Field Of
Dreams

Benny Wasserman gives a thumbs-up while on the field with the Detroit Tigers during practice.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

As I entered the field through the tunnel,
the excitement and adrenalin overwhelmed
me. To be surrounded by the stands, which
held approximately 60,000 fans, was breath-
taking; Wasserman said. "The smell of
all that luscious green grass in the infield
and outfield was more than I could take.
Then there was the smell of those delicious
hot dogs, roasted peanuts and popcorn. It
all reminded me of my youthful years in
Detroit when all I was able to do was listen
to broadcaster Harry Heilmann on the
radio broadcasting the games:'

Former Detroiter lives out his
lifelong wish at Comerica Park.

Jackie Headapohl I Managing Editor

Life On The West Coast

Early Years In Detroit

Wasserman grew up in Detroit at 3794
Webb (between Homer and Dexter) for
his first 20 years. The neighborhood was
made up of working-class people. Most
of his childhood friends at Winterhalter
Elementary School, Durfee and Central
High were Jewish. "Across the street were
two empty lots. That's where I played so
much baseball he said.
Because Wasserman's father went from
being an Orthodox Jew in Poland to being
a Jewish atheist in this country, Benny
was never a member of a synagogue while
growing up.
"Although my mother died when I
was 7 years old, I remember her taking
me to shul once in a while when I was
very young; Wasserman recalled. "That
shul, B'nai David, was on Dexter and
Collingwood. What I remember most was

write Yiddish and just enough Hebrew to
read from the Torah. "The Yiddish came in
handy when I was in the Army and spent
18 months overseas:' Wasserman said. "I
was able to correspond with my father in
Yiddish because his English was so poor.
One thing that my father never lost was his
Yiddishkeit and his love of Yiddish music
and Yiddish humor."

Wasserman poses with a statue of Ty Cobb.

my grandfather davening morning, noon
and night in our home wearing his yar-
mulke, tallis and tefillin."
As all his friends were having their bar

mitzvahs, Wasserman begged his father
to let him join them. His father sent him
to the Workmen's Circle/Sholem Aleichem
Folk Shul, where he learned to read and

Wasserman's father was not a fan of educa-
tion. "He wanted me to learn a trade by
taking me with him on weekends to the
Jewish bakeries where he worked as a cake
baker and cake decorator:' he said.
Benny went with his father from ages
10-16. By the time he graduated high
school, he was ready to become an appren-
tice cake baker.
"But that didn't happen because I had no
desire to be a baker; he said. All I wanted
at that time was to become a major league
professional baseball player. I wanted to be
like Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers."
At age 20, Wasserman joined the U.S.
Army and served for two years, mainly in
an infantry battalion in Germany. After
discharge, he took advantage of the GI Bill
and went to a trade school for electronics in
California where his sister lived. Just prior
to graduating, he was set up on a blind date
with Fernie Slutske, "a nice Jewish girl:' he
said. They soon got married.
A wedding present from an old high
school friend whom he used to play stick-
ball with in his backyard transformed his

Field of Dreams on page 10

8

July 18 • 2013