JewishSportsCollectibles

Jewish Gymnast Aly Raisman 'Dancing With the Stars'

Aly Raisman Olympic montage photo. Photo courtesy of eBay.

Aly Raisman – the Jewish gymnast who captained the 2012 U.S. Women's Gymnastics Olympics team in London, earned a gold medal for her floor routine choreographed to Hava Nagilia (the celebratory Hebrew song that is a staple at bar mitzvahs and weddings), and honored the Israeli Olympians slain at the 1972 Munich Olympics – is currently competing on ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

As captain of the “Fierce Five,” Raisman was a media darling before the start of The Games, and her star rose further with each metal-winning performance.

In addition to her gold medal for floor exercises at the London Games, the first ever gold in the event for an American female gymnast in the event in Olympic history, Raisman earned gold with the U.S. Team in the all-around competition, the first for the U.S. Women since 1996, and a bronze metal for her individual performance on the balance beam.

Collectors of Jewish Olympic memorabilia have access to a wide range of Raisman collectibles.

Her cards (visit Beckett.com for a more inclusive checklist) include:

• A 2012 Topps Olympics issue, including parallel, autograph and memorabilia cards;
• An ACEO trading card;
• A limited edition FA Productions Olympic preview card;
• and, a 1/1 artist sketch card by an illustrator known as "Q."

     

Aly Raisman Topps Olympics memorabilia card. Photo courtesy
of eBay.

Raisman's 2012 Topps Olympic autographed editions offer a variety of different limited edition printings. The Rainbow (one-of-a-kind) Gold (limited to 15), Silver (30) and Bronze (50) versions. The Topps memorabilia cards include feature Olympic pins, American flag patches and swatches of fabric from competition-worn leotards.

Raisman's cards sell for a little as a few dollars to as much as $200 in the Beckett Marketplace, Amazon and eBay, depending on the variation and scarcity of the card a collector is seeking. 

Other Raisman memorabilia includes a variety of unsigned and autographed photos, available on eBay and Amazon.com. These include group and individual photos, candid and action shots. As always, buyer beware when purchasing signed items from the auction or retail giants.

"Fierce Five" SI Cover. Photo courtesy of Amazon.com.

Raisman and her Olympic teammates are featured on the cover of the July 23, 2012 issue of Sports Illustrated (see JSC.com's previous posting for a list of other Jews to grace the cover of SI).

Back issues of SI can be purchased on eBay and Amazon.com. Reproduction covers were not available for purchase on SI.com as of this posting, but should be in the near future.

Aly Raisman NY Post Cover. Photo courtesy of NYPost.com.

The Jewish gymnast also graces the cover of the August 8, 2012 issue of the New York Post. The paper carries the headline "Star of David: Jewish girl wins gold, honors slain Israeli Olympians.

eBay or Amazon.com are the most likely source of back issues of the newspaper. eBay or Amazon are likely your best source for finding back issues.

Named as a "Bostonian of the Year" in 2012 by the Boston Globe, Raisman was honored at a Red Sox game last year, where she threw out the first pitch. Raisman autographed baseballs sell for between $100 and $200 on eBay.

A wide variety of other Olympic memorabilia, including a "Got Milk ad" picturing Raisman and other Olympians, tickets, programs, books (including The Fab Five) and DVDs are also available.

Raisman participated in the 2012 Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions. Tickets and programs from the tour are no doubt obtainable, and Raisman and her fellow Olympians were featured on Corn Flakes box put out by the cereal company. Boxes featuring Raisman can be found on eBay occassionally. 

Aly Raisman Pandora ad. Photo courtesy of Aly Raisman/
Facebook.com.

Raisman has endorsement deals with, among others, Pandora. She is featured in the jewelry company ads, which some Jewish Olympics enthusiasts might want to add to their ephemera collections.

An active social media user, anyone wanting to "collect" bits and bytes in the forms of posts and tweets can follow Raisman on Facebook and Twitter.  

Do you have any Raisman memorabilia in your Jewish Olympics collection? What's your favorite piece? Have any JewishSportsCollectibles.com readers had a chance to meet the Olympic star or obtain her autograph? 

Let JSC know by commenting below.

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Auction Preview: Hunt Auctions

Hunt Auctions' May Internet/Phone auction includes several items of interest to Jewish sports collectors.

One of the auction's featured lots an event program from the September 20, 1959 B'nai B'rith Annual Awards Dinner held at the Boston Sports Lodge.

An interesting piece of Jewish ephemera in its own right, the program's autographs add its attractiveness to sports collectors.

Baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, baseball/basketball player Gene Conley, baseball/basketball player and Rifleman actor Chuck Connors, boxing great Jack Dempsey, Jewish football Hall of Famer Benny Friedman, billiards great Willie Mosconi, the "father of amateur golf" Francis Ouimet, and John Quinn signed on the cover. 

Tennis champion Don Budge, Chuck Connors, basketball Hall of Famer Bob Cousy and Olympian Jesse Owens autographed the program's interior pages.

As of this posting, the bid on the program was $363. It is expected to realize $500-$750.

Among the other notable lots in the sale:

• 
  A collection of three signed baseballs, including one autographed by Theo
  Epstein.
• Five lots featuring Hank Greenberg cards and memorabilia, including vintage publications and board games, and a 1963 Sports Hall of Fame replica bust collection of sculptures.
• Fifteen lots featuring Sandy Koufax cards, memorabilia and autographs. This includes a a 30"X40" signed photo of Koufax celebrating his fourth no-hitter and a graded Near Mint 1955 Topps Koufax rookie card.
• A group of two signed books, which includes Baseball and Your Boy signed by Al Rosen and Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? signed by DiMaggio and author and Jewish sportswriter Maury Allen [Visit Amazon.com to buy Rosen's book and titles from Allen's extensive collection of writings].
• And, a collection of vintage mini-bats, including an Al Schacht model.

Bidding on the sale closes May 23. To search for individual items, visit HuntAuctions.com and search the current auction.

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Editor's Note: As I am able, I plan to spotlight on JewishSportsCollectibles.com Jewish sports cards and memorabilia up for bid in major auctions. If you are aware of any auction houses I should follow, please email jsportscollectr@gmail.com.

Ryan Braun Latest MOT To Make SI Cover

Jewish Major Leaguer Ryan Braun is the latest MOT to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated.

The Milwaukee Brewers star joins teammate Prince Fielder on the front page of the August 29 magazine.

This marks the second time the Brewers "Hebrew Hammer" has been on an SI cover. He was also featured on the magazine's March 31, 2008 issue.

Braun's cover means Jewish sports collectors who want to build a library of Sports Illustrated issues with MOTs on the cover can now have more than two dozen items on their shelves.

JewishSportsCollectibles.com featured a previous list of SI cover boys and girls when Duke hoops hero and MOT Jon Scheyer was featured on the front page of the vaunted magazine's April 10, 2010 issue.

I accidentally omitted several cover stars from that original list (thanks to the helpful reader who commented and corrected my mistake). Below then, 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

Basketball


Art Heyman
October 28, 1963

Ernie Grunfeld
February 9, 1976

Jon Scheyer
April 12, 2010

Jamila Wideman
March 17, 1997

 

 

Football

Lyle Alzado
July 8, 1991

Jay Fiedler
October 1, 2001

Art Modell
December 4, 1995 

 

 

 

 

Hockey

Matthieu Schneider
June 14, 1993

Soccer

David Beckham
July 16, 2007

Tennis

Boris Becker
September 18, 1989

Pete Sampras

July 11, 1994
July 14, 1997
September 17, 1990

Olympic Sports

Sarah Hughes
March 4, 2002

Mark Spitz
July 22, 1968
September 4, 1972

Suzy Weiner (with Mark Spitz)
May 14, 1973

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 in this go 'round? Disagree with any of the listings? Let me know by commenting below.

Visit Sports Illustrated's Classic Cover Collection if you're interested in buying photo reproductions of any of the above Sports Illustrated covers. eBay is a good source for purchasing hard copies of SI back issues.

Adam Stern Makes 12 JMLs

The 2010 Major League baseball season started with enough MOTs to make a minyan (10 players).

With the May 12 call up of Canadian MOT Adam Stern from Triple-A Nashville -- as reported in the Jews In Baseball blog, and other sources -- the roster of JMLs now numbers an even dozen, if only for a while.

After a long lay-off -- Stern last played in the majors in 2007 -- the Brewers called up Stern to replace Carlos Gomez, who landed on the 15-day DL. Stern, who isn't expected to do more than serve as Gomez's temporary replacement, may last a bit longer, however.

As reported by Ron Kaplan, MOT superstar Ryan Braun got beaned, and has limited mobility of his elbow. Stern may stick around for a while longer if Braun goes down for anything beyond Gomez's time on the injury list.

Prior to his recent promotion, Stern played 46 games in the majors during parts of three seasons with the Red Sox and Orioles. He also starred on the Canadian Olympic baseball team in 2008 and the 2006 Canadian World Baseball Classic squad. As such, he's got a fair number of baseball cards for anyone seeking to add to their collection.

Stern was included in the 2007 Jewish Major Leaguers issue, on both a single player (#16) and a multi-player card (#58 featuring the four Jewish Red Sox in 2006 -- Stern, Kevin Youkilis, Gabe Kapler and Craig Breslow). The 2008 (#14) and 2010 (#23) editions of JML show Stern in his Orioles uniform.

Stern's mainstream cardboard -- most of which sell for $1 or less on eBay and Beckett -- includes:

• 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premiere (#18)
• 2003 Topps Traded (#T232) and Bowman (#312)
• 2006 Fleer World Baseball Classic (#7) and SPx WBC All-World Team (#3).

As a longtime minor league player, Stern also has MiLB cards with the PawSox (2006), Norfolk Tides (2007) and Huntsville Stars (2009).

    


Stern has been a gracious through-the-mail signer at all of his stops; I've mailed cards several times and received quick responses -- most personalized and inscribed -- each time.

It was my experience when the PawSox came through Columbus several years ago that Stern was a willing signer, but was tough before games as he took warm-ups seriously.

Any one else have TTM or in-person experiences with Stern? Other than baseball cards, does anyone have any unique Stern collectibles in their collection?

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Museum To Induct Seven

The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Museum will induct seven Jewish sports personalities during the organization's 18th annual induction ceremony on Sunday, April 18.

Inductees include:

• World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) two-time world heavyweight champion Bill Goldberg.
• Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg.
• Seventh-degree black belt judo star and member of the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, Rusty Kanokogi.
• Four-time Olympic gold medal swimmer Jason Lezak.
• Penn State Women’s volleyball championship coach Russ Rose.
• Dick Traum was the first runner to complete a marathon with a prosthetic leg.
• Alan Veingrad, former Super Bowl champion offensive lineman, turned Chabad-Lubavitch and author.

The induction ceremony starts at 10:30am at The Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center, 74 Hauppauge Road, Commack, NY. For tickets or additional information contact Alan Freedman at 631-462-9800end_of_the_skype_highlighting, X119.

Thanks to Ron Kaplan for alerting readers to this event.

Anyone planning to attend the event? Can you share photos of the ceremonies?