Letters to the Editor
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Moe Berg: catcher, linguist, spy
Moe Berg may not have been the greatest athlete i the world, but he was incredibly talented and led a fascinating life. For the way he parlayed a baseball career into undercover spy work that helped the U.S. during World War II, I would say he deserves to be on the list.
And in response to those criticizing these lists, please, lighten up. There aren't too many Jewish people in the United States or the world, for that matter. There are very, very, very few professional athletes who are Jewish. If you take offense at this type of list, I would say you already had some kind of pre-existing problem.
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Sorry, mom
Okay Joan, you shamed me. I've been in a pretty foul mood lately anyway. I shouldn't be so rough. I apologize.
I do think this article's a little weird though. Give it a little more thought, would you? Just think of some parallel examples:
-- "The top 24 Italian-Catholic ballplayers of all time"
-- "The top 15 Muslim hockey players of all time"
-- "The top 12 Scientologist crossword solvers of all time"
Do any of those sound weird to you as a feature story?
To the guy who said "You can ignore it," sure. But it's the featured story. Even as a weekend puff/fluff piece, it's pretty niche-oriented for the top slot. Not that it's my decision. Not that it matters much in the grand scheme.
Come to think of it, I also recall Salon posting a story about Jewish rock stars a few months ago.
Anyway.....sorry for being a butt.
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Here we go again
The best Jewish this, the best Jewish that, whatever.
It really is creepy how Salon periodically has an article about various "superlative" Jewish individuals. I don't recall any other religion getting the same treatment.
What about the 18 best Unitarian ballplayers of all time? Or the 18 best Muslim ballplayers of all time? Or the 18 best Zoroasterian ballplayers of all time?
Just curious.
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Really not giving a sh*t
Really. Some random religion/ethnicity gets the lead article for some weird ass american sport? why the hell should I - a Kiwi in Oz care? or keep paying my subscription fee?
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C'mon
Do you douche bags ever read the byline?
"With bashin' boychiks knocking the seam off the ball this year,"
There are some good Jewish hitters this season. That's were the article is coming from. Idiots.
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we like the attention, but not the scrutiny
salon has far too many articles about jews. just for a change, how about a pro-israeli article counterbalanced by the top ten jewish slumlords?
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Boo
I'm horrified by articles like this. It's kind of like Vin Scully occasionally exclaiming that this black ball player or that "is so articulate!" Like we expect otherwise, but he's assuring the world that, yes, there are articluate young black men to be found.
Enough of this kind of crap masquarading as hip dialog. I thought we were beyond that.
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moe berg
Where, pray tell,is Moe Berg on this list? Surely this intellectual giant, colorful linguist, and probable spy deserves at least honorable mention.
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You forgot...
...the Great Hank Greenberg!
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Who would win?
A team of the best Jews of all time, or a team of the best Latino/Carribean active players?
LOL. The third best Jew of all time isn't even a Jew.
Well Koufax was great anyway...this article is proof that "greatest" is a relative term. If these guys are the top 18 I'd hate to see what 19-36 looks like.
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From Joan Walsh?
Wow. I love our readers. But every once in a while, I feel...surprised. This is a great, only-in-Salon story, in my opinion.
Seriously?
Some people are weirded out (to put it kindly) about the clanishness some Jews exhibit. That explains the reaction you're seeing. This is certainly not the first time I've heard of a "top Jews in baseball list" and I can honestly say I've never heard *any* top any other ethnicity/race list regarding baseball. (Or really any sport for that matter) Nobody really seems to care except Jews as far as I can tell. It's a type of exceptionalism, that somehow being Jewish is an exciting story by itself.
There is literally no angle here other than "look it's some Jews." Wow! It takes a certain arrogance to think anyone should care.
How about a story about Joba Chamberlain, one of a few Native American baseball players? Oh, that's right, nobody really gives a shit about Native Americans. Silly silly me.
So the Youkilis clip is "the funniest Internet clip ever about Jews in baseball." Who keeps score about things like that? Again, there is a certain exceptionalism in thinking that funny baseball clips need to be divided up into ones about Jews and ones that aren't.
"Margalis hates Jews" in 3...2...
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Strange Article
I share others concerns - this piece has a weirdly racist whiff about it.
How else to describe the notion that it's surprising that Jews can play sport at the highest level - why?!?
Is it really necessary to point out that Jews are people (GASP!), and that a very fortunate tiny minority of all people have superb hand eye co-ordination (GASP!) and determination that enables them to play sport at the highest level?
This article is baffling, and to Salon's international readership most likely boring and puzzling.
Sorry Joan, but I don't know what on earth came over you publishing this piece in Salon.
- roGER
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racist crap
if this is a >>jews only<< site i'll gladly pick up my specs and move elsewhere.
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Wow.
I'm with you, Joan. Pee-yew.
For one thing-- it's not my personal way into the game, but baseball fandom seems to entail a kind of taxonomic, list-making mentality. Top ten lists seem to be an integral part of the discussion about the game.
For another thing, we've have been hearing a lot lately about young black children not embracing baseball anymore because they don't see anyone in the game who looks like them.
The point here is that Jews have barely ever seen anyone in the game like them. But for some reason, a lot of Jews still seem to like baseball. So they naturally notice when a Jew breaks into big league ball.
Join that to the above-mentioned taxonomic mania, and you have a think-piece that is frankly a bar-stool discussion that I've heard many time over the years, only now it's in Salon.com. And I simply don't see why it shouldn't be.