"Much-heralded Star Deli
slow-cooks its own
tender temptations"

Glove Story from page 59

— Danny Raskin, 2012

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THE SENSATIONAL BASE BALL SONG

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Above: Esther Schimmel behind the hot
dog stand she ran in St. Louis Mo., circa
1940s.

Left: Sheet music for "Take Me
Out to the Ball-Game," by Jack
Norworth and Jewish American
songwriter Albert Von Tilzer, 1908.

said. His first purchase of a collection
that now numbers in the hundreds
was a photo of Izzy Goldstein, who
pitched for the Detroit Tigers in 1932.
Collecting these items also serves
as a way to keep him connected to his
Jewishness and to Judaism, he said. And
it appeals to his preservationist side.
"I'm a historian at heart:' he said.
"It gives me a sense of pleasure to
preserve these things that will tell the
story about these Jewish guys — who
made the Major Leagues, who didn't
— and why."
The two most famous Jews to make
the Major Leagues are given their due
in the exhibition. Hank Greenberg, the
legendary Detroit Tigers slugger, and
Sandy Koufax, the Los Angeles Dodger
acclaimed as one of the greatest pitch-
ers to ever play the game, both are
featured prominently.
The museum has even expanded the
exhibition to its concourse level for an
interactive Koufax experience. "Koufax
Koncourse" will allow visitors to don a
replica Koufax jersey and pitch off of
a regulation pitcher's mound — with
Neff balls, of course, not the real thing.
"We certainly highlight those
two:' Perelman said. "They not only
achieved so much as players — they
also earned their place in history
because of the choices they made
about how they articulated their iden-
tities, of how they presented them-
selves as Jews so that they could fit in
but also teach in some way"
The exhibition doesn't just devote
space to each player's accomplish-
ments on the field and as role models
for Americans, Jewish and otherwise.
It pairs them with other minority
players of their time who also were
trailblazers in the sport and society.
Greenberg's importance is shown in
tandem with that of Joe DiMaggio, the
Yankee Clipper.
As an Italian-American in the first
half of the 20th century, DiMaggio had
to overcome discrimination as well,
Perelman noted.
In addition to their on-field exploits,
the exhibition shows that what also

helped cement Greenberg's and
DiMaggio's place in the sport's firma-
ment was their early commitment to
fight in World War II.
Similarly, Koufax, who became a
hero to Jews everywhere for his coura-
geous decision to sit out Game 1 of
the 1965 World Series because it fell
on Yom Kippur, shares space with
Roberto Clemente. The Pittsburgh
Pirate, who became the first Latino
player to achieve superstar status,
devoted his time and popularity to
raise awareness about equality and
race before his life was cut short in a
plane crash while on a relief mission
to Nicaragua in 1972.
Among the more unusual Koufax
memorabilia on display is Strike-Out
with Sandy Koufax, a 1963 board
game that promised to teach players
to learn how to pitch like the Hall-
of-Famer. It is one of the hundreds
of baseball-related board games in
the collection of Dr. Mark Cooper, a
Philadelphia radiologist.
In his case, Cooper, 62, is acknowl-
edged by the Smithsonian for hav-
ing the most complete collection of
baseball-themed board games in exis-
tence. Cooper's collection, which he
amassed over 32 years, encompasses
virtually every baseball-themed board
game made between the 1860s and
1960s and has been the subject of its
own book, Baseball Games: The Home
Version of the National Pastime, and a
yearlong show at the Baseball Hall of
Fame Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Cooper, who also helps run fantasy
baseball camps, where those who can
afford the price tag can spend a week
playing and kibitzing with retired
Major Leaguers, said that one of the
benefits of immersing himself in this
aspect of the game is that it has helped
him connect to the history of America
and of American Jews.
"Baseball has been a huge part of
the migration of Jews to the U.S. and
becoming assimilated" he said, adding
that the game has done the same for
all races and religions. "I love what it
stands for; it's so egalitarian, it's so fair.

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1430 • 2014

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OAK PARK BIRMINGHAM NOVI UTICA ANN ARBOR

N I

ridgy, May 9

Glove Story on page 62

JN

April 24 • 2014

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