Nate Freiman is the newest Jewish Major Leaguer to take to the diamond.
The 6'8" first baseman made his big league debut April 3. The A's claimed Freiman from the Houston Astros, who placed Freiman on waivers late in Spring Training after he was acquired by the team from the San Diego Padres in December's Rule 5 Draft, according to JewishBaseballNews.com.
An all-star at every level in the minors, Freiman quickly adapted to the majors, crushing his first home run in just his 14th at-bat. The video of the 3-run shot is impressive to watch.
Nate Freiman 2012 Bowman. Photo courtesy of eBay.
Jewish baseball collectors have access to numerous cards and collectibles associated with the Team Israel and Oakland A's star.
Freiman's baseball cards include both minor and major league pasteboard.
His major league issues include 2010 Topps Pro Debut, 2011 Bowman Prospects, 2012 Bowman Prospects.
While few in number, Freiman's cards include numerous variations, limited edition, autographed and one-of-a-kind issues (visit Beckett.com for a checklist).
Freiman's major league cards are available for purchase on eBay (also a good source for minor league sets and singles), Amazon.com and the Beckett Marketplace.
A former Duke star (he hold's the team's career record for home runs), Freiman's minor league cards include team issues from the 2009 Eugene Emeralds, 2010 Ft. Wayne TinCaps, 2011 Lake Elsnore Storm and 2012 San Antonio Missions.
Freiman is also featured on 2012 Texas League Top Prospects and 2010 Midwest League All-Star cards.
Nate Freiman 2006 Delaware Cows. Photo courtesy of JSC.
Jay Sokol, a Columbus, Ohio insurance executive and baseball enthusiast, served as the Cows' general manager from 1997-2010. Sokol contacted JSC in October 2012, following the posting of the article about Nate Ebner, and was kind enough to share one of Freiman's Cows cards with me.
Sokol, who is Jewish, tells JewishSportsCollectibles.com that the Delaware Gazette (a local newspaper) produced only 150 Cows team sets, and that the cards "were strictly a giveaway and distributed at the [team's] last home game of the season."
I have never seen Freiman's Cows card listed on eBay. MinorLeagueNetwork.com, a site specializing in minor league card sales, lists several Delaware Cows team sets for sale, but does not include a price in the listing of the 2006 issue.
Possible sources for Freiman's minor league cards include STB Sports, a seller of minor league sets, and MinorLeague Singles.com, which sells minor league singles. As of this posting, neither seller offered the Cows card or set. Both, however, offer Freiman's affiliated minor league cards and sets.
Nate Freiman Team Israel autographed photo. Photo courtesy of eBay.
Collectors comfortable with making purchases on eBay can find a variety of Freiman signed balls and autographed photos on the auction giant.
These include images of Freiman playing for Team Israel in the 2012 World Baseball Classic qualifiers. Freiman batted .417 and hit four home runs playing for Israel, according to Wikipedia.
There are also several game-used and signed bats listed for sale on eBay, as of this posting. As always, buyer beware.
Nate Freiman signed ball. Photo courtesy of eBay.
No photos of Freiman are available in the MLB Photo store, and no A's memorabilia (other than customer-customized jerseys) can be found in the A's online store, as of this posting.
Likewise, no Freiman memorabilia is available on the official Duke online store or Duke athletics auction sites.
If the big righty continues to hit in the majors as he has in the past, these will be short lived trends.
Do you know of any other cards or collectibles? What Nate Freiman memorabilia do you have in your Jewish baseball collection? Let JewishSportsCollectibles.com readers know by commenting below.
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 Hardballfollows 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.
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.
Adam Greenberg. Photo courtesy of PalmBeachPost.com.
Adam Greenberg will get one more at-bat, becoming a once -- and once again -- Jewish Major Leaguer!
The Miami Marlins (coincidentally, owned by MOT Jeffrey Loria) have signed the former JMLer -- who's previous big league career consisted of being hit in the head by the first pitch he saw -- to a one game contract.
Greenberg will play for the Marlins tonight, in their second-to-last game, against the New York Mets, on Tuesday, October 2.
The move is, clearly, a publicity stunt by the Marlins, a team that has had a disastrous season, and is generating as many cries about the "integrity of the game" as it is cheers for Greenberg.
ESPN originally reported that Marlin's manager Ozzie Guillen would start Greenberg in the outfield and have him lead-off the bottom of the first inning against Met's 20-game winner and knuckle ball phenom R.A. Dickey, after which Guillen would remove Greenberg from the game.
Guillen, perhaps feeling the pressures of critics, now says he doesn't have a specific plan in mind for Greenberg's at bat.
"I'm going to manage my team to win the game. I'll figure out how to play him. ... We shouldn't have any problems. ...I think if the kid gets a hit in the first at-bat, he might get another one."
True to his nature, Greenberg is taking the publicity in stride. He's being a mensch about the Marlin's contract, donating his one day's pay (about $2,600) to the Marlin's charitable foundation. The Marlins, in turn, are donating the to the Sports Legacy Institute, a group that studies traumatic brain injuries in athletes, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Days later, he was sharing the news of his second chance on The Today Show. If you haven't had the chance to see it, I've included the video below. I defy you not to get goose bumps!
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Jewish baseball collectors have access to a number of Greenberg cards and collectibles, despite -- and possibly because of -- the extreme brevity of his major league career.
Adam Greenberg 2002 Upper Deck Future Gems. Photo courtesy of Joshua Platt.
Greenberg is featured on nearly three dozen different baseball cards, including minor and major league issues, according to Beckett.com. These include a 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premiere issue, and 2004 Topps Total and Bowman rookie cards, including Chrome, Refractor and autographed iterations from Bowman.
Adam Greenberg Daytona Cubs card. Photo courtesy of eBay.
Greenberg's minor league issues include 2003 and 2004 Daytona Beach Cubs, 2005 and 2006 West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx cards.
Adam played several seasons for the independent league Bridgeport Bluefish. I could find no independent league baseball cards while searching eBay for Bridgeport Bluefish team cards. The team's online store does not offer cards for sale. My calls to the team to inquire about Greenberg's cards have not been returned. Does anyone know if Adam is featured on any Blueffish pasteboard?
Greenberg also has cards in the 2008 and 2010 Jewish Major Leaguers sets, and is likely to have more JML baseball cards available in the near future, as a result of his play for Team Israel and the signing by the Marlins.
Adam Greenberg JML card. Photo courtesy of Joshua Platt.
All of Greenberg's cards are readily available on eBay, the Becket Marketplace and Amazon.com. They generally sell for between $3-5 for singles, with some minor league team issues and the Chrome, Refractor and autographed Bowman cards costing between $5-10.
The publicity surrounding Greenberg's appearance means more of his cards are for sale, but it is also driving up prices on all of his memorabilia. During the WBC, Greenberg's cards were selling at about 50% of their prices today. I expect the prices will drop to more reasonable levels when the hype surrounding Adam's appearance tonight cools.
Beyond his baseball cards, there is not much Greenberg memorabilia listed on eBay, as of this posting.
I suspect more collectibles will become available on eBay following Adam's appearance tonight. These include game tickets, programs, score cards, photos, etc.
Certainly other Greenberg memorabilia exists, although I could find little.
Adam Greenberg during Spring Training 2005. Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images, courtesy of NYTimes.com.
There are no photos of Greenberg in the MLB Photo Store, as of this posting.
Again, I presume the Marlins and Major League Baseball will embrace the PR buzz associated with Adam's return to the Bigs, and that numerous photos will become available.
The New York Times ran a beautiful image on Greenberg recently, but it is not for sale through the Times' online store. Here, again, I expect additional images to follow with the flood of coverage that Adam's story is generating.
One At Bat poster. Photo courtesy of OneAtBat.com.
Greenberg's feel good comeback was made possible, in part, by an online petition from sports documentary film maker Matt Liston, who spearheaded The "One At Bat" campaign, as described in the Today Show story.
Collectors can download and print a One At Bat poster from the campaign's web site. The poster, while visually arresting, does not feature Greenberg's likeness. It would, in my opinion, make an intriguing addition to any Greenberg collection, regardless.
Anyone interested can also follow Adam's story in video clips posted to Liston's YouTube channel. Does saving online video clips count as "collecting"? If so, start your hard drives!
Greenberg's saga is recounted in several Jewish baseball books, for collectors who prefer to keep their memorabilia on the book shelf.
Greenberg is a generous in-person signer and welcomes interactions with his Jewish fan base, as detailed in Jewish Major Leaguers in Their Own Words. It has been my experience that Adam is also a willing respondent to through-the-mail requests for his autographs. I'm proud to have several of Greenberg's autographed cards in my Jewish baseball collection.
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What Adam Greenberg memorabilia have I overlooked? Do you have any Greenberg collectibles in your Jewish baseball collection? What's your favorite piece? Are you attending tonight's game?
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.
Ed Sabol's football cards include a Goal Line Art Card (photo right), produced for each Football Hall of Famer as well as a Class of 2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame special issue card set, produced by Panini, part of an eight-card set given away at the Hall of Fame on Induction Day.
Collectors can purchase the complete, unsigned 2011 Induction Class Goal Line Art Card set from the Football Hall of Fame's web store for $27.99.
Sabol's individual Goal Line Art card can be found on eBay for $10 for unsigned cards, with autographed cards selling for between $75-$100. Amazon.com sellers are offering authenticated and autographed Ed Sabol Goal Line Art Cards for $90-$165.
Ed Sabol Hall of Fame card. Photo courtesy of eBay.
The elder Sabol is also featured on a 2011 Panini Timeless Treasures card (#10), with a sticker, standard card and autographed card varieties available, according to Beckett.com.
The limited edition Induction Day giveaway Panini cards sell for $1-$20 on eBay.
The unsigned Timeless Treasure sticker is available on Amazon.com
for $0.39 and from the Panini sticker and standard card can be found in the Beckett Marketplace for $0.25-$2.10.
Ed Sabol HOF signed football. Photo courtesy of ProFootballHallofFame.com.
Ed Sabol signed HOF mini helmet.Photo courtesy of Amazon.com.
A variety of mini helmets, bearing the NFL and Hall of Fame logos, autographed by Ed Sabol are available on eBay and Amazon.com.
My personal favorite, however, is more specialized mini helmet.
Ed Sabol graduated from The Ohio State University, where he was a varsity swimmer. According to Wikipedia, Sabol qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, but refused to participate because the Games were being hosted by Nazi Germany.
An eBay seller with a deep appreciation of history is offering an OSU mini helmet signed by Sabol for $159.99.
Signed Ed Sabol HOF induction photo. Photo courtesy of eBay.
A wide variety of other memorabilia is available on eBay. These include autographed and unsigned photos of Ed, and Ed with Steve Sabol, first day covers and cachets signed by Ed, autographed footballs and index cards, and Induction Day programs and ephemera. As always, buyer beware.
On Amazon.com, Jewish football collectors can also find a photo of Steve and Ed Sabol, signed by both men (certified by PSA/DNA), along with signed photos of Ed.
Less personal Sabol collectibles include the thousands of NFL Films videos available on VHS tape and DVD. Nearly all of the films in the Football Hall of Fame's video store are NFL Films products. Amazon.com lists more than 2,000 NFL Films titles and eBay offers nearly 900.
What Ed Sabol memorabilia do you have in your Jewish football collection? Have you had the chance to meet the NFL Films founder? Share your thoughts with other JewishSporstCollectibles.com readers by commenting below.
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