Leon Feingold

Leon Feingold (born May 1, 1973) is a baseball player from Oceanside, New York.

He was the first pitcher drafted by the Netanya Tigers in the Israel Baseball League (IBL).^[1] The former Cleveland Indians minor leaguer was named to the IBL All-Star team, and was the IBL Player of the Year.^[2][3]

In college, he pitched for the State University of New York at Albany in 1990–94. He then pitched in the Cleveland Indians system from 1994–95, the independent Atlantic League in 1999, and also played for the Pleasantville Red Sox.

He has also gained international repute as a competitive eater. Known as "Justice", Feingold was ranked as high as #12 in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.^[4] He won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Regionals three times, and competed in the July 4 World Championships at Coney Island three times. He was the second person in history to complete successfully the Carnegie Deli Challenge (two 3½ pound sandwiches of turkey, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and toppings in one sitting), doing it in just under two hours (Ed "Cookie" Jarvis completed the challenge the same day an hour later, after three hours of eating).^[5] He has appeared on several televised eating contests, including the US Open of Competitive Eating^[6] and the Glutton Bowl.^[7]

Currently the President, Feingold has served as Vice President and director of the Greater New York chapter of Mensa, the largest chapter of the high IQ society in the world.^[8] He was also Master of his Masonic Lodge, Perfect Square #204, in New York City, chartered by the Grand Lodge of New York.

He lives in Manhattan and runs the real estate brokerage Masonic Realty,^[9] and co-manages a sports and entertainment law firm, Bring Heat Industries.

Feingold has become a polyamory activist on a national scope; he cohosts "Poly Wanna Answer?" a monthly polyamorous relationship advice column,^[10] and has appeared solo or with others to discuss responsible nonmonogamy as a guest on The View, Huffington Post (twice), PolyInTheMedia, Jezebel, and several other online, print, and television media,^[11][12][13] plus a featured spot in the HBO movie "Americans in Bed".^[14] In May 2014 he helped launch New York's first openly polyamorous residence as its spokesperson, broker, and attorney.^[15] He gave a TED Talk on polyamory at TEDxBushwick on March 21, 2015.^[16][17]

References

Further reading

Ruttman, Larry (2013). "Leon Feingold: Israel Baseball League Player of the Year, Jewish Physical and Mental Giant". American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball. Lincoln, Nebraska and London, England: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 355–365. ISBN 978-0-8032-6475-5.  This chapter in Ruttman's oral history, based on a June 13, 2007 interview with Feingold conducted for the book, discusses Feingold's American, Jewish, baseball, and life experiences from youth to the present.