Jewish Ballplayer Cards Now Available

The 2008 edition of Jewish Major Leaguer Baseball cards – the third update set since the popular inaugural edition appeared in 2003 – will feature a commemorative 10-card subset honoring Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg’s 75th anniversary of his rookie season. The cards are available at the website of the American Jewish Historical Society, www.AJHS.org.

This year’s set also includes Shawn Green, whose retirement left him three homers behind Greenberg. The subset is written by former New York Times columnist Ira Berkow, who shared a Pulitzer Prize at the paper, and who served as Greenberg’s biographer.

The 2008 edition, now available, is a 50-card set, and includes a full list of all Jewish Major Leaguers of all time; cards depicting all 14 Jewish players who appeared in the majors in 2007 (including Green, Brad Ausmus, Mike Lieberthal, Scott Schoeneweis, Jason Marquis, John Grabow, Kevin Youkilis, Adam Stern, Scott Feldman, Ian Kinsler, Jason Hirsh, Sam Fuld and Ryan Braun, the first Jewish rookie of the year); and career leader cards in pitching and hitting categories.

Rounding out the set are a potpourri of interesting cards, including Albert Von Tilzer, who co-wrote “Take Me out to the Ballgame” 100 years ago; Barney Dreyfuss, newly elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as the original owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and creator of the modern World Series; memoriam cards for Larry Sherry, Mickey Rutner and Lou Limmer, a card honoring the Israel Baseball League’s inaugural season; newly-discovered JML Bob Katz; former Angels manager Lefty Phillips (the only Jewish manager who was never a major league player, and thus, not before included in a set); and minor league manager Gabe Kapler, now “un-retired.”

This year’s edition is printed by Upper Deck, and is limited to 5,000 sets. The cards, again produced by Jewish Major Leaguers Inc., are provided as a premium when one makes a tax-deductible donation of $100 to the American Jewish Historic Society, which includes all membership benefits. The gift can also be made by calling (866) 740-8013.