If baseball were to have a Jewish Mt. Rushmore certainly the two heads everyone would expect to be on there would be Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg. Both Koufax and Greenberg changed the face of baseball while instilling in Jews pride and ground to stand on as athletes. Koufax, who I would argue was the greatest pitcher ever, leads the way and Greenberg, whose numbers were incredible (maybe the third best power hitter of all-time behind Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron) is a close second. After that, there is a huge drop. But instead of focusing on a “Mt. Rushmore of Greatest Players”, why not take a look at a “Mt. Rushmore of the Very Good”? Ron Blomberg – Blomberg was the first designated hitter in baseball history. He spent most of his years with the New York Yankees and a cup of coffee with the Chicago White Sox. Blomberg has really got out in front of the Jewish community and is a great guy. His numbers were solid, enough to make our Hall of Very Good Mt. Rushmore. Shawn Green – Today, we have several Jewish ball players, but ten years ago, Shawn Green led the way. He began a surge of players. Green was a solid player who had natural raw power and could run. He also made an appearance on the Israeli WBC team this past year. Steve Stone – As a White Sox fan, it’s hard for me to put a former Chicago Cub on the list (actually I put two) but now that Stoney is an announcer on the Southside, all is forgiven. Stone won the 1980 Cy Young and was on some very good teams. His career ERA is under 4.00 and he won over 100 games. Solid career and great broadcaster. Ken Holtzman – Holtzman was a legitimate solid starting pitcher. He won 179 games for five different teams. He was a two-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion. But he is most recognized for throwing two no-hitters. A Hall of Very Good would not be complete without Ken Holtzman. In due time it is possible that Kevin Youkilis or Ian Kinsler will replace one of these four baseball semi-giants. But for now these are the best of the very good. And let us say…amen. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jeremy Fine is a Rabbi in St. Paul at Temple of Aaron. He also created The Great Rabbino, a Jewish Sports Blog and is carried by several outlets. Fine writes two other columns…Pop Parsha, which takes biblical stories and infuses it with Pop Culture and Beyond the Bimah, which tackles Rabbi-issues outside the synagogue. You can find him tweeting at @RabbiJeremyFine.
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