jews d
MARK CUNNINGHAM/DETROIT TIGERS
on the cover
in
the
Tigers
Tribe
In
The
Kinsler and Ausmus connect
with their family roots.
JUSTIN WHITE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ABOVE: Jewish Heritage Day May 2017, marking Tamarack’s 115th anniversary: Jordan Field,
director, player relations & Detroit Tigers Foundation, Detroit Tigers; Tracy Aronoff, Tamarack
Camps marketing/communications director; Dr. Jennifer and Louis Sobol, Reuben and Ezra
Sobol; Neil Gorosh, Jewish Historical Society of Michigan; Tiger Ian Kinsler; superfan Hy
Safran, Jewish Federation; Jay Winkler, director of Tamarack’s Camp Kennedy; and Paws.
H
ank Greenberg played his last game
for the Detroit Tigers in 1946. But, to
this day, his presence looms large in
franchise history. Along with five other Tiger
greats, a 13-foot statue of Greenberg towers
above the brick wall beyond the outfield at
Comerica Park.
For two current Tigers, being part of
the same organization as a legend like
Greenberg carries special meaning. That’s
because they have more in common with
Greenberg than the iconic Old English D
they wear on their heads and on their chests.
Brad Ausmus and Ian Kinsler each grew
up with a Jewish parent. Ausmus’ late
mother was Jewish, and Kinsler’s father is
Jewish. Neither Ausmus nor Kinsler was
raised as a practicing Jew, but both embrace
what Judaism has meant to their respective
families.
“We celebrated holidays,” Kinsler said.
“We celebrated Chanukah; we celebrated
Passover with my dad’s side of the family. His
side of the family is all Jewish and they all
live in New York. Whenever you’re back east,
it’s that environment, that culture.”
When Kinsler was traded to the Tigers in
November of 2013, his father had a special
request involving Hank Greenberg, who is
known as one of the greatest Jewish baseball
players of all time.
“He asked me to see if I could get No. 5
because I wore No. 5 in Texas. He said you
should probably ask the Greenberg family,
and I said that’s not happening, Dad.” Kinsler
wears No. 3.
FEELING THE KINSHIP
Like Kinsler, Brad Ausmus’ first season with
the Tigers was in 2014. His only previous
managerial experience came a year earlier
with Team Israel at the World Baseball
Classic.
“I was actually not raised Jewish,” Ausmus
said. “I didn’t go to synagogue; I didn’t
go to church either. I just celebrated the
major holidays from both sides. I got the
best of both worlds. I got Chanukah; I got
Christmas, and I spent some Jewish holidays
with my mother’s side of the family — Yom
Kippur, Passover.”
Ausmus, who was born in Connecticut,
says his strongest connection to his mother’s
family was through his grandfather’s love for
baseball.
“He was a huge Boston Braves fan and
then a Boston Red Sox fan,” Ausmus said.
“They lived outside Boston in Brookline,
Mass., and I used to go up and visit. We
always talked baseball, talked about the Red
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June 8 • 2017
jn