Jewish sports collectors who want to build a library of Sports Illustrated issues with MOTs on the cover have more than two dozen items on their shelves.
Below is a (hopefully!) complete list of Jews on SI covers. Please note, this list includes athletes like David Beckham and Pete Sampras, who have Jewish heritage but may not themselves be practicing Jews.
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Baseball
Ron Blomberg July 2, 1973
Ryan Braun August 29, 2011 March 31, 2008
Sandy Koufax March 4, 1963 April 13, 1964 December 20, 1965 May 15, 1967 July 12, 1999 October 9, 2006
Al Rosen April 18, 1955
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Basketball Art Heyman October 28, 1963
Ernie Grunfeld February 9, 1976
Jon Scheyer April 12, 2010
Jamila Wideman March 17, 1997
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Football
Lyle Alzado July 8, 1991
Jay Fiedler October 1, 2001
Robert Kraft February 6, 2012
Art Modell December 4, 1995
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Hockey
Matthieu Schneider June 14, 1993
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Soccer
David Beckham July 16, 2007
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Tennis
Boris Becker September 18, 1989
Pete Sampras
July 11, 1994 July 14, 1997 September 17, 1990
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Olympic Sports
Sarah Hughes March 4, 2002
Aly Raisman July 23, 2012
Mark Spitz July 22, 1968 September 4, 1972
Suzy Weiner (with Mark Spitz) May 14, 1973
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Other
Charles Goren (bridge) Oct. 14, 1957 May 23, 1960
Bob and Bus Mosbacher (sailing) May 18, 1959
Toots Shor (restaurateur) July 27, 1959
Howard Cosell (sportscaster) August 8, 1983
Bar Refeali (swimsuit model) February 11, 2009
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Did I miss any Jewish SI cover figures ? Disagree with any of the listings? Let JewishSportsCollectibles.com know by commenting below.
Two bidders duked it out to own pitcher Josh Zeid's game used cleats, worn by the Team Israel pitcher in the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifiers.
The winning bidder paid $105.50 for the shoes, which Zeid, a prospect in the Houston Astro's minor league system, signed. He also included a photo of himself wearing the shoes while pitching in the WBC.
Josh Zeid. Photo courtesy of MiLB.com.
The cleats were being sold by "stvufit" on eBay. Starting bid was $75, with shipping priced at $4.99. The auction ran through Saturday, October 6, 2012. According to the listing, 50 percent of the sale's total price will be given to Texas Children's Hospital.
Zeid confirmed ownership of the cleats to JewishSportsCollectibles.com via Twitter, telling JSC that he wore the shoes during the last two games in the qualifiers, both against Spain.
I'm not one for game used memorabilia, but I think Zeid's cleats would have made a unique addition to my Jewish baseball collection. Unfortunately, even at $100, the price was too much for my collecting budget.
What do you think? Let JewishSportsCollectibles.com readers know by commenting below.
Red Auerbach. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org, copyright Steve Lipofsky BasketballPhoto.com.
According to a tweet from @JewsnSports on Thursday, September 20, 2012: "Today a Jewish Sports Legend-Red Auerbach would have been 95. Light up a Cigar in his honor! #Celtics #NBA #LEGENDSOFTHEGAME."
You can also browse and purchase a wide variety of Auerbach collectibles and memorabilia from eBay, Amazon.com and the Beckett Marketplace.
This includes DVDs and books by and about the legendary hoops coach, autographed and unsigned photos, autographed basketballs and jerseys, signed checks, pieces of Boston Garden flooring signed by the coach and numerous basketball cards.
What Red Auerbach memorabilia do you have in your Jewish basketball collection? Let JewishSportsCollectibles.com readers know by commenting below.
The Time Keeper is Albom's "most imaginative novel yet," according to Amazon.com, in a review that describes the book as a "compelling fable about the first man on earth to count the hours. The man who became Father Time."
According to Albom's Facebook page, his Time Keeper tour includes events at: Sinai Temple in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 20, the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula in Newport News, Virginia on October 6, and the Mayerson JCC in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 21.
Mitch Albom signs books in Columbus, Ohio in 2010. Photo by Joshua Platt, JewishSportsCollectibles.com.
I met Albom several years ago at a speaking engagement and book signing for Have A Little Faith at a synagogue here in Columbus in April 2010, and found him to be a generous in person signer.
There were more than 500 people at the event, and I'd bet 300+ were in line to meet Mitch after his speech. Albom chatted with attendees, inscribed and autographed every book he was handed (I'm proud to have all of his non-sports books in my collection of signed books), and posed for pictures.
Albom no longer responds to fan mail, according to his web site. "With tens of millions of copies of my books sold worldwide," the site says, "accepting and sending out mail isn’t logistically possible for security and staff concerns."
Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom. Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
Prior to the posted policy being put in place, Albom signed my copy of Tuesdays With Morrie in response to a through-the-mail request that I sent to his office at the Detroit Free Press in 2001. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the book, considering my request was made during the height of the Morrie craze.
My signed copy of Morrie is, unfortunately, not a first edition. Morrie had a first edition printing of just 20,000 copies, before exploding in popularity. True first editions, therefore, are rare, highly collectible and expensive. ABEbooks.com sells autographed firsts for as much as $500 to $800 or more. Nevertheless, I am thrilled to have it in my collection!
Prior to his fame from Morrie and his other novels, however, Albom was best known as a sports journalist.
Writing for Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press, among others, Albom became, according to Wikipedia, "one of the most award-winning sports writers of his era."
Are you planning to attend any of Albom's upcoming events? Have you met Mitch Albom before? Do you have any of his sports (or other) books in your collection? Share your thoughts and photos in the comments below.
Heyman is a Duke immortal, in no small part because he chose the school after committing to play hoops for in-state rival University of North Carolina, as recounted in a Charlotte Observer remembrance. The move, viewed as traitorous by the Tar Heels, led to an ongoing feud throughout Heyman's Duke career.
During his 1960 freshman season, while playing for Duke's JV squad (NCAA rules then prohibited underclassman from playing on varsity teams), UNC players hurled religious insults at Heyman. According to a story in the Durhamn (NC) Herald-Sun, Carolina freshman Dieter Krause went beyond smack talking and attacked Heyman, leading to a fight that spilled over to the coaching staff.
The bad blood carried over to the 1961 season, according to the New York Times.
On February 4, Heyman committed a hard foul against UNC's Larry Brown, a fellow New Yorker and landsman who would later go on to a Hall of Fame coaching career, while Brown attempted a layup.
Brown retaliated by throwing the ball, and a punch, at Heyman. A legendary, 10-minute brawl erupted (the video of which is preserved on YouTube and can be seen below), leading to the suspension of Heyman, Brown and UNC's Donnie Walsh (then a bench player and now head of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers) for the remainder of the ACC season.
Heyman rose above the drama, and proved his dominance on the hard wood during his stellar 1962-1963 senior campaign, finishing his Duke career with a season that would go down as legend. He led the Blue Devils to their first appearance in the "March Madness" Final Four. Although Duke lost to Loyola to finish third in the tourney, Heyman was named the tournament's "Most Outstanding Player."
Duke teammates carry Art Heyman off the court. Photo courtesy of NYTimes.com, by Herald-Sun/AP.
Heyman's Duke tenure included a 69-14 record, an average of 25.1 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, and ACC Player of the Year and The Sporting News' NCAA Player of the Year honors in 1963.
“As much as any other human being, Art was responsible for Duke University becoming a national power in college basketball,” former Duke coach Vic Bubas said in a statement released by the university and quoted in the New York Times' obituary for Heyman.
In an article on SportsIllustrated.com, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski says Heyman was "one of the elite players to ever wear a Blue Devil uniform." The school retired Heyman's number - #25 - on March 4, 1990, according the Herald-Sun.
His star quickly faded, though, in part because of his temper, reports the NY Times. Heyman played just two seasons in New York, before going to the Cincinnati Royals and Philadelphia 76ers.
Heyman retired from basketball in 1970 with 4,030 combined NBA/ABA points, according to Wikipedia.
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Heyman's list of available sports collectibles does not match his stature on the basketball court.
Jewish basketball collectors can, however, find a limited, but by no means scarce, amount of Heyman memorabilia.
Art Heyman and Jerry Lucas on the cover of SI. Photo courtesy of eBay.
Beckett.com lists just a single basketball card for Heyman, a 1968-1969 Minnesota Pipers ABA team issue. No Beckett Marketplace sellers offer the card, however, as of this posting.
An eBay search yields several photos featuring Heyman in his Duke playing days, including one autographed lot. Collectors can also purchase a reproduction Duke #25 jersey on the auction site.
Patient collectors can no doubt find vintage Duke tickets, yearbooks, game programs and other program memorabilia on eBay.
Heyman is featured on the cover of the October 28, 1963 Sports Illustrated with Jerry Lucas (read the list of MOTs to grace the cover of SI in this 2011 JewishSportsCollectibles.com posting). SIcovers.com does not appear to offer the cover for sale; collectors can find it easily on eBay or Amazon.com, though, especially by searching for "Jerry Lucas."
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com.
Given his prominence in the history of Duke basketball, Heyman is also featured in numerous books about the storied program, though he is not the subject of an individual biography.
What other Art Heyman memorabilia exists? Do you have any Heyman autographs or memorabilia in your Jewish basketball collection? What's your favorite piece? Do you have an in-person experience meeting Mr. Heyman?
Share your thoughts with JSC readers by leaving a comment below.
are a good source for purchasing hard copies of SI back issues.
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