JewishSportsCollectibles

Jewish World Series Heroes

Sandy Koufax Upper Deck artwork. Photo courtesy of Beckett.com.

The Detroit Tigers take on the San Francisco Giants in the 108th World Series, which starts Wednesday, October 24.

During the 56-year history of the World Series Most Valuable Player Award (which started in 1955), two Jewish baseball players and a player who converted to Judaism after his career won a total of four MVP trophies.

Interestingly, all three played for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they captured the honors.

Larry Sherry Topps card.
Photo courtesy of eBay.com.

JewishSportsCollectibles.com offers reviews of the players' baseball cards and collectibles ... which range from common cards to $100,000+ game-used leather, from books to DVDs, from postcards and programs to books by the yard.

 

 

Steve Yeager Upper Deck card. Photo courtesy of Beckett.com

Click on the links that follow to read the JSC overviews of the cards and memorabilia for World Series MVP winners Larry Sherry (1959), Sandy Koufax (1963 and 1965) and Steve Yeager (1981).

 

Feel free to comment below, or in the individual postings, to let JewishSportsCollectibles.com readers know what your most treasured collectible for these World Series winners might be.

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Editor's Note: A version of this posting originally ran under the headline "Jewish World Series MVP Profiles" in 2011.

Charleston Film Fest Has Jewish Baseball Flicks

The Federated Jewish Charities of Charleston (West Virginia) film festival on Sunday, October 20, has a Jewish baseball theme, according to this article from the Charleston Daily Mail.

The festival will include screenings of Holy Land Hardball and Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story.

Both films are free and open to the public. Showings will be held at the Culture Center Theater at the West Virginia State Capitol. Holy Land Hardball shows at 4 p.m. Jews and Baseball starts at 5:30 p.m., according to the Daily Mail. 

For additional information, call Federated Jewish Charities of Charleston at 304-345-2320, or email mzltov@aol.com.

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Holy Land Hardball poster. Photo courtesy of www.7thart.com.

Holy Land Hardball follows several players and league officials as it looks at the ill-fated experiment that was the Israel Baseball League's 2007 season.

Collectors can rent the film and download digital copies on Amazon.com. Jewish baseball enthusiasts at one time could purchase the DVDs from film's web site, but it appears to no longer be working.

Other memorabilia associated with Holy Land Hardball include promotional postcards and posters from the various Jewish film festivals at which the documentary has been shown.

Producer Brett Rapkin has proven himself willing to respond to emails in the past, and I count myself lucky to have corresponded with him. I'm pleased to have two signed Hardball promotional postcards in my personal collection of Jewish baseball memorabilia.

Watch the trailer for Holy Land Hardball below.

 

Jews and Baseball poster. Photo courtesy of JewsandBaseball.com.

Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story examines Jewish Major League baseball players and the explores the meaning baseball has played in the lives of American Jews and their attempts to assimilate to American culture during the early 20th Century.

The movie includes a rare interview with Sandy Koufax.

DVDs and digital rentals of the movie are available on Amazon.com.

Movie buffs can also purchase a DVD from the film's web site and the Jewish Major Leaguers web site.

Other Jews and Baseball collectibles include posters, baseball caps and t-shirts. All can be purchased from the film's web site store.

Watch the trailer for Jews and Baseball below.

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Read additional information about Jews and Baseball in this 2010 posting by JewishSportsCollectibles.com. Read more about Holy Land Hardball in this JSC article about the memorabilia associated with the Israel Baseball League.

Are you planning to attend the film festival this weekend? Have you seen Jews and Baseball or Holy Land Hardball? Share your thoughts on the films with other JewishSportsCollectibles.com readers by commenting below.

Jews on Ice

As March goes out like a lion in the winter that wasn't, it's natural that collectors' minds turn to spring, warmer weather ... and, naturally, ice hockey.

Capping off an otherwise forgettable season, the cellar-dwelling Columbus Blue Jackets hosted Jewish Heritage Night on Wednesday, March 28 during their game against the Detroit Red Wings.

This presents the perfect opportunity for JewishSportsCollectibles.com to provide an overview of the collectibles associated with the men on skates who Ron Kaplan refers to as "JICE" -- that is "Jews on Ice."

The lansdmen who share the frozen water include:

• Michael Brown, winger, Toronto Maple Leafs;
• Michael Cammalleri, center, Montreal Canadians;
• Jeff Halpern, forward, Washington Capitals;
• Eric Nystrom, winger, Dallas Stars;
• and, Dylan Reese, defense, New York Islanders.

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Michael Brown

A winger who has played for the Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs during his short NHL career, Michael Brown has numerous cards available to Jewish hockey collectors. The problem is finding them, if you're shopping online.

Given the commonality of Brown's name, isolating his cards can be tough. Doubtless, Beckett.com lists Browns pasteboard, but isolating hockey's Mike Brown from any football player named Mike who played for the Cleveland Browns during the team's long history can prove daunting.

eBay, which allows shoppers to filter results by numerous attributes, may be the easier option. I found more than 200 possible results, although many of the items listed included multi-card and you-pick-your-cards lots. Your best bet (and best for small businesses!) may be to shop for Brown's pasteboard at your local sports card and collectibles shop.

Wherever you might buy them, Brown's cards include numerous rookie and standard issues, along with a few serial numbers, signed and memorabilia cards. These appear to be relatively common, selling for $1-$5, depending on condition. Brown's limited edition issues can fetch as much as $10-$12.

As a baseball fan and collector, I'm a bit out of my league when it comes to hockey. Perhaps readers can weigh in with a list of Brown's cards and other memorabilia? Comment below!

Michael Cammalleri

Beckett.com lists more than 175 different cards for Michael Cammalleri. These include cards from all of the major manufacturers -- including Donruss, O-Pee-Chee, Pinnacle and Score -- including limited edition, memorabilia and autographed cards.

Cards in the Beckett Marketplace sell for between $0.25 and $40, for some of the center's limited edition rookie cards. Most of the more popular of Cammalleri's standard issue cardboard sells for $2-4 on eBay.

In addition to hockey cards, collectors can also find a 2009/2010 McFarlane Hockey figurine for Cammalleri. Both standard issue and autographed/serial numbered editions exist. Expect to pay $15-25 for the standard figurine and as much as $100-150 for the autographed edition on eBay.

A bevvy of Camalleri autographed and unsigned photos, signed pucks, sticks, jerseys and photos can be found on eBay for a wide range of prices (as always, buyer beware!).

There's even a plush toy and Fathead wall decoration for collectors who like to include JICE as a decor element.

What Camalleri items do you have in your collection?

Jeff Halpern

There are nearly 300 different cards for Jeff Halpern listed on Beckett.com, including base cards, parallel issues, autograph, memorabilia and limited edition variety from all of the different manufacturers.

Standard cards in the Beckett Marketplace and eBay sell for between $0.25 and $3. Haplern's less scarce memorabilia and autograph cards are available for $4-10, while graded and limited edition cards are available for $15-$50.

Collectors can also find Halpern autographed and unsigned photos, autographed pucks, sticks and jerseys can be found on eBay for a wide range of prices.

Halpern is also profiled in Jewish Sports Stars: Athletic Heroes Past and Present.  

Do you have a favorite Halpern item in your collection?

Eric Nystrom

Collectors can choose from nearly 200 different cards featuring Dallas Stars winger Eric Nystrom, according to Beckett. These include cards featuring Nystrom in his pee wee hockey and University of Michigan college uniforms, as well professional cardboard of all manner. Nystrom is well represented across all manufacturers, and has signature, memorabilia and limited edition cards available.

Nystrom's common cards can be found for $2 or less in the Beckett Marketplace and on eBay, while memorabilia cards generally command $10-20, and as much as $50 for extremely limited edition varieties.

eBay shoppers can find dozens of Nystrom autographed photos, pucks and jerseys (many of them team signed items), along with sticks and team logo merchandise. Standard eBay cautions apply when shopping for signed items. 

As a veteran player, certainly collectors can also find Nystrom in team programs and yearbooks. What other Nystrom memorabilia can you suggest?

Dylan Reese

For a player who has spent only parts of each of the last three seasons with Islanders, there are a surprising number of cards available to Jewish hockey enthusiasts seeking to add Dylan Reese to their collection.

Beckett.com lists 41 different pieces of pasteboard for the defense man, including limited edition and serial numbered cards, memorabilia and autograph cards, and 1-of-1 printing plate variations.

Reese's signature and memorabilia cards are very reasonably priced on eBay, with sellers generally asking between $2-$10, with the same cards in the Beckett Marketplace fetching between $4-8. 

Islanders team signed items, including Reese's autograph are readily available on eBay. Single signed-pieces, not as much. A recent search yielded only one signed puck and one autographed photo. There was, however, a Reese game worn, minor league sweater (i.e. - jersey) available for $500. As always on eBay, buyer beware. 

What other Reese memorabilia do you have?

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As I mentioned above, I'm a lifelong baseball fan and Jewish baseball collector. So, I'm a bit out of my league when it comes to hockey.

What JICE hockey memorabilia do you have I overlooked? What's the best piece in your Jewish hockey collection?

Share your favorites in the comments below. If you email photos of your Jewish hockey memorabilia to jsportscollectr@gmail.com, I'll be happy to publish them.

Jewish World Series MVP Profiles

During the 55-year history of the World Series Most Valuable Player Award (which started in 1955), two Jewish baseball players and a player who converted to Judaism after his career won a total of four MVP trophies.

Interestingly, all three played for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they captured the honors.

JewishSportsCollectibles.com recently took a peak at the players' baseball cards and collectibles ... which range from common cards to $100,000+ game-used leather, from books to DVDs, from pastcards and prgrams to books by the yard.

Check out the JSC overviews of the cards and memorabilia for World Series MVP winners Larry Sherry (1959), Sandy Koufax (1963 and 1965) and Steve Yeager (1981).

Feel free to comment below, or in the individual postings, to let JSC readers know what your most treasured collectible for these World Series winners might be.

Jewish World Series MVP Profile: Sandy Koufax

JewishSportsCollectibles.com previously published an overview of some of 1959 World Series MVP Larry Sherry's collectibles.

Today, as part of JewishSportsCollectible's profiles of Jewish World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners, we look at some of the trading cards and memorabilia of Sandy Koufax, the Hall of Famer pitcher who won the World Series Most Valuable Player in 1963 and 1965.

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Collectors seeking Koufax cardboard have a wide variety of options.

Beckett.com lists 947 different Koufax cards in its online checklists. The Koufax card catalogue includes dozens of modern commemoratives that book for a few bucks, as well as vintage pasteboard and modern autograph inserts that can set you back thousands, even tens of thousands, of dollars.

The lefty's interesting cards include:

• Koufax's Topps 1955 rookie and 1956 cards. Both feature beautiful designs and were among Topps' "All Time Fan Favorites" cards, as mentioned in a previous JSC.com posting.
  
  Expect to pay big bucks for these cards, if you value high grades. Pristine Koufax pasteboard has gaveled for $40,000+, according to the Sports Collectors Digest Auction Database.

• The 2000 Upper Deck issued the Brooklyn Dodgers "Master Collection," a limited edition,15-card set numbered to 250 and 11 memorabilia chase cards.
  
  The Koufax memorabilia card (LOF 11) includes an action shot of Koufax in full windup, over the exterior of Ebbett's Field. It includes an autograph and a swatch of one of the hall of famer's game-used jerseys. The card sells for $800-$1,800 on eBay.

• Artist Gary Joseph Cieradkowski's "Infinite Baseball Card Set" includes two uniquely designed Koufax cards. A 2010 University of Cincinnati card was subjected to a cease and desist order by the university. Does anyone have an image of this card?
  
  Cierdkowski's second Koufax card, which features the pitcher in his high school Coney Island Parkviews' uniform, is part of the debut issue of 21: The Illustrated Journal of Outsider Baseball. The magazine includes illustrated cards for 14 Jewish athletes (Kaplan's Korner reviewed the magazine in April 2011; JewishSportsCollectibles.com will offer a review of the magazine and cards in the near future) is available for $25 and can be ordered from the artist's website.

Koufax also has a card in the 2003 debut Jewish Major Leaguers card set. His card is, in fact, the first  in the set (JML 2003, #1). Like the lefty's other cardboard, the Koufax JML single commands a premium. The standard issue card sells for nearly $20 on eBay. Collectors should expect to pay as much as $65 for the gold limited edition card.

Despite the southpaw's notable public reclusiveness, there is no shortage of Koufax autographed baseballs on the market, for collectors wanting to put a signed orb on their mantle or in their display case.

Steiner Sports (fair warning: you'll inexcusably, in my opinion, be required to enter your email address in order to view the Steiner website!) offers five varieties of Koufax autographed balls, including signed balls with World Series, Perfect Game and Cy Young inscriptions, for $500-$1,000.

Amazon.com sellers offer more than 150 different Koufax autographed baseballs, including those offered by Steiner, Upper Deck and balls authenticated by James Spence and PSA/DNA. Cost varies widely by seller and inscription, but expect to pay at least $300.

Koufax signed jerseys -- both autographed and unsigned -- are also available on Amazon.com. Unsigned replica jerseys start at $75. Mounted Memories offers Koufax autographed jerseys -- including Mitchell & Ness home and away jerseys with a variety of inscriptions -- both on its site and Amazon. Prices range from $800-$1,000. 

Vintage Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers team- and multi-signed jerseys, balls and bats occasionally come up for regularly bid at the marquee action houses. Given collector demand and the other Hall of Famers on the Dodgers squad, these always realize premium prices.

It's rare, however, to see a Koufax game-used jersey or glove on the auction market. And, when such items do go under gavel, they've commanded high-five- and even six-figure bids.

Koufax's signed 1966 World Series game-used leather -- which the pitcher autographed, inscribed and gifted to umpire Doug Harvey -- hammered for $107,550 during Heritage Auction Galleries' April 23-24, 2009 sale.

One of Koufax's signed, 1957 game-worn Brooklyn Dodgers road jersey gaveled for $77,675 during the September 11, 2004 sale by Heritage. A jersey like this would almost certainly realize more money now than it did 7 years ago, despite today's bleak economy.

If you like your collectibles hanging on the wall, there are numerous Koufax photos and artwork available for purchase.

 

Steiner Sports offers 15 Koufax photos. Expect to pay between $699-$1,400 for the unframed, autographed, 16X20 black and white images.

The same Steiner memorabilia is also available on Amazon.com. Purchasing through the Internet superstore can save budget-crunched collectors a few sheckels (as much as $150!).

Also available on Amazon.com are several Upper Deck Authenticated images of the southpaw, including the signed photo of Koufax celebrating his fourth no hitter shown to the right above. 

The autographed displays will set you back approximately $1,000.

Koufax is also the subject of a well-known Leroy Neiman serigraph, pictured at right. Expect to pay $2,000-$6,000 on eBay for the print. Collectors with modest budgets can occassionaly find promotional postcards for the serigraph for about $10 on eBay .

The Hall of Famer has been pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated six times, as detailed in this previous JewishSportsCollectibles posting. Originals, some autographed, can be found on Amazon.com and eBay. Sports Illustrated's Classic Cover Collection sells reproductions.

For Jewish collectors who prefer their memorabilia hardbound, Koufax is featured in hundreds of books. 

These include Jane Leavy's iconic 2002 biography, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, and the critically acclaimed kids book, You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!

Koufax is also graces the pages of Day by Day in Jewish Sports History, The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball's Chosen Players and is the cover photo on The Big Book of Jewish Baseball and Jews and Baseball: Volume 2, The Post-Greenberg Years, 1949-2008.

I've touched on just a few of the tomes in which Koufax is the subject. Amazon.com lists 1,3254 titles for Koufax. What books do you have on your shelf? What's your favorite Koufax book? 

Last but not least, Koufax is featured prominently in the documentary film Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story. The movie (check out the JSC.com review) includes vintage game footage of Koufax and a rare interview with the pitcher. Collectors can purchase the DVD from JewishMajorLeaguers.org or on the documentary's website, which also offers posters, baseball caps, t-shirts and other tchotchkes. 

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Koufax is considered hobby royalty, by both Jewish and non-Jewish baseball collectors. No doubt, this posting has overlooked and omitted some of the Hall of Famer's memorabilia. What have I missed?

What's your most valued Koufax collectible? Have you been fortunate enough to have meet the hall of famer in the past? Do you have a Koufax signature in your autograph collection?

Leave a comment below to share with JewishSportsCollectibles.com readers.

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I'd hoped to complete all of the profiles of the Jewish World Series MVPs during the World Series. This review of Sandy Koufax's collectibles took longer than expected, however, given the breadth of his available memorabilia.

While it may publish after the Series is over (come on Feldman and Kinsler!), stay tuned for a posting in the coming days on the cards and memorabilia of Steve Yeager -- who converted to Judaism after his career.