by
Baseball is often about statistics, wins and losses, hits and RBIs and pitcher's ERAs. Seldom is it about sacrifice, conscience and religion.
On a sunny Sunday, a bit on the chilly side, a pregame ceremony at Comerica Park honored legendary Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg, who put up impressive numbers, but also, 80 years ago, chose not to play on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.
That was during the 1934 pennant race. The Tigers lost that day to the New York Yankees, 5-2.
Instead of going to the ball park, Greenberg walked into the Shaarey Zedek synagogue and got a standing ovation. Sacrifice has its rewards.
Decades later, in 1965, another Jewish ball player named Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers refused to pitch on Yom Kippur, which was the first day of the World Series.
Aviva Kempner and John Rosengran schmooze with Brad Ausmus.
You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the sacrifice, though Jews for decades now have talked about the two players not playing on the Jewish high holiday, particularly when they want to impress upon fellow Jews that they shouldn't work on that day.
On Sunday, at the pre-game ceremony, which was part of Jewish Heritage Day, filmmaker Aviva Kempner and John Rosengren were honored. Kempner, a good friend of mine, who grew up in northwest Detroit and now lives in D.C., made a documentary in 1998, "The Life and TImes of Hank Greenberg." Rosengren, who drove in from Minneapolis, is author of the book, "Hank Greenberg, The Hero of Heroes."
Greenberg played for the Tigers from 1933 to 1946. He won the MVP in 1935 and 1940. In 1938, he hit 58 home runs, just falling short of Babe Ruth's record.
Some snippets from Kempner's film were briefly played on the big screen. And Kempner and Rosengren posed with the Tigers two Jewish members, manager Brad Ausmus and Ian Kinsler. A rabbi also posed with the group along with the head of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
Kempner said afterwards: "It's great that people still remember 80 years ago that Hank Greenberg didn't play on Yom Kippur."
As the game got underway, Kempner kept saying that Kinsler should be the hero on Jewish Heritage Day. In the seventh inning, Kinsler hit a two-run homer that put the Tigers in the lead 4-3 against the Cleveland Indians. The Tigers eventually won 6-4.
In the end, in the heat of the the pennant race, it was the score that mattered.
But for a moment, before the game began, it was nice to honor Hank Greenberg, a man who put up impressive numbers, but more importantly, set an example of sacrifice and integrity that is still remembered up until this day.
