This book is not yet out, but the link is to an artcle interviewing the author.
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/newton/articles/2010/04/11/brookline_author_explores_role_of_jews_in_baseball/?page=1Jewish participation in professional baseball is at an all-time high, according to Abramowitz. There have been 14 Jewish players in each of the last few seasons, and more in the past 10 years than in any other decade, he said.
And, he said, said the Jewish influence continues off the field as well, with Selig’s role as commissioner, and others involved with unions and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ruttman said he began his book project in Israel, where he traveled in 2007 to interview players in a new baseball league.
Since then, he said, he has interviewed fellow Brookline native and Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, the president of the New York Yankees organization, Randy Levine, and Al Rosen, the unanimous American League MVP in 1953 as a Cleveland Indian.
Ruttman traveled to Tarzana, Calif., to meet former Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler at 6 a.m. at a Starbucks.
He interviewed Marvin Miller, the former head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, who helped usher in free agency, and spoke with former major league umpire Al Clark, who went to jail on fraud charges for selling autographed baseballs that he said had been used in real games.
Ruttman said he also interviewed the family of the late Hank Greenberg, a Hall of Fame outfielder who is considered alongside Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax as the greatest Jewish baseball player of all time. Koufax declined an interview for the book, Ruttman said.
But Ruttman hasn’t overlooked more obscure Jewish influences on the sport either. His book will feature conversations with US Representative Barney Frank of Newton, and Jeffrey Maier, who at age 12 in 1996 deflected a fly ball hit by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter into the stands for what was ruled a game-tying home run.
