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A Big
Success
Heartland — Georgian Bloomfi
Heartland —West Bloomfield
Heartland — Oakland
:
Honorees Paul Carey and Lou Brock
at the Hank Greenberg event
Steve Stein
Contributing Writer
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j of this down: June 3, 2013.
Franklin Hills Country Club
in Farmington Hills.
That's the date and site of the 23rd
annual Hank Greenberg Memorial
Golf Invitational. Former major league
player and manager Joe Torre, now the
executive vice president for baseball
operations for Major League Baseball,
will be presented the Greenberg
Lifetime Achievement Award.
All that's in place for next year's
invitational before the glow of the
22nd annual invitational June 4 at
Franklin Hills has faded, and David
Blatt couldn't be happier.
"We've been trying to honor Joe
(Torre) for a while, and Franklin Hills
did a wonderful job this year so we
decided to come back',' said Blatt, exec-
utive director of the Michigan Jewish
Sports Foundation, which presents the
invitational.
A sellout of nearly 170 golfers
played at Franklin Hills the first time
the invitational was held there.
"That was a lot of people, but play
moved along well," Blatt said.
Another 80 or so folks attended the
post-golf dinner. It was an emotional,
nostalgic and informative evening.
Program emcee
Jeremy Schapp of
ESPN presented
the inaugural Barry
Bremen Memorial
Inspiration Award to
Adam Bremen, son
of the famous "Great
Adam Bremen
Imposer" who died
last year. The award
recognizes individuals who have over-
come challenges. Adam Bremen hasn't
let being wheelchair-bound stop him
from leading a full life.
Former St. Louis Cardinals star and
Hall of Famer Lou Brock was pre-
sented the Greenberg award by Steve
Greenberg, Hank Greenberg's son.
Ex-Detroit Tigers radio broadcaster
Paul Carey received the Dick Schaap
Award for Media Excellence from
Jeremy Schaap, Dick Schaap's son.
Brock and Carey with Schaap acting
as moderator participated in a sports
panel discussion and answered ques-
tions from the audience.
Information of a different sort was
disseminated by Jordan Maier, medical
director of the Barbara Ann Karmanos
Cancer Center's Lawrence and Idell
Weisberg Cancer Treatment Center in
Farmington Hills. He talked about the
work that's done at the Weisberg Center.
Proceeds from the invitational ben-
efit the Weisberg Center and children's
charities. Hank Greenberg died of
cancer in 1986.
Maier's appearance was one of a few
new twists to the invitational. Another
was a drawing for a trip for two to
the 2013 Masters golf tournament, a
$5,000 value. Blatt said about 130 of
200 raffle tickets were sold in just a
few weeks.
Another twist took place the day
before the invitational. Brock signed
autographs for two hours at DC Sports
at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, with a
portion of the proceeds benefiting the
Lou Brock Scholarship Foundation
and Michigan Jewish Sports
Foundation.
It was the first time the Greenberg
award winner held a public autograph
session, and Blatt hopes it becomes a
tradition.
"There were close to 100 people wait-
ing in line when Lou arrived there
Blatt said. "Lou was very cordial. I'm
sure the people who came enjoyed
meeting him, and it was a worthwhile
day financially for both foundations."
Even though the invitational has a
proven formula for success, Blatt said,
it's important to change and improve
it each year.
"We're always looking for ways to
make it better',' he said. "`With the
economy the way it is and so many
worthwhile charities needing funds,
we want to make our event one that
you can't miss."
Beatles fans couldn't afford to miss
this year's invitational because one of
the auction items was a guitar signed
by Paul McCartney. Even though it
wasn't a guitar McCartney played, it
went for about $1,500.
The invitational was held at Oakland
Hills Country Club in Bloomfield
Township in 2010 and 2011 before
moving to Franklin Hills.
It was at its longtime home, Tam-
0-Shanter Country Club in West
Bloomfield, in 2009, the first year
Blatt and his wife, Hedy Blatt, started
running the Michigan Jewish Sports
Foundation. Hedy Blatt is the founda-
tion's communications and events
director.
Send news to sports@thejewishnews.com .