70 | MAY 2 • 2024 
J
N

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at thejewishnews.com

A Four-Generation 
Baseball Tradition
I

t is springtime. How do we know? Well, I suppose, one can look 
at the calendar for the first day of spring or note that flowers are 
blooming and trees are budding. In Detroit, however, the official 
(unofficial) first day of the season is the home opener for the Detroit 
Tigers baseball team. And it seems to have been so for many years.
Recently, during a conversation with my friend, Judy (Loewenstein) 
Roberts, she mentioned an interesting story from the 
2023 Tigers season. Last year was another baseball 
season to be celebrated for the Loewenstein/Roberts 
family. Four-year-old Norah Roberts continued an 87-year-old family sporting 
tradition.
Norah, the daughter of Jessica and Joey Roberts, was the 12th family member 
to wear the Loewenstein’s Detroit Tiger children’s uniform, given to the family 
by Hank Greenberg. Norah was the first member of the fourth generation of the 
Loewenstein/Roberts family to have her photo taken with a Detroit Tiger. The 
first girl to ever do so, Norah was photographed with the great Miguel Cabrera, 
who was in his last season with the Tigers before retiring as a “can’t-miss” future Baseball Hall of 
Famer.
The tyke-sized Tiger uniform itself is a great artifact. “Hammering” Hank Greenberg gave it 
to Max Loewenstein for his son, Marshall, who then had his photo taken in it with Greenberg in 
1935. Norah is the latest 4-year old to wear the uniform to a game and get her photo taken with a 
Tiger.
The uniform, carefully preserved by the Lowenstein/Roberts family, was also featured in 
“Chasing Dreams,
” an exhibit about America’s pastime that was on display at the Detroit 
Historical Museum in 2016. A traveling exhibit from National Museum of American Jewish 
History, “Chasing Dreams” included local content curated by Aimee Ergas, former executive 
director of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan and currently archivist at the Walter Reuther 
Library at Wayne State University. Ergas knew the story of the uniform would make a great 
display in the exhibit.
As you might imagine, Hank Greenberg is mentioned a few times in the William Davidson 
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History. Greenberg is perhaps the greatest Jewish player in 
Major League history (no disrespect to Sandy Kofax, but hey, I’m from Detroit!). 
Hank Greenberg is cited on 1,040 pages in the Archive, to be precise. Many pages from the 
1930s and 1940s hold reports of his performances as the Tigers’ star slugger. Over the past few 
decades, his name is also often cited regarding the annual Hank Greenberg Memorial Golf and 
Tennis Invitational tournament. 
This isn’t the first time the story of the kid’s unform appeared in the JN, by the way. Rick 
Loewenstein (third-generation kid uniform wearer) authored a fine article in the Sept. 24, 
1999, issue of the JN. It provides a good history of the uniform and the family’s connection 
to Greenberg and the Tigers. More to the point, Loewenstein’s story includes photos of seven 
Loewenstein and Roberts kids in the uniform, with their favorite players at the old Tiger Stadium.
If the story of the Loewenstein/Roberts kids, Greenberg and the Detroit Tigers isn’t a “feel 
good” piece, then I guess I don’t know what one is. But I think I do know one, as well as a great 
family story, when I hear it. Thanks for sharing, Judy! 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives, available for free at thejewishnews.com.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

PHOTOS BY GLENN TRIEST

Norah Roberts and Miguel Cabrera. 

Norah Roberts and her father Joey.

