This article included reproductions of the forms from Willie Mays in 1951; Rocky Colavito (undated); Warren Spahn (1947); Bill Mazeroski (Jan. 2, but no year); Ted Williams (1939); and Roger Maris (1957). They asked for such information as hobbies, playing experience, name of spouse and children, etc.

What caught my eye was the space for “ancestry.”

The form changed over the years. In earlier versions, it was just a blank line for the player to fill in. Later on, there were a series of “check lines”:

___ English   ___ French  ___ German ___ Hebrew ___Irish  ___ Other

You get the idea. Mays wrote “Negro” on his blank line. Maz put down “Polish” in his “other” line; Williams wrote “Welsch/French,” neglecting to include his maternal Mexican heritage. Conspicuous by its absence: Italian. (Of course, there were practically no Latin America presence in those days.)

Maybe I’m being too sensitive, but one of these designations is not like the others.

Steve Gietschier, former senior managing editor of research at The Sporting News, said in an email

The Sporting News began the practice of distributing biographical questionnaires to major league players and prospects as part of the effort to publish the Baseball Register starting in 1940. As you know, each Register entry included not only stats but also biographical data, including such questions as: Hobbies, How Your Name is Pronounced, and Most Outstanding Achievement in Baseball.

Most players filled out the questionnaires. Some did so year after year. The early ones make for interesting reading.

When I started at TSN in 1986, we were no longer distributing questionnaires. The thinking was two-fold: first, we were getting the data we needed directly from the clubs, and second, modern players were simply not willing to fill out questionnaires.

Tim Wiles, director of research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown said

For much of the 20th century, the Hall of Fame sent very similar questionnaires to players, stopping sometime in the 1980s after the return rate plummeted in reverse proportion to player incomes…

Our questionnaires also have an ethnicity line, with some interesting results.

When I started here, Greg Maddux and Steve Carlton were the only guys to win 4 Cy Youngs.  While both are a bit iconoclastic and have senses of humor, they both list “Native American” as their ethnicity.

In a subsequent note, Wiles wrote, “It all comes down to: By whose definition? My favorite permutation is: Is Fergie Jenkins an African-American, even though he’s Canadian?

Sometimes I watch the games and ponder that these are the best at what they do. Granted, it’s all relative to each other. That is, the Israeli ice dancing team of Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky might have finished 10th, but that’s still better than a good chunk of their competitors and eons beyond what the average Olympics viewer can even hope to accomplish.

It’s kind of like the worst player on a major league team. Regardless of just how bad he might be, he’s still better than you and I. Keep that in mind when you’re belittling the .191 batter in a major league game or the 12th man on an NBA team.

The first time I “discovered” myself was in an airport in Milwaukee, coming back, appropriately enough, from a SABR convention. In the time since, when I’ve Googled myself to see where mention of The Bookshelf might have appeared. I’ve discovered I share the name with a New Jersey rabbi, a jazz singer, and an aviation artist and executive director of the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Let’s focus on the last for now.

That Ron Kaplan actually has a baseball connection. And since art, in theory, qualifies as fitting on a bookshelf…

That RK discovered me by googling himself as well and sent the following email:

When I was a full-time aviation artist in the mid to late 1990s, I created a line of hand-painted aircraft aluminum panels, each autographed by the famous pilot associated with the insignia or nose-art from their aircraft adorning each. I would typically create an edition of these in the range of 10-15 per aviator. I would mount them in a hand-crafted wood shadowbox frame, with an engraved ID panel beneath.

Fortunately for me, I was able to convince Ted Williams to participate, and further found a small supply of actual scrap F9F Panther aluminum for his edition. Unfortunately, though we agreed to an edition total of 100, I did not have that much aluminum (or cash per signature, as negotiated with his son, John Henry) to have him sign all of them in the two signing sessions we had together in Ocala [Florida].

The "Splendid Splinter" meets the splendid artist

In 1998, I was offered and accepted a job at the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton. In 1999, I took time off to make what turned out to be that final signing session in Florida. While there I spoke to his son, John Henry, about having his Dad come up to Dayton in July 2000, when I had NAHF enshrinee Joe Foss come back to serve as the emcee for our annual enshrinement ceremony. I was trying to build it into the annual “Oscar Night of Aviation,” and thought reuniting these two, and possibly NAHF enshrinee John Glenn (who flew with Williams in Korean combat), would certainly be quite a show.

John Henry said OK, under two very clear conditions. 1, it had to be a secret to all, save for my essential production staff. 2, had to be private jet up on Saturday morning, the day of the enshrinement gala, and back on Sunday morning.

It actually worked like a charm…. Foss and Ted, as you likely know, went way back together. They still talk about that night here in Dayton. Glenn had to pass, however, as he was in China at the time.

I had Ted sign a total of 21 panels, and painted and sold 5 (at $1600 each) before pulling them off the market upon his passing. A local military toy and collectible store recently opened here in Dayton that has invited me to display and sell my autographed panel editions. They are encouraging me to bring back the Williams edition, citing a growing market. I think I will do it.

Anyway, thought you might find this Kaplan-to-Kaplan baseball connection of interest.

A few of these panels are available for purchase. For more information, contact that Ron Kaplan at mrsurfohio@surfohio.com.

Our favorite “yiddishist,” Michael Wex, writes about the incongruity of the popular suburban (read, “goyisher”) sport on his website.

On the menu for this year’s football finals: Abeles & Heymann frankfurters, Italian sausages, and knoblewurst, as well as grilled salami sliders.

Yum.

For all the prepping I do, it never seems to come off the way I envision it. I guess I’m more comfortable in a Q&A situation rather than a straight “lecture.”

I screened the DVD from the session (A portion of which is available on this blog, over to the top/right. Thanks again, Phil!), which expressed my thoughts to such a degree that extra speechifying seemed superfluous.

Watching the video put me back into the situation. The main feature, as far as I’m concerned, is the section of individual interviews with my teammates. Although they were done separately, a common theme was repeated: we came together as strangers, no one (especially our coaches) expected us to do well, but we gelled and exceeded those expectations.

The part about friendship, however, I’ll attributed to the dewy-eyed moment. Sure we all got along great, which was a bonus and no doubt helped in a loose atmosphere, but I guess I’m still thinking like a kid when it comes to the belief that we’ll keep in touch. (Part of the camp package is a reunion at Yankee Stadium during Old-Timers Weekend. Most of the guys live in the NY-NJ area, so I expect they’ll be there. Not sure if wearing the uniform is part of the deal. I hope not. It’s one thing to do it at camp, but I would feel a bit silly, as an adult, in dressing up like that.) On the other hand, that’s part of the pro experience, too. A lot of fans have the notion that teammates are always hanging out together. It ain’t necessarily so. And during the off-season, I wonder if holiday cards are even exchanged. It’s almost like a war mentality: you don’t want to get too close to anyone because they can be gone in an instant, traded, injured, retired, etc. And if traded, your former teammate is your current “enemy.”

But I digress…

After the DVD came, I jotted off a few quick emails to my teammates to say hi and bust chops over how we came off on screen. Looking forward to their responses, but I’m not holding my breath.

First, we have Sean Berman, a 17-year-old tennis phenom who lost in the finals of the Australia Open Junior Boys’ Singles competition last week.

Then there’s Australian Rules Football player Todd Goldstein , the only Jewish player in the league and a 6′7″, one that literally towers over the competition.

G’day, mate.

The program serves as a benefit for the AHRC New York City Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that supports programs enabling children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injuries and other disabilities. One of the largest organizations of its kind, AHRC serves 11,000 children and adults. Previous Munsun Awards Dinners have raised nearly $10 million.

Several local sports personalities will be the recipients of Munson Awards from AHRC for their accomplishments on the field and their philanthropic efforts, including Yankees’ pitcher Joba Chamberlain; Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella, Munson’s teammate on the Bronx Bombers’ 1977 and ‘78 World Championship teams; 1986 New York Mets World Champion and Yankees 1996, ’98, and ‘99 outfielder Darryl Strawberry; Knicks starting point guard Chris Duhon, a member of Duke’s 2001 NCAA championship squad; and Yonkers Raceway’s two-time champion driver Jason Bartlett.

Piniella, a previous Munson Award recipient, will receive the “Legend Award” for his long and meritorious service to baseball.

This marks the 16th consecutive year that Berman has served as emcee of the event, which was created in honor of the Yankees MVP catcher who died in a plane crash in 1979. Marty Appel published Munson’s biography last year.

For tickets and information on the Munson Awards Dinner, call 212-249-6188.

Spike’s list:

10) Jordan Farmar – Backup Point Guard Los Angeles Lakers
9) Marty Turco – Goalie Dallas Stars
8 ) Sue Bird – Starting Point Guard Seattle Storm
7) Kane – WWE Wrestler
6) Jason Lezak – Olympic Swimmer
5) Ian Kinsler – Starting Second Baseman Texas Rangers
4) Igor Olshansky – Starting Defensive Lineman Dallas Cowboys
3) Kevin Youkilis – Starting First/Third Baseman Boston Red Sox
2) Mike Cammalleri – Starting Left Wing Montreal Canadians
1) Ryan Braun – Starting Left Fielder Milwaukee Brewers

Fine’s list:

10) Yuri Foreman – World Boxing Association Super welterweight Champion
9) Sasha Cohen – Olympic Gold Medal Skater
8 ) Jason Lezak – Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer
7) Sue Bird – Starting Guard Seattle Storm
6) Andy Ram – 9th Ranked Doubles Player. 5th Ranked in Team Doubles.
5) Ian Kinsler – Starting Second Baseman Texas Rangers.
4) Omri Casspi – Starting Forward Sacramento Kings
3) Mike Cammalleri – Starting Left Wing Montreal Canadians
2) Ryan Braun – Starting Left Fielder Milwaukee Brewers
1) Kevin Youkilis – Starting First/Third Baseman Boston Red Sox

And, for what it’s worth, here’s my list:

10) Ram
9) Lezak
8 ) Foreman
7) Dimitry Salita – junior welterweight boxer
6) Casspi
5) Kinsler
4) Jason Marquis – pitcher, Washington Nationals
3) Cammalleri
2) Braun
1) Youkilis

Scottsdale girl wins national tennis tournament

Jeffrey Letzt has an old photograph of his then-4-year-old granddaughter, Alexandra Letzt, parading around outdoors with a tennis racket. Although she’d never played a competitive match in her life, she looks strangely comfortable with a racket in hand.

Eight years later, Jeffrey’s Scottsdale, Ariz., home is teeming with tennis trophies; they’re in almost every room in the house. Some are stowed away in closets, Jeffrey says, because he doesn’t know what to do with them at the rate Alexandra keeps on winning.

It’s a family of achievers, and at age 12, Alexandra has already carved herself a niche. Her mother, Barbara, is an accomplished marathon runner and soccer player. Jeffrey, at one point in his career, was the number-one Cadillac salesman in the world. And Alexandra’s father, an ex-boyfriend of Barbara’s whom neither Jeffrey nor Alexandra has ever met, is a former NFL player. Barbara has raised Alexandra with the help of Jeffrey and his wife, Ellie; Jeffrey calls himself “Alexandra’s father and grandfather, all rolled into one.” In typical grandfather form, he adds later on, “The only thing this (ex-boyfriend) ever did right was to make a nice, smart, pretty, athletic, Jewish girl.”

Alexandra’s most recent feat is also her most impressive; she won the 12-and-under girls’ Winter Nationals tournament in Tucson on New Year’s Day, and with it the Golden Ball trophy (similar to the Golden Gloves trophy in amateur boxing), vaulting her to number two in the country in her age bracket, according to the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Her coaches and family say they expect her to continue climbing to the top.

“(Winning a tournament) doesn’t always hit me right away,” says Alexandra. “Sometimes it takes me the night or a couple of days. But this one means a lot more to me than a lot of the others.”

She says that she had planned on falling to her knees and kissing the court “like the professionals do” if she won, “but then I got embarrassed and just kissed my racket. And I yelled really loud.”

Alexandra’s first real tennis competition came at age 9, when Barbara took her to Tucson to play in a recreational tournament.

“I had no intention of her pursuing tennis,” says Barbara. “I was trying to expose her to a bunch of different sports.” The idea, she says, was to find a sport Alexandra was good at, with the hope that she’d be able to earn a college scholarship.

“It was just a fun tournament,” Alexandra remembers. “I didn’t expect to win all of my matches.”

But coach Forrest Pascal noticed Alexandra on the court almost immediately.

“What I saw, honestly, is that there aren’t a lot of girls of color playing tennis, so she caught my eye,” says Pascal, who, like Alexandra, is black and Jewish. “I saw she was fast and I saw she didn’t know how to play the game. She had a lot of talent. I didn’t see the skill. (I wanted) to help her get the skill.”

Pascal worked with Alexandra up until about a year ago, when he turned her over to friend and colleague James Jack for fine-tuning. “It’s like I built the race car, and (Jack) is putting the decals on,” says Pascal, who still plays a role in managing Alexandra’s “career.”

Jack agrees with Pascal, saying that at the point Pascal jumped on board, Alexandra was like a Ferrari — with no driver’s license and no gas.

Alexandra, who is home-schooled, trains under Jack at the Rasta-TPA Tennis Academy at the Scottsdale Athletic Club for about 20 hours per week; Jack says that many of the other players on her level spend eight hours a day on tennis, five or six days per week.

The next step, Jack says, is to try to get Alexandra ready to play in some professional events when she turns 15; he says she will not lose eligibility for a college scholarship as long as she doesn’t accept any earnings.

“We’re not chasing any money,” says Jack. “We’re chasing the experience of playing professional tennis.” But, he adds, if she wins a six-figure purse, she’s not going to turn it down.

And, he acknowledges, success at the professional level – and by extension that big payday – won’t come right away, if at all. “You can’t say, ‘Hey, you’re going to win matches, you’re going to win tournaments,’” says Jack. “It’s like you’re starting out all over again.”

Alexandra, despite the quiet confidence she exudes, appears to be aware that even with all her talent, the odds are still stacked against her. If professional tennis doesn’t work out for her, she says, she wants to attend Stanford University on a tennis scholarship and become a lawyer.

Jeffrey Letzt has no regrets about supporting Alexandra and her tennis dream, but he has spent a significant chunk of his retirement money doing it. “I raised her as my own, which is what she is,” he says. “If you had a kid, and your kid has a talent … what am I supposed to do? How could you not do it if you think you can afford it?”

Even so, the Letztes are searching for a corporate sponsor for Alexandra; they acknowledge that the money could run out before she has a legitimate shot at the big time.

In addition to Alexandra, Jeffrey financially supports Barbara, whose full-time job is shuttling Alexandra around. He also pays for coaching, as well as travel expenses when Alexandra competes nationally (soon to be internationally, he says).

Either Barbara or Jack accompanies Alexandra on the road; Jeffrey won’t attend any of her tournaments. “I don’t want her to feel the pressure of having her grandfather in the stands,” he says.

“It’s tough for a 12-year-old kid to understand the sacrifices you make,” says Pascal. “But some day, when I’m old and gray, (Alexandra) will look back and understand what (we all) sacrificed.”

This comes from AlefNext, the Birthright Israel website.

The Maccabi games — a week of athletic competitions and social events for Jewish teens from around the world — will be held Sunday, Aug. 1-Friday, Aug. 6, in Richmond, Va., and Sunday, Aug. 8-Friday, Aug. 13, in Baltimore, Md.

So what makes this a “new world?” Pardon me while I get on my soapbox. Better yet, read this piece from the New York Times’ Week in Review section from Jan. 1o, “The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s.”

My daughter is in her mid-teens. She baby sits for a couple of kids a few doors down, ages 10 and five. It’s frightening to think that the technological divide — with its sociological ramifications — between my daughter and me will be the same as between her and those kids.

A couple of lines from the Times’ piece:

My friend’s 3-year-old, for example, has become so accustomed to her father’s multitouch iPhone screen that she approaches laptops by swiping her fingers across the screen, expecting a reaction.

And

Dr. Rosen said that the newest generations, unlike their older peers, will expect an instant response from everyone they communicate with, and won’t have the patience for anything less.

“They’ll want their teachers and professors to respond to them immediately, and they will expect instantaneous access to everyone, because after all, that is the experience they have growing up,” he said. “They should be just like their older brothers and sisters, but they are not.”

Why do I bring all this up? Facebook. And Twitter (see yesterday’s piece on the campaign to get Omri Casspi into the All-Star game).  And how often do we now read or hear about athletes who twitter, even during games?

It’s great that such tools are available to bring people together. Yet they can also keep us apart. Go figure.

To be fair, Goldberg, a popular character in the wrestling world, has been a good role model, another who refutes the notion that Jews can’t be tough.

Goldberg once famously said: “I’m a 6-foot-4, 290-pound Jewish kid having his name chanted by thousands of people and yeah, I think that’s funny.

“But people were chanting my name not because I’m coming out in a suit and tie and doing your taxes, but because I wanted to rip my opponents’ arms out of their sockets.”

Did I say good? I meant a great role model.

By the way, Goldberg played in 14 games over three seasons for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL (1992-94).

They just move from right to left.

The 2008 movie, part of the Y’s Reel Jewish Sports Film Series, was directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Judd Ehrlich.

Credited as the mastermind behind the New York City Marathon, this film chronicles how Lebow fled his orthodox home in war-torn Europe and found his calling when he brought together a group of runners for the first NYC Marathon in Central Park which led to his revolutionary creation of the New York City Marathon.

The film includes archival footage and interviews with elite runners Grete Waitz, Bill Rodgers, and Alberto Salazar, among others.

Ehrlich and Rodgers will be at the screening for a question and answer session, which also includes Allan Steinfeld, former president and CEO of the NY Road Runners Club and director of the NYC Marathon, and Bernie Cooper, former chair of the NYRRC.

Admission is $7.50, $5 for Suffolk Y JCC members. For more information, or to register, call 631-462-9800, ext. 125.

He hails in particular Jack Pfefer, an alternately respected and despised manager. who “commanded one of the fiercest gangs of professional grapplers in the industry and was a major player in the wrestling world for nearly fifty years.”

Pfefer was most responsible for upping the spectacle quotient in the American wrestling ring. “I’ve never seen an honest wrestling bout in my twenty years in the game,” he said in a 1938 interview. “Maybe there was one, but I wasn’t there.” When Pfefer’s competitors tried to shut him out, he began to provide sportswriters with the results of wrestling matches before they took place. For this, the press loved him, but within his own industry he was regarded as the ultimate double-crosser.

Then there were those colorful monickers: Blimp Levy, a 625-pound sideshow “freak”;  Abe “Hebrew Hercules” Coleman, who died in 2007 at the age of 101; Hymie “Ivan Rasputin” Fishman: Herby “Jewish Sensation” Freeman; and Rafael “The Rasslin’ Rabbi” Halperin. “Working-class heroes all,” Portnoy writes, “their Jewish fans would have preferred a couple of teeth knocked out to a noggin full of Bashevis Singer any day.

Thanks goes to A.J. Jacobs, supergenius, for alerting the Korner to this story.

Abe Coleman

Harwell, 91, has spent more than 40 of his 55 years in broadcasting covering the Tigers. He was interviewed by author and sportswriter Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, etc.) at a local fundraiser.

And while we’re on the topic of predictions, make sure to read all the way for a most interesting item involving a most precise prognostication.

The writer cites the examples of Sandy Koufax (although mistakenly putting him on the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1965) and Shawn Green and wonders why the Israelis didn’t try to postpone the match.

Just as Israeli prime ministers always eat kosher food when they travel abroad on official visits, whether they are religious or not, so too the national sports teams have a responsibility to stand up for their Jewish heritage.

It was a grave mistake for captain Eyal Ran to not even attempt to get the date of the tie moved to prevent Dudi Sela, Harel Levy, Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich from desecrating such an important day in such a public manner.