Hey all, thanks much for the feedback. I was flattered that Salon agreed to publish my article, and enjoyed the comments below, both praising and critiquing the piece. I'll try and address as many points as I can:

Moe Berg was a fascinating and inspiring man. But he was a terrible baseball player. That's why he didn't make the list. He still deserves some kind of bio-pic one day, though.

Lance Berkman = not Jewish

I fully admit to being very inclusive in the article. I even noted cases of my "wildly irrational bias" at times, the inclusion of Boudreau and Carew being 2 of the biggies. As one poster said, though, Carew's courage against death threats was inspiring.

Holtzman section on playoff performances was poorly worded by me. He appeared in four seasons worth of playoffs, not four games.

I botched the most wins thing, Holtzman vs. Koufax. My fault, plain and simple.

The Sherrys came close, but just missed the cut. Mike Epstein wasn't quite good enough either.

Loved the all-Italian team, that was great.

On irony: I enjoyed the ad accompanying the story with a pic of bacon and eggs.

Finally, I appreciate all the criticisms posted. Ultimately this was just meant to be a fun baseball piece, with the hook that Ryan Braun and a couple others have been excellent this season, an unuusal occurrence given how few Jewish players have come along over the years. No political agenda on my part, no desire to split people along ethnic lines, or anything else.

Please feel free to email me at the link provided by clicking my name at the end of the story. I'd be happy to address any other comments, questions or concerns you may have about the story. Thanks again.

As someone who grew up in the 80s, in a neutral city (Montreal) where fans were free to choose their favorite team based on factors other than geography, there most definitely was a lot of Lakers vs. Celtics razzing going on. To me that's a big part of it: Sharing that rivalry with old friends, renewing the trash talking, all that.

I agree that the series is great already without the Bird-Magic obsession, or even Wilt-Russell obsession for older fans. But for those of us who grew up in an environment of mixed allegiances, there's that extra kick that makes it even more fun.

The owners of the Montreal Expos, and later the Commissioner's office, argued the same thing in stripping the city of its franchise and relocating it to Washington, D.C. This after years (actually more than a decade) of terrible management, cheap ownership policies, and later vilifying both the local fans and business community for their lack of support.

This kind of behavior, in the case of both the Sonics and the Expos, is roughly equivalent to a restaurant owner serving vomit flambee as its signature dish, encouraging rats to take over the kitchen and kicking his customers in the nuts every time they walk in, then wondering why no one comes in to eat anymore.