round the world," and
even the poet, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, who coined the
phrase in writing about the
American Revolution, would
have agreed. Assuming he
would have been a Giants fan.
What was even worse, the
loss came after the Dodgers
led the league by 131/2 games
in mid-August when the
Giants went on the winning
streak to tie for the pennant at the end
of the season.

Unsavory Twist?

Branca could take little solace in the
fact that there may have been some
hanky-panky to assist Thomson.
Reports were that Herman Franks,
a Giants coach, at the request of his
manager, Leo Durocher, used a tele-
scope from centerfield at the Polo
Grounds to steal the Dodgers catcher's
signs. With instructions from Franks,
an electrician by Franks' side activated
a buzzer in the Giants' bullpen — one
buzz for a fastball and two for a curve.
Sal Yvars, a reserve catcher in the
bullpen, would listen for the signals. If
Yvars held on to a baseball, the batter
would know a faster ball
was coming. If Yvars
tossed the ball into the
air, the batter should
expect a curve ball.
According to Yvars'
relay from the bullpen,
Thomson was to expect
a fastball and, sure
enough, Branca did not
disappoint. Thomson,
properly prepared, obvi-
ously had a little advan-
tage and became part of
baseball lore.
Thomson, however,
always denied that he
ever looked at Yvars. He
said he was too busy
concentrating in the
batter's box. He may not
have looked directly at
Yvars, but no one asked
him if perhaps he took
just a little peek.

Brooklyn Dodger Ralph Branca pitched

briefly for the Detroit Tigers two years

after the "shot heard 'round the world."

Power Of Fate

Whatever the case, might Branca have
escaped his fate in baseball's history, if
his mother had told him he was Jewish?
Maybe she would have taught him
not to rely on his fastball so much.
"Ralphie, your fastball is good but
as a Jew, be careful not to exploit your
strengths. It isn't nice. Work on your
weaknesses. Some day you'll thank me
for this advice."
Maybe if he had gone to cheder and
studied the Talmud, he might have
learned that sometimes it pays to
reject a catcher's signal.
But it was not to be.
As the non-Jewish Greek gods would
certainly tell us, Branca was fated to
be history's all-time scapegoat. They
would maintain it would not have mat-
tered if Branca had known he was a
Jew. Fate is fate and it takes its course
whether you're Jewish, Catholic or an
atheist. Just ask Oedipus.
It was reported that Branca even
went to see a priest after his traumatic
experience. Whether it helped or not is
not known; but now, perhaps, he can
seek additional guidance on his faux
pas from a rabbi. One can't have too
much spiritual help.
Nevertheless, in all due respect to
Zeus and his assistant deities, as a
people, we could have done without
this latest news — particularly the
former Jewish Brooklyn Dodgers fans.
But then, we still have Hank Greenberg
and Sandy Koufax.

Berl Falbaum of West Bloomfield is an author

and public relations executive who teaches

journalism at Wayne State University, Detroit.

He is a former political reporter.

October 6 • 2011

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