List of Jewish American sportspeople
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of famous Jewish American sportspeople. For other famous Jewish Americans, see List of Jewish Americans; for sportspeople from other countries; see List of Jews in sport.
Contents |
[edit] Baseball
Unless otherwise noted, all baseball players sourced from the Chicago Jewish News Online[1] and Wikipedia.
- Cal Abrams, outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers and other teams
- Brad Ausmus, Houston Astros catcher
- Morrie Arnovich
- Moe Berg, catcher and spy
- Ron Blomberg (1948 – ) Major League's first designated hitter[2]
- Lou Boudreau
- Ryan Braun (1983 – ) Major League baseball player with the Milwaukee Brewers[3]
- Craig Breslow
- Harry Danning
- Harry Eisenstadt
- Mike Epstein
- Harry Feldman
- Scott Feldman
- Matt Ford[4]
- Shawn Green[5]
- Sid Gordon, infielder for the New York Yankees
- John Grabow
- Adam Greenberg (1981 – ) former outfielder with the Chicago Cubs[6]
- Hank Greenberg – AL MVP 1935/1940, HoF
- Jason Hirsh
- Ken Holtzman, pitched two major league no-hitters. pitched in the '60s and '70s
- Joe Horlen
- Gabe Kapler, outfielder for the Boston Red Sox
- Benny Kauff – "The Ty Cobb of the Feds"[7]
- Ian Kinsler[8]
- Sandy Koufax – NL MVP 1963, HoF[9]
- Derek Lent - Pitcher for Palatine High School -hobbies include pooing in bags, being a self loathing jew and table tennis.
- Alan Levine
- Jesse Levis - Catcher with Brewers and Indians in the mid 1990s.
- Mike Lieberthal – Lieberthal's father is Jewish, and he is therefore considered Jewish under Reform Judaism, and is also listed as such by the American Jewish Historical Society and others.[213][214][215][216]
- Elliott Maddox, Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Senators, Rangers
- Jason Marquis, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals
- Erskine Mayer
- Marvin Miller – first director of the MLBPA[10]
- Buddy Myer, infielder for Senators in the '30s and '40s
- David Newhan
- Jeff Newman (American baseball player)
- Barney Pelty
- Lefty Phillips, managed the California Angels in late 1960s and early 1970s.
- Lipman Pike, major league baseball's first player.
- Jake Pitler
- Scott Radinsky
- Jimmie Reese
- Dave Roberts (baseball pitcher)
- Al Rosen – AL MVP 1953
- Goodwin Rosen, "Goody"
- Scott Schoeneweis
- Art Shamsky, outfielder and first baseman in the '60s and '70s with the Reds and Mets.
- Larry Sherry, relief pitcher for the Dodgers
- Norm Sherry, pitcher, managed the California Angels
- Mose Solomon – "The Rabbi of Swat"
- Adam Stern[11]
- Steve Stone - 1980 AL Cy Young winner
- Steve Wapnick
- Justin Wayne[12]
- Phil Weintraub
- Steve Yeager, catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers
- Kevin Youkilis[13]
- Eddie Zosky
[edit] Basketball
- Red Auerbach – coach, HoF[14]
- Irv Bemoras (1930 – ) – Basketball player who helped lead the University of Illinois to two Big Ten titles (1951 and 1952), while being named first team All-Big Ten and second team All-American in 1953. After college, Irv played in the NBA for the Milwaukee Hawks in 1953-1954 and with the St. Louis Hawks in 1956-1957.[15]
- Senda Berenson Abbott – educator & sportswoman, HoF[16]
- Stan Jacobs, one of the best Dallas Jewish Community Center basketball players. Graduated from J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas.
- David Bluthenthal (1980 – ) NBA player[17]
- Larry Brown – basketball coach, player, MVP first ABA all-star game, HoF[18]
- Jordan Farmar (1986 – ) Basketball player who was drafted 26th in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers; was previously been the starting point guard for the UCLA men's basketball team[19]
- Lawrence Frank – coach of NBA New Jersey Nets[20]
- Marty Friedman - player, HoF[21]
- Dutch Garfinkel – player[22]
- Ernie Grunfeld – player, US Olympic team, NBA[23]
- Edward Gottlieb – NBA co-founder, HoF[24]
- Art Heyman – player, all-time Duke great, NBA[25]
- Nate Huffman – Toronto Raptors niche... NBB intercamp basketball tourney figurehead
- Nat Holman – player & coach, HoF[26]
- Red Holzman – coach, HoF, NBA player[27]
- Louis Klotz – player for Baltimore Bullets, and founder of the Washington Generals touring exhibition team[28]
- Nancy Lieberman – player, HoF[29]
- Harry Litwack – coach, HoF[30]
- Lennie Rosenbluth – 1957 college basketball player of the year
- Danny Schayes – NBA player[31]
- Dolph Schayes – player, HoF[32]
- Ossie Schectman – scored first basket of NBA (1946)[33]
- Jon Scheyer – Shooting guard for Duke University.
[217]</ref>
- Barney Sedran – player, HoF[34]
- Neal Walk – NBA player[35]
[edit] Boxing
- Ray Arcel – trainer, HoF[36]
- Bob Arum – promoter, HoF[37]
- Abe Attell – world featherweight champion, HoF[38]
- Max Baer – world heavyweight champion[39]
- Benny Bass – world featherweight champion, HoF[40]
- Samuel Berger – first Olympic heavyweight champion[41]
- Jack Bernstein – world junior lightweight champion[42]
- "Mushy" Callahan – world junior-welterweight champion, HoF[43]
- Joe Choynski – heavyweight fighter, HoF[44]
- Al "Bummy" Davis, AKA "The Brownsville Bum", controversial lightweight and welterweight star of the 1930s and 1940s with a devastating left hook[45]
- Charley Goldman – trainer, HoF[46]
- Abe Goldstein – world bantamweight champion[47]
- Mike Jacobs – promoter, HoF[48]
- Ben Jeby – world middleweight champion[49]
- Jackie Kallen – promoter[50]
- Louis Kid Kaplan – world featherweight champion, HoF[51]
- Solly Krieger – world middleweight champion[52]
- Benny Leonard – world lightweight champion, HoF[53]
- Battling Levinsky – world light-heavyweight champion, HoF[54]
- Ted "Kid" Lewis – World Welterweight Champion, HoF[55]
- Saoul Mamby – world junior-welterweight champion[56]
- Al McCoy – world welterweight champion[57]
- Jill Matthews – world junior-flyweight champion[58]
- Bob Olin – world light-heavyweight champion[59]
- Bob Penn – Promoter, Trainer, Owner 1948
- Charley "Phil" Rosenberg – world bantamweight champion[60]
- Dana Rosenblatt – world middleweight champion[61]
- Maxie Rosenbloom – world light-heavyweight champion, HoF[62]
- Barney Ross – world lightweight and welterweight champion, HoF[63]
- Mike Rossman – world light-heavyweight champion[64]
- "Corporal" Izzy Schwartz – world flyweight champion[65]
- Al Singer – world lightweight champion, HoF[66]
- Lew Tendler – "greatest southpaw in ring history", HoF[67]
[edit] Fencing
- Norman Armitage – fencer; 10-time US sabre champion
- Albert Axelrod – fencer; 4-time US foil champion, and Olympic bronze medalist[68]
- Cliff Bayer – fencer; 4-time US foil champion
- Tamir Bloom – fencer; 2-time US epee champion
- Emily Jacobson – fencer; 2004 Women's World Sabre Junior Champion
- Sada Jacobson – fencer; Olympic Bronze Medalist, and ranked # 1 in the world in 2004[69]
- Dan Kellner – fencer; 1-time US foil champion
- Allan Kwartler – fencer; Gold Medalist in the Pan American Games (sabre) and Maccabiah Games (sabre and foil)[70]
- Helene Mayer – fencer; 4-time Women's World Foil Champion; 8-time US champion; and Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist
- Jonathan Tiomkin – fencier; 2-time US foil champion
- George Worth – fencer; 1-time US sabre champion, and Olympic Bronze Medalist
[edit] Football
- Lyle Alzado[71]
- Harris Barton[72]
- Jeremy Bloom[73]
- Al Davis NFL franchise owner, Oakland Raiders
- Jay Fiedler,[74] Quarterback, Dolphins. Presently with the New York Jets as backup quarterback.
- John Frank
- Benny Friedman – PFHoF, CFHoF[75]
- Sid Gillman – coach, PFHoF, CFHoF[76]
- Marshall Goldberg – player, CFHoF[77]
- Randy Grossman – player, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end during the 1970s[78]
- Robbie Gould – Kicker for the Chicago Bears. [79]
- Marv Levy – coach, PFHoF[80]
- Benny Lom[81]
- Sid Luckman – player, PFHoF, CFHoF[82]
- Josh Miller[83]
- Ron Mix – player, PFHoF[84]
- Igor Olshansky[85]
- Sage Rosenfels[86]
- Mike Rosenthal[87]
- Allie Sherman – former head coach of the New York Giants[88]
- Alan Veingrad[89]
- Gary Wood – New York Giants quarterback[90]
[edit] Golf
- Amy Alcott[91]
- Jonathan Kaye[92]
- Morgan Pressel (1988 – ) professional golfer[93]
- Corey Pavin Lead PGA golfer of the mid-70s to mid-80s[94]
- Jordan Rabb
[edit] Hockey
- Gary Bettman – NHL commissioner[95]
- Hyman (Hy) Buller[96]
- Michael Cammalleri
- Sara DeCosta[97]
- Jeff Halpern[98]
- Eric Nystrom (1983 – ) ice hockey left winger and the son of former National Hockey League player Bob Nystrom[99]
- Mathieu Schneider[100]
- Evgeni Malkin (2006 - ) ice hockey forward with the Pittsburgh Penguins
- Evan Segal (2006 - ) Ice hockey defenseman with the Newton Messiahs of the AHL
- Jeremy Jacobs Ice hockey franchise owner Boston Bruins
[edit] Miscellaneous Sports
- Sidney Franklin – bullfighter[101]
- Alan Gelfand – skateboarder, inventor of the ollie[102]
- Bill Goldberg – professional wrestler[103]
- Vic Hershkowitz – handball champion[104]
- Marshall Holman – bowling champion[105]
- Jimmy Jacobs – handball champion, boxing coach[106]
- Mark Roth – bowling champion[107]
- Kerri Strug – gymnast[108]
- Joshua Salzberg - Canadian High School Basketball
- Ross Halpern - Halo 6 year old champion (owns Dan Groob)
[edit] Motor sports
- Kenny Bernstein – drag racer[109]
- Paul Newman – auto racer & team owner[110]
- Peter Revson – F1 racer[111]
- Mauri Rose – Indy 500 racer[112]
[edit] Power sports
- Isaac Berger – Olympic weightlifter (1g2s)[113]
- Bill Goldberg – professional wrestler[114]
- Scott Levy – professional wrestler (Raven)[115]
- Dean Malenko – professional wrestler[116]
- Amy Weisberger – powerlifter[117]
- Henry Wittenberg – Olympic wrestler (1g1s)[118]
[edit] Skating
- Benjamin Agosto – ice dancer[119]
- Sasha Cohen (1984 – ) figure skater, the reigning U.S. National Champion and silver medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.[120]
- Loren Galler-Rabinowitz (1986 – ) figure skater, competes with partner David Mitchell; won the bronze medal at the 2004 U.S. Figure Skating Championships[121]
- Melissa Gregory (1981 – ) figure skater, currently competes in ice dance with Denis Petukhov[122]
- Emily Hughes (1989 – ) figure skater[123]
- Sarah Hughes – Olympic champion[124]
- Irving Jaffee – speed skating champion[125]
- Jamie Silverstein (1983 – ) figure skater, most recently competed in ice dance with Ryan O'Meara, together capturing the Bronze medal at the 2006 United States Figure Skating Championships, also competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics[126]
Edan Posner
[edit] Skiing
- Jeremy Bloom – Olympic skier/model/NFL football player[127]
[edit] Soccer
- Jeff Agoos[128]
- Jonathan Bornstein (1984 – ) soccer defender, plays for C.D. Chivas USA of Major League Soccer[129]
- Dan Calichman[130]
- Benny Feilhaber (1985 – ) professional soccer player, plays for Hamburger SV in the German Bundesliga[131]
- Don Garber – commissioner[132]
- Shep Messing[133]
- Sara Whalen[134]
- Ethan Zohn[135]
- Dave Sarachan[136]
[edit] Swimming
- Tiffany Cohen – Olympic swimmer (2g)[137]
- Anthony Ervin – Olympic swimmer (1g1s)[138]
- Lenny Krayzelburg – Olympic swimmer (3g)[139]
- Jason Lezak – Olympic swimmer (2g1s1b)[140]
- Keena Rothhammer – Olympic swimmer (1g1s)[141]
- Mark Spitz (1972 – ) Olympic swimmer (9g1s1b), holds the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympic Games (seven), set at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany[142]
- Dara Torres – Olympic swimmer (4g1s4b)[143]
- ((Louis C Abelson))-CCNY Hall of Fame, All American, First Maccabia
[edit] Tennis and racquet sports
- Brad Gilbert – tennis player & coach[144]
- Justin Gimelstob – tennis player
- Paul Goldstein (1976 – ) tennis player who turned professional in 1998[145]
- Brian Gottfried – tennis player[146]
- Marty Hogan – racquetball player[147]
- Aaron Krickstein – tennis player[148]
- Victor Niederhoffer – squash player[149]
- Richard Savitt – tennis player[150]
- Mike Yellen – racquetball player[151]
- Shahar Pe'er – Tennis Player
- Harold Solomon – top 10 player in early seventies
[edit] Track and Field
- Gerald Ashworth – World record holder - 100 yards, 100 meters - 1964 Olympic track athlete-gold medal[152]
- Adam Copeland – profession wrestler*Louis Clarke - olympic gold medal, 4X100-meter relay[153]
- Hugo Friend – long jump, Olympic bronze medal[154]
- James Fuchs – shot put, Olympic bronze medal[155]
- Daniel Frank – long jump, Olympic silver medal[156]
- Marty Glickman – Sprinter/Football Player/Sportscaster[157]
- Doug Heir – Paralympic athlete (6g2s2b)[158]
- Charles Jacobs – Bronze medal, Olympic pole vault[159]
- Deena Kastor – long-distance runner[160]
- Abel Kiviat – middle-distance runner[161]
- Alvah Meyer – Silver medal, 100 meter dash, 1912 Olympics[162]
- Lon Myers – 19th century running champion[163]
- Myer Prinstein – Olympic jumper (4g1s)[164]
- Steve Seymour – javelin throw, Olympic Silver medal[165]
Harold Abrahams
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ [1]
- ^ Blomberg - [2] "Ron Blomberg... Big, hulking Jewish kid from Atlanta."
- ^ [3] "He is the highest drafted Jewish baseballer since Justin Wayne went also went 5th in 2000."
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5] [6]
- ^ [7] "Last week, Jewish OFs Adam Greenberg..."
- ^ [8]
- ^ [9] "Add Ian Kinsler to the names of Jewish major leaguers."
- ^ [10]
- ^ [11]
- ^ [12] "Olympic experience thrills Canadian Jewish ballplayer..."
- ^ [13]
- ^ [14] "two Jewish back-ups have had a chance to play: third baseman Kevin Youkilis and right fielder Gabe Kapler." [15]
- ^ [16]
- ^ [17]
- ^ [18]
- ^ [19] "Jewish shooting star aims to make his mark in NBA... Bluthenthal’s late mother was Jewish and his father is black — the family name Bluthenthal originated with a slave owner David Bluthenthal believes was German-Jewish."
- ^ [20] "Brown is the fifth Jewish Head Coach to win an NBA title..."
- ^ [21] "Bruin fans call him the Jewish Jordan...He's a real, live Jewish kid from the heart of Los Angeles, whose step-father is Israeli and has visited Israel twice" [22]
- ^ [23] "“Even though I’m Jewish,” he says, “I joined a CYO team and became the player-coach. It’s the only thing I have in common with Bill Russell.”"
- ^ [24]
- ^ [25] "first 6 winners, including Dutch Garfinkel, were Jewish..."
- ^ [26]
- ^ [27]
- ^ [28]
- ^ [29] "Holman was always very conscious of being Jewish..."
- ^ [30] [31]
- ^ [32]
- ^ [33] [34]
- ^ [35] [36]
- ^ [37] [38]
- ^ [39] [40]
- ^ [41] [42]
- ^ [43] [44]
- ^ [45]
- ^ [46] [47]
- ^ [48]
- ^ [49] [50]
- ^ [51] "...who could better serve as a contrast to the Irish Catholic family man from New Jersey than a tough, mouthy Jewish kid with a million-dollar strut named Max Baer?" [52]
- ^ [53]
- ^ [54]
- ^ [55]
- ^ [56]
- ^ [57] [58]
- ^ ..."You want to make money fighting, don't you? People like to come to fights to see guys they think are tough." So Davis became known as Bummy, though he was not a bum, either as a boxer or as a person. His tragic -- and violent --death was indicative of the way he lived his life. In 1945, at the age of 25, Davis was fatally shot to death while coming to the defense of a barkeep during a robbery attempt.</r>[59]
- ^ [60]
- ^ [61]
- ^ [62]
- ^ [63]
- ^ [64] "The “First Lady of Boxing” is often asked what a nice Jewish girl like her is doing in a sport like that."
- ^ [65] [66]
- ^ [67] [68]
- ^ [69] [70]
- ^ [71]
- ^ [72]
- ^ [73]
- ^ [74] [75]
- ^ [76] [77]
- ^ [78]
- ^ [79] [80]
- ^ [81]
- ^ [82] [83]
- ^ [84] [85]
- ^ [86]
- ^ [87]
- ^ [88] [89]
- ^ [90]
- ^ [91]
- ^ [92]
- ^ [93]
- ^ [94] [95]
- ^ [96]
- ^ [97] "Jewish skier comes back to his true love - football..."
- ^ [98]
- ^ [99] [100]
- ^ [101] [102]
- ^ [103]
- ^ [104]
- ^ [105]
- ^ [106][107]
- ^ [108] [109]
- ^ [110]
- ^ [111] [112]
- ^ [113]
- ^ [114] [115]
- ^ [116] [117]
- ^ [http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?050923+nfl
- ^ [118] [119]
- ^ [120]
- ^ [121]
- ^ [122] [123]
- ^ [124]
- ^ [125] [126]
- ^ [127]
- ^ [128]
- ^ [129]
- ^ [130] [131]
- ^ [132] [133]
- ^ [134] "Nystrom is the highest Jewish draft pick in NHL draft history"
- ^ [135] [136]
- ^ [137]
- ^ [138]
- ^ [139] "The man who made his name as a Jewish pro wrestler talks about his recent religious awakening"
- ^ [140]
- ^ [141] [142]
- ^ [143] [144]
- ^ [145]
- ^ [146] [147]
- ^ [148]
- ^ [149] "Newman self-identifies as Jewish, "because it's more of a challenge", per Earl Blackwell (1991)."
- ^ [150]
- ^ [151]
- ^ [152]
- ^ [153]
- ^ [154]
- ^ [155]
- ^ [156]
- ^ [157] [158]
- ^ [159]
- ^ [160] "2006 Jewish-American Olympians to watch for... Ice skater Sasha Cohen" [161] [162]
- ^ Galler-Rabinowitz - [163]
- ^ [164] "2006 Jewish-American Olympians to watch for in Turin... Melissa Gregory" [165] "Gregory is the daughter of a Jewish mother and a non-practicing Catholic father. She now lives in Connecticut to train and Gregory recently spoke to the Connecticut Jewish Ledger about her religious background: "We [my brother and I] were brought up with the feeling that you have to believe in G-d. You have to believe in right and wrong. The rest they kind of left up to us. We celebrated everything-Christmas, Hanukkah, all the Jewish holidays, Easter. They taught us both traditions. Then when we got older they said whatever we chose and whatever we wanted was good with them. I identify that my heritage is Jewish. I feel proud of it.""
- ^ [166] "Emily Hughes—whose sister Sarah won the 2002 Olympic gold medal in women's figureskating—also is Jewish."
- ^ [167] [168]
- ^ [169]
- ^ [170] "2006 Jewish-American Olympians to watch for in Turin! Ice dancer Jamie Silverstein"
- ^ [171] "Jewish skier comes back to his true love - football..."
- ^ [172]
- ^ Bornstein - named as on "Jewish Sports Review Men's All-America First-Team" at [173]; [174] ""It was amazing. It was great. I loved it. It made me realize how fulfilling and enriched Jewish culture really is," Bornstein said. "So in the past couple years, I've felt more Jewish than ever." His father is Jewish and his mother is a non-Jew from Mexico. Bornstein grew up celebrating Passover and Rosh Hashanah with relatives. He did not have a bar mitzvah, and he doesn't consider himself observant. The Maccabiah experience was a way for him to connect with Judaism."
- ^ [175]
- ^ Feilhaber - [176] "Outside of my UCLA teammate Benny Feilhaber, I never really thought there were other high-class Jewish soccer players out there"
- ^ [177]
- ^ [178]
- ^ [179]
- ^ [180]
- ^ [181]
- ^ [182]
- ^ [183]
- ^ [184]
- ^ [185] [186]
- ^ [187]
- ^ Spitz - [188] "Spitz became the first Jewish recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award..."
- ^ [189]
- ^ [190]
- ^ [191] ""He knows he's Jewish and the values are there with him," said Clark Goldstein, Paul's father."
- ^ [192]
- ^ [193] [194]
- ^ [195]
- ^ [196]
- ^ [197]
- ^ [198]
- ^ http://www.jewishsports.net/medalists.htm
- ^ [199]
- ^ [http://www.jewishsports.net/medalists.htm
- ^ [200]
- ^ [201]
- ^ [202]
- ^ [203]
- ^ [204]
- ^ [205]
- ^ [206]
- ^ [207]
- ^ [208] [209]
- ^ [210] [211]
- ^ [212]
