54 | JULY 22 • 2021 

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

I

t is mid-summer. We know this 
because of hot days, the sun shin-
ing (well, not always in Michigan) 
and Major League Baseball in full 
swing (to use a baseball metaphor). 
 This year, after a strange 2020 
season, truncated by 
COVID-19, baseball fans 
have returned to the sta-
diums. The annual MLB 
All-Star Game was held 
last week, a sure mark of 
mid-summer.
On a cruise into the 
William Davidson Digital 
Archive of Jewish Detroit 
History, I ran across an interesting 
story about two Jewish baseball fans — 
more on that later — and I wondered 
about baseball stories held in the 
Archive. 
Well, the Archives holds an abun-
dance of baseball stories and reports. 
From 1916 to 2018, baseball is men-
tioned on more than 7,000 pages in 
the Archive. Many more can be found 
if one searched for the names of teams 
like the Detroit Tigers or teams from 
local high schools. Include the names 
of baseball stars like Hank Greenberg 
in a search or for “Steve Stein,” the JN’s
longtime sports writer. and there are 
even more pages of baseball lore. 
The earliest baseball story was in the 
June 23, 1916, issue of the Chronicle. 
It was an announcement that the 
baseball team of Detroit’s Young Men’s 
Hebrew Association was going to play 
the team from the YMHA of Toledo. 
Although most of the stories are about 
boy’s or men’s teams, one can also find 
stories beginning in the early 1920s 
about baseball games organized for 
girls.
One lesson I learned a long time 
ago is that, when discussing base-
ball with Jewish fans, one cannot go 
wrong by telling stories of Henry 

“Hank” Greenberg. Many a story 
in the Chronicle and JN focused on 
“Hammering Hank.” On the front page 
of the Sept. 21, 1934, Chronicle, he was 
already being “Hailed as the Greatest 
Player Jews have Contributed to Base 
Ball.” The front page of the first issue 
of the JN (March 27, 1942) featured a 
photograph of Sgt. Henry Greenberg 
in the Army during WWII. 
Stories about lesser-known base-
ball participants and events really 
intrigued me. “Play Ball” is about the 
beginnings of Little League baseball in 
Israel, which debuted in 1987. It also 
cited forthcoming contributions to the 
league from Detroit (Sept. 16, 1988, 
JN). Images of its inaugural game were 
captured by Detroit photographer 
David Dombey (July 24, 1987, JN). 
“On the Ball” is a story about 
retired MLB umpire Dave Dashow of 
Huntington Woods and his impressive 
sports collecting (March 23, 1989, JN).
“On Some Days, the Rabbi Plays 
Baseball” tells the story of Rabbi Bruce 
Aft, “Southpaw Principal of UHS High 
School.” Not only does Rabbi Aft make 
a “pitch” for Torah education, he was 
also a semi-professional baseball play-
er in his spare time.
As I mentioned above, one story led 
to my decision to explore baseball in 
the Archive: “Round-Trippers” from 
the Oct. 6, 2011, issue of the JN. It is 
about a local Jewish couple, Bev and 
Stuart Feldheim, who had just com-
pleted an eight-year quest to visit all 
30 Major League stadiums. It’s a pretty 
darn cool adventure. Unfortunately, 
they did not take me with them.
So, want to read some great stories 
about baseball and Jewish Detroit? The 
Davidson Archive is the place to go. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN 
Foundation archives, available for free at 
www.djnfoundation.org.

The Boys of Summer

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

