8 Nights of Jewish Tigers– Nights 4 and 5

OK, yeah, sorry, Night 4 got kind of wiped out by the Alamo Bowl, as that rather effectively kept me away from any kind of holiday mood. This is Night 5, but his history involves a couple of other Jewish baseball players (not Tigers), so we’ll let him make up for last night’s incompetent-referee-assisted lack of update. And I was out all night Friday and suffered greatly at the hands of the Boston road system, so night 6 will get posted sometime this afternoon and, um, yeah, they’ll all be up eventually.

Larry Sherry

Terrible photo on that card, isn’t it? You’d think they would use better shots for baseball cards, but sometimes even the ones they come out with today are pretty bloody goofy.

Sherry, a right-handed relief pitcher, played in Detroit for four seasons. The first three were pretty good years, and he hit his career high of saves (20) in 1966, but the 4th year saw his ERA ballooning upwards. The Tigers used him sparingly, and he ended up in Houston the next season. He pitched out that year and a subsequent year on the yet-to-be-so-designated Rally Monkey Angels, but his ERA never recovered, and he retired to go into coaching.

Sherry was born with two clubfeet and had surgery to correct them, much like Jim Mecir. Unlike Mecir, however, who pushes off the rubber funny and throws a screwball because of this, Sherry’s bread and butter pitch was a sort of variable-speed slider.

He did have some memorable (or unfortunate) times in Detroit. In August of 1964 Sherry had his foot broken for him when a comeback linedrive bounced off of it, shutting him down for the rest of the year. In September of 1965 Pedro Gonzalez tried to whale on him with a bat during a game.

His best days, were definitely with the Dodgers. The most memorable Larry Sherry moments took place in the postseason with the Dodgers, before his tenure in Detroit. With LA he was murderously good in relief during the 1959 World Series, picking up 2 saves and 2 wins. Also with that Dodger squad (and here are your bonus Jews) was Larry’s brother Norm, a reserve catcher, and, of course, Sandy Koufax. The three were pretty good friends, going out to eat around the ballpark and such.

Larry pitched to Norm during several games, making them the first ever Jewish brother battery in baseball.

8 Nights of Jewish Tigers– Night Three

For the third night of Chanukah we have the… er, OK, he was here more recently than Kapler, but for the sake of this thing we’ll call him the sort-of third most recent Jewish Tiger.

Brad Ausmus

Ausmus played for the Tigers during part of the ’96 season, and returned to play again in 1999 and 2000. In ’99 he went to the All Star Game, and he won Gold Gloves in 2001 and 2002 as a catcher with the Astros. He’s never been an overpowering offensive force (as is true with most catchers not named “Pudge” or “Varitek”) but he hit over .265 in both of his full seasons with the Tigers, which isn’t bad (compared to, say… Vance).

Now 36, Ausmus is on the downward slide of catcherdom, and his arm isn’t nearly what it used to be. His reactions behind the plate are still supposedly pretty good, though, and his ability to work with his pitchers is highly and widely praised. He is (or perhaps by now was) pretty speedy for a catcher, stealing 16 bases in 1991 and becoming the first Tiger catcher since Bruce Kimm (’76) to hit in the leadoff spot (it was only for a few games).

Ausmus was attending Dartmouth when he was drafted by the Yankees, but refused to sign unless they agreed to let him take classes while in the minors (his initial balking may have also had something to do with the fact that he was a lifelong, diehard Red Sox fan). In ’91 he graduated with a degree in Government, making him one of the relatively few major leaguers to actually have completed college degrees, especially in real subjects that aren’t “general studies” or “kinesiology” or “beer” (Michigan State only).

It’s unclear whether he’s a practicing Jew (either religiously or ‘culturally’), but in any event he was born into a mixed marriage: his mother is Jewish and his father is not. He may have been bar mitzvahed, or he may not have been, but according to Jewish law, it’s the religion of the mother that hereditarily determines the religion of the child, so, practicing or not, Ausmus is in fact technically Jewish.

8 Nights of Jewish Tigers– Night Two

OK, more like Really Rather Late on Night Two, and More in the Wee Hours of Day 3, but I was out all day, and then had to watch Monday Night Football with some friends, and before you know it Chanukah is marching on. Ah well.

For Night Two we’re going with the next most recent Jewish Tiger, after Levine.

Gabe Kapler

And really, any excuse to break out that photo is a good one.

Kapler started out in the Tigers system, drafted by them in 1995 and staying on through the ’99 season, although he only really had significant time as a Detroit Tiger at the major league level in his last year with the organization. In that season he posted a .245/.315/.447 line. Most of his better numbers would come with his subsequent teams– the Rangers, the Rockies (although a career-relative elevated batting average in that park is not surprising) and the Red Sox, whom he helped win the 2004 World Series.

This past season Kapler began in Japan, having opted to leave Boston for the chance to play every day overseas. Japan, however, did not agree with him, and before the year was out Kapler had returned to Fenway, much to the glee of the Boston faithful. However, his luck would not last and Kapler ruptured his Achille’s tendon while rounding the bases after a Tony Graffanino homerun, collapsing on the basepaths in what truly appeared to be a freak occurrence.

Kapler is Jewish and, like Levine, is proud of that, although unlike Levine he does not embrace the religious aspects of his Judaism so wholeheartedly, saying that he is more culturally Jewish than religiously so.

That’s where I identify the most: heritage, blood, history… I’m so proud to be who I am. I’m so proud of where I come from. I feel very strongly about being a strong Jew, not necessarily from a religious aspect.”
JewishSports.com

While Kapler is perhaps best remembered in Detroit as the prospect who never quite showed the power he had the potential for, he is known most everywhere as a player smart and likable enough to quite thoroughly overcome the ‘utility’ label. And, as Red Sox fans who watched all available footage on NESN last year will surely remember, he’s Jewish enough to wear tshirts that say “Challah Back” across the shoulders. You can’t fail to love a player like that.

8 Nights of Jewish Tigers– Night One

It being the holiday season and all, I thought it would be nice to have a special holiday event here at Roar of the Tigers. Last year I did 8 Days of Jewish Baseball at my other site (you can find them on the sidebar if you scroll down). I’m doing something different over there this year, and you here at RotT are getting the 8 Nights of Jewish Tigers. Every night of Chanukah we’ll have a look at a different former Jewish Detroit Tiger (as there aren’t any Jews on the current team, sadly), and baseball fans Jew and gentile alike shall be filled with educatin’ joys.

If you were reading me last year, you will recognize that some of the ballplayers profiled are repeats, but the dearth of Jewish baseball players at the professional level (and the fact that 3 more-or-less current players used to be on the Tigers) makes this necessary.

For the first night we start with what I believe is the most recent Jewish Tiger,

Al Levine

Levine is a 37 year old right-handed relief pitcher who worked in a little over 70 innings for the Tigers in 2004. He was cut loose after that season and glommed on with San Francisco at some point this past year, where he was probably viewed as a fount of youthful spriteliness.

Born and raised in Illinois, he was originally drafted out of Southern Illinois University by (and spent 7 years in) the Chicago Wrong Sox organization, which I guess must have been nice for him. He hopped around after that, doing some time in Arlington and bouncing between the majors and minors as part of the Rally Monkey Angels World Series year. 2003 was split between Tampa and Kansas City before the Tigers picked him up for ’04, which was probably comforting, as even Detroit fresh off the ’03 season seems at least nominally less depressing than a D’Rays/Royals combo platter.

Levine’s one-year tenure with the Tigers wasn’t spectacular but wasn’t the most horrible thing the Bengals have seen (not that this is saying much). He ended it with a 4.59 ERA and a 3-4 record, but at least his ratio of Ks to walks was, well, positive. With enough ABs he doesn’t show a huge difference in performance against righties and lefties. After only pitching in a little over 10 innings for the Giants and throwing up an ERA of well over 9.00, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be back with them next year. He may retire; I’m not at all sure, it’s a bit difficult to find news on the poor guy.

The important bit, however, is that he is, in fact, Jewish. He attended Hebrew School as a kid in Illinois, was bar mitzvahed, the whole gantzeh megillah.

Of being a Jewish baseball player, he says,

I get a lot of mail from Jewish fans, and am always more than happy to respond. I’m proud, actually. And when I’m watching sporting events, I always look to see which other athletes might be Jewish…

One of the great things about baseball is that players of all ethnicities are in the league. So religion or background don’t matter on the field. It’s playing hard that means something.
Jewish Journal

Jewish Tiger Number 2 will be up at some point tomorrow (probably on the later end, as I’ll be out all day), so be sure to check back, and hope you’re all having Stripe-tastic holidays thus far (or did, if you’re Christian and all that’s left is cleaning up the wrapping paper.

Victory is ours!!!!11!!1eleventy-one

I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this yet. My only excuse is the drag of finals.

Kenny Rogers? Todd Jones? Whatever, man.

All indications point to the re-signing of Vance Wilson!

Last I heard it was a proposed one-year deal for $750,000, which careful research (a visit to his ESPN profile page) shows to be a cut of 10 thou from last season. Still, I expect this deal to get done. Where the hell else is he going to go?

And why would he want to leave his burgeoning cult following? It only just got kicked off last season, it could flower into something truly beautiful and disturbing next year, especially if his hitting normalizes somewhere over the vast mountaintop that is .200.

By the by, Vance’s middle name is Allen. Bonderman’s middle name is Allen. HAPPENSTANCE or FATE? I think we all know the answer to that one!

The future is now! And the future is an aging, light-hitting, and inexplicably likable backup catcher named Vance Wilson!

Let the winning commence!

Coming and going on little cats’ feet.

Aw jeez. Winter meetings, I can’t handle this stuff.

We seem to have got Todd Jones which, alright, not a bad deal, depending on the money, which I haven’t seen yet. The former Tiger had a career year last season, inexplicably going from a couple over-4.00-ERA years and a lovely over-7.00-ERA year to a startling 2.10. What stands out is his lowest walk total in, um, ever. If he can keep that up, this could be worthwhile.

Look, it’s not as though we’re going to convince great free agents to come here just on the merits of the city, I think we’ve sadly seen that. Todd Jones knows Detroit, though, and obviously wasn’t so put off that he won’t come back for the right price. I guess part of the hope is that he’ll be good for the clubhouse and some of the kids in the ‘pen.

Plus now he and Nate can grow gigantic walrus mustaches in tandem.

We also failed to offer arbitration to Fernando Vina (that’s fine), Rondell White (I kind of expected it), Bobby Higginson (SHOCKER OF THE CENTURY), and Jason Johnson (….).

I do NOT know why we didn’t offer arb to JJ. Yes, he’s not that great a pitcher when he gets into one of his (usually second-half) slumps, but he was very very good for stretches this past season, and, um, have the Tigers actually seen the market for pitching this offseason? Did they not think it might be prudent to hang onto an extra arm who can, if nothing else, eat some innings? Did they not think that JJ would be pretty much assured of getting multiple years somewhere else, thus making him likely to decline arb and giving the Tigers draft picks?

Ugh.

As of right now it doesn’t look like we’re trading Pudge, which is good, because Brandon Inge can stay right where he is and right where we like him.

Also, Dmitri has decided to not be fat. And I quote: “My big ass is an athlete.” Let’s hope he can pull it off. Maybe we should have him working out with Pudge this winter.

edit: Anyone in the universe think we’d have a shot at Barry Zito? Just mulling it over.

Concerned Citizens

All this talk of trading Pudge has got me concerned. Not because I’m dead set on Pudge being back next year… I’m a Pudge fan, but really more a fan of the abstract Pudge, the Pudge who has a gun from behind the plate and is historically one of the best catchers in the game, not the Pudge who makes a ruckus in the clubhouse and may or may not be on steroids. I wouldn’t be wholeheartedly against moving him if we could get value back.

But unless we pick up a starting catcher along the lines of a Molina, moving Pudge would probably mean one very sad thing for the Tigers: Brandon Inge back behind the plate.

In case you haven’t spoken to me recently and are unaware of my stance on this issue, let me refresh you.

1. Brandon Inge is going to be a great player as soon as we stop dicking him around and let him get his feet.

2. Brandon Inge can hit major league pitching. He needs to stop with the streakiness, but we know he’s capable.

3. Brandon Inge is a great athlete more than capable of playing multiple positions. He is best suited to an acrobatic infield position, though.

4. Brandon Inge is goofy and lovable and is my favorite Tiger. Much as I love him, I fully understand that the catching position requires a certain amount of intellectual power, to be able to handle a pitching staff, and Brandon Inge may not be the best-suited individual for this position.

5. Brandon Inge cannot hit while also concentrating on handling an entire pitching staff.

6. Brandon Inge should be a Tiger lifer because Paws knows we haven’t had one of those in a while.

The point of all this is that we should all join the campaign.

Click for big.

Stand up, concerned citizens! Stand in solidarity for the continued presence of Brandon Inge at third base! We all know, deep down in our hearts, that it’s best. Feel free to take and spread the banner, this is an important matter and we must stand together for it.

Keep Brandon Inge, and Keep Him At Third Base!

Teams of Yore. Um, or something.

Ralph Houk! Billy Martin! And a tiger!

I’m in a video class, see, and my final video is about the Tigers. This means I got to do some interviews in varying levels of awkwardness (hallmate Jim giggling nervously because he doesn’t really know much about the Tigers; my cousin Sam having nothing to say about Comerica apart from his experiences with the suite dessert cart) and awesomeity (my dad and his friends singing ‘Go Get ‘Em Tigers’ loudly and offkey; my uncle noting how Ty Cobb’s statue is surrounded by people he would have hated; my friend Mike talking for, no kidding, 15 minutes straight about everything that’s wrong with Comerica compared to Tiger Stadium).

It also means that, thanks to one of my dad’s friends whom we saw over Thanksgiving, I have some great old Tigers photos scanned in from old programs.

Behold!

Willie Horton and Al Kaline have hugs!

Mickey Stanley enjoys soda pop without his shirt on!

Mickey Lolich is literate!

BILL FREEHAN WANTS YOU TO DRINK VERNORS! It fills the gap between sweet and bitey!

It’s turning into a pretty funny video so far. Pity the only audience will be a class of art students who won’t understand 2/3rds of what’s in it.