Kenny Holtzman, last surviving member of dynastic Oakland A's starting rotation of Holtzman/Hunter/Blue, died yesterday. Kenny did not have the dazzle of Vida or quirkiness of Catfish. He was just quietly consistently good. Traded to Oakland from the Cubs for essentially nothing, he was the glue of the three time World Champion rotation. (A generation later the Cubs sent Dennis Eckersley to Oakland for nothing.) RIP Kenny. And thank you for showing there are Jewish sports stars.
People forget how great Sandy Koufax was as well. Both great Jewish baseball players. RIP ...that was an incredible run for the A's I believe boxer Max Baer was also Jewish..there were quite a few Jewish boxers in my father's era
Add Hank Greenberg to the list. HOF, and from what I've read (a long time ago) he was ridden pretty hard by players and fans because of his heritage, and performed at a high level while carrying himself with dignity and class a la Jackie Robinson. Plus, "The Hebrew Hammer" is one of my all-time favorite baseball nicknames.
