Card Mensches E14 Top 10 Jewish MLB Players of All-Time

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SPEAKER 2: Hey, I'm Danny.

SPEAKER 3: Block and I'm John Newman.

SPEAKER 3: Welcome to card matches.

SPEAKER 3: All right there. We played the intro on Time kudos to the producers of said show. Episode 14 of the card matches a little different today and see comment from Ruben already. I wanna, you know, I feel this would be, I feel this will be educational. I hope so. Ruben and I think we're both, I think we're all gonna learn.

SPEAKER 3: I think we're gonna learn from each other's list for those that don't know. There it is. On the screen, but for those listening only, we're gonna, me and Danny have made a top 10 list of all Time Jewish baseball players. You know, we have our, we see, we have Jewish heritage and, you know, people love lists. So that's where this came, where this came about.

SPEAKER 3: This won't be the only one and only top 10 list we ever do, which just happens to be the first one with, with sort of the, the backdrop of the show and, and, and kind of what, you know what we, what, what it's all about. And so we're gonna, each, we each made our own individual 10 player list.

SPEAKER 3: We did not compare notes or any, we're gonna find out each other's list. Like anyone else will, as we go through the show, I, I'll say this about the list and we obviously we have many probably similar players. I think it's a safe bet for the number one guy on this list. Will be proud for, for both of us consensus, right? And then it will get interesting.

SPEAKER 3: As we go through, we're gonna do this folks for those listening or watching in snake draft order. In other words, if I was to give my number one guy, then Danny will give his number one guy and then Danny will give his number two guy. I will give my number two guy and my number three guy and go back and forth like that.

SPEAKER 3: Ii, I will tell you right now, I know, for a fact we will not have the same 10 players and someone will say, well, how do you know that? I just know it's one of those, you know, gut feelings. So, you know, it, it, it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER 3: And, and, and then learning like I'm II, I don't want to just mention the player name and, and name on. I want to talk a little bit about some of their stats and why they made our list, Danny. But, you know, before we get, kind of went on there about what we're doing tonight. Anything you wanna add?

SPEAKER 2: Well, II, I think I was answering the most important question we're gonna get all night. So we might as well get it out of the way. Rod crew is not eligible.

SPEAKER 2: And that, that's based upon an interview he gave and some other research that I did ahead of Time. So I'm looking forward to having a little bit of fun. I think we'd be remiss not to give a shout out to Adam Sandler.

SPEAKER 2: And, and, you know, having a little bit of fun with this and, I, I'm looking forward to learning some facts about some of the baseball players and just from the sport, you know, from some of your research. And I hope I can teach you a thing or two. And, a lot of these guys are also, interesting cards to collect if you're looking for a PC.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, that's for sure. I mean, you know, I've doing this, getting, doing the research and getting the prep done for this show, Danny. I'm not gonna lie. I'm really thinking about maybe doing a PC kind of based around, this, you know, this kind of stuff. So, you know, so it's, it there and I learned stuff in, in making this list. I, I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER 3: Final draft I have here is probably the third one I did before I kind of settled on, on what I was my, my 10 and I'm gonna mention a couple of guys that just fell out of my top 10 at towards the end of the show when we're, when we're done with their list and, and there's a guy, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna tell you, I, I don't think he's gonna be on your list and, and wait till I tell you what this guy, you know what he, what he's done.

SPEAKER 3: And, and you're gonna, I think other people are gonna be like, holy cow. Now, if Adam Sandler hears this or, or whatever, and he's mad that we didn't, you know, he, he, he's in the Hanukkah song and Adam Sandler is mad that he's not eligible. We're, we're, we're, we're officially inviting Adam Sandler on card ma a future card matches or if he's jumps in tonight, I know he's not very busy.

SPEAKER 3: He's Adam Sandler. He can come in and make his case. For Rod Care. I, I will say this, had Rod Carre been eligible, I mean, I think he's, would have made both, obviously made both of our, our list. So that's why, you know, he's not on our list. It's not nothing against Rod Kau personally, arguably one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, pure hitters, but just not eligible to make this.

SPEAKER 3: So, you know, myself and my dad did not fall in the top 10, but I will say this, Danny.

SPEAKER 2: No, we'll say I was honorable mention.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, I will say this. And, and at least on my list as and, and not, not necessarily intentionally, there's a lot of New York flavor on my list. And we'll see that as we go through it.

SPEAKER 2: So, ok, well, first of all, I'm, I'm looking forward to, to, to the list.

SPEAKER 2: I, I would like to give a shout out to my in-laws. I'm representing the, the New Baltimore City connect Jersey tonight.

SPEAKER 3: So, thank you to hang on before we, before we get to this list before we get to this list. Today's not just a great day because the men are on it. It's a great day because Danny turned 21 years old today.

SPEAKER 3: So everybody wish Danny a happy birthday. Darry wise as a kid. Kid men.

SPEAKER 3: I think that was his name, Kid Mensch, or his rat name. I think that was his rat name. But there's, there's Dave but all joking aside that the happy birthday, Danny's legit, the picture might not be but today is Danny's 21st birthday. So yes, I did.

SPEAKER 2: Very, very sneaky Mr Newman. Thank you.

SPEAKER 3: Appreciate that. What the other strobe effect? All right enough of that. But it is Danny's birthday for real. And so we wish him a very happy birthday and, and many and many, many more as well when we will do this every year.

SPEAKER 2: So I was about to say hopefully I get one every year, so I don't know.

SPEAKER 3: All right. So let's I, I guess what I'll further a do we, you know, enough for the jibber jabber and probably should get to this list. Who I, I I'm gonna, it's Danny's birthday. I, we're both gonna have the same number one guy I think, you know, legitimately if 100 people did this list, this guy would be or should be number one on all 100.

SPEAKER 3: So I think it's, it's a chalk pick, but we still got to give him, we still gotta give him his due. I'm gonna let Danny it's his birthday So I'm gonna let him, go first. I also will say, you know, this was a card that I stole from you last year and now you got it.

SPEAKER 3: I don't, I, you know, that's your news that I just broke. But you, you, you're the owner of this gentleman's rookie card. So, go ahead and make, go ahead and announce the number one pick, I think in a sense it's for both of us, but, then we can talk about them.

SPEAKER 2: Well, since, since this is a hobby show, how about I introduce the player by their card, 1950 55 tops rookie card, Sandy Koufax. I I think you're talking about for his, his peak period, maybe the greatest peak in the history of Major League Baseball, the most dominant pitcher, you know, for every, every Time he took the mound, for, for a period of Time.

SPEAKER 2: So Sandy Koufax to me is an easy number one. He's got a Paul Bunyan myth to him. There, there's a AAA young kicker, you know, story that, that just makes him bigger than life. But on top of that, you know, you're talking about a guy who pitched, I mean, almost a no hitter a year for, for several years.

SPEAKER 2: And it was really just the best pitcher at the Time when you had the best hitters in, in the league.

SPEAKER 3: Let me see who I get it on my list.

SPEAKER 3: Oh, yeah, that's who I got.

SPEAKER 3: Some things I want to add here also from Brooklyn, New York. I gotta give a shout out to my, my hometown, played for his hometown team until they moved to, L A and, and like you said, Danny, listen, arguably he had like the six most dominating years as a pitcher, maybe in baseball history.

SPEAKER 3: He actually started out very sort of like 500 type and then he just fixed some mechanics and, you know, became a, a just almost unhittable pitcher and just, just a tremendous, you know, player person.

SPEAKER 3: And look at some of those to talk about those six years, even his last year before, like he had to retire because of some injuries. He was, I think 27 and four and one to Cy Young. It's not like he was, he was like clanking at the end and it was obvious, you know, he had a year that players in their prime would, would take today that, that no one can, can duplicate.

SPEAKER 3: So he, he's, he's almost larger than life. He's been a Dodger for life. He still works in the organization as a consultant and sometimes is that spring training and we'll talk to the players.

SPEAKER 3: So here we are in 2023 and this guy is still involved with the team, that drafted him and arguably one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. History, the career a little shorter, than, than you would have maybe liked to see. But some of those years he was just, insane and, this is a consensus number one pitch.

SPEAKER 2: And unfortunately he suffered from lack of medical, you know, tools that the pitchers have now. I mean, who, who knows what he would have done if they could have gone in there and, you know, looked at that, looked at that arm and, you know, more than just a pill, pills and heat and cold.

SPEAKER 2: So, I think that I have the potential there, you know, is even, is even greater than what the substance was. So we're going, am I going to or, or do you.

SPEAKER 3: Know, it's my turn to go to, it's my turn to go to. So, and we might be the same here. I'm, I'm assuming, you know, if it wasn't for, you just.

SPEAKER 2: Say it's your turn to go to.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, but, not that kind.

SPEAKER 3: But, you know, this guy would have been probably number one if it wasn't for someone who's dominating his Koufax. This guy was one of the, the most feared hitters in baseball, two Time MVP. And, obviously a baseball Hall Of Famer in Cooperstown, you know, the, the, you know, the Hebrew Hammer, Hank Greenberg and, just, just an incredible player, right?

SPEAKER 3: You know, we can take off, you know, some of these guys, let's be honest, are, are that, are gonna be on the list are not in Cooperstown, but they're in the top 10. This guy is, you know, in Cooperstown. And, he's my number two. So I'm, I'm, you know, there's not much more to be said. I'm, I'm, I'm gonna throw it to Danny and see if he has the same on his number two list.

SPEAKER 2: I do, I do have Hank Greenberg, 1 59 Ops Plus Lifetime and I'm a big fan of that stat. That means he was almost 60% better than the league his entire career.

SPEAKER 2: And people forget he also lost three plus years to military service. So, yeah, yeah. So, so a military man, on top of it and, so I do have him number two as well.

SPEAKER 2: All right. Do I, do I go number three?

SPEAKER 3: Now you go number three. Yep. So you remember, you'll get in a sense now we'll be getting two picks, back to back. So this is where before you make your number three pick, I just want to say one thing.

SPEAKER 3: I think this is, I think one and two were kind of when this, when a list like this, I think this, this is where we're gonna probably have different guys at different slots or maybe different guys altogether where someone's on your list. That's, that's not mine. But go ahead with number three for you.

SPEAKER 2: All right. Well, and we have not discussed this 1953 MVP career 1 37 ops plus Al Rosen.

SPEAKER 3: Ok. I like it. I will tell you that's not my number three guy. My number three guy is Lou, and on my list for the whole body of work. Ok. He is in the baseball Hall Of Fame player. He then became a, a manager and then an announcer.

SPEAKER 3: He's in Cooperstown and he's the guy, you know, we, we're a lot of talk lately about like shifting and they outlawed the shift. He invented that against Ted Williams. He invented the Ted Williams shift. And if you, if you read up about lore, you, you learned that and he also served in the military. So I believe he lost some years too.

SPEAKER 3: He was a very intelligent manager and he's actually in the, he's in Cooperstown more for his managerial prowess than, than his player prowess. So I got him at three.

SPEAKER 3: But I will say this since it's a snake draft and I get to now say who's fourth? I have Al Rosen as my fourth guy. It was close. It was close. I think at one point I was kind of as I dropped my list.

SPEAKER 3: I was kind of switching these guys around before I finally settled with Rosen is the, let me, let me tell you something about Rosen that, I didn't know till I, you know, I know how, how great he was, but he's the only player to win MVP and Major League Baseball executive of the year as a front office exec so only player in Major League Baseball history to win the MVP and executive of the year, he almost won the triple crown, as you mentioned in 1953 he lost the batting title on the last day of the season.

SPEAKER 3: Literally at one point, I, I believe so. So that's how close, how close he was to being a triple in that triple crown club.

SPEAKER 3: The other thing I wanna mention, he was a, a very, very good amateur boxer who also used those boxing skills to stand up to, you know, some anti-semitism, off the and even on the field, there's been a few, there's been stories where some stuff was coming out of the opposing dugout and he would run in there and basically tell the guy, you know, come on, let's go and, and, you know, people step in between.

SPEAKER 3: So I believe he's even suspended once for an altercation. So very, very, you know, you know, proud of his faith and heritage and was, was quick to defend, to defend it in, in that so, easily could have been third as well.

SPEAKER 3: I won't, that's why I won't argue with your pick. He just was, was, you know, I want Boudreaux and then, and then Rosen, but you could, you could enter interchange though. So, who was four for you?

SPEAKER 2: Ok. Four for me was I'll give away a little bit here. The only active player I have on the list is Alex Brigman.

SPEAKER 2: To me, he's only 29 years old. So there's, there's a lot, a lot of room left, you know, for him to add to his career. He's a 1 35 ops plus player.

SPEAKER 2: I, I just see him as going down is one, is one of the greatest Jewish players of all Time.

SPEAKER 2: And he's in the peak of his career right now and I didn't want to hold that against him. So, I put him at four and snaking met back around. I make this really easy just to show you how, how much you and I agree on this. I have Lou at number five.

SPEAKER 2: So, a he and he was a 63 lifetime war and he finished in an amazing amount of top 10 in the MVP award. But that, that's, that's the one thing that I learned is I forget if it was six or eight Times, whatever it was that he ended up in the MVP top 10 voting.

SPEAKER 2: And then like you said, plus a managerial career and everything else on.

SPEAKER 2: So, he was my number five.

SPEAKER 3: All right. My number five is, is gonna be obviously different because I already had Boudreau at three. My, my fifth guy is the second pitcher on our list. And I think he's gonna make your list, at a different slot but, Ken Holtzman, two no hitters in his own. Right? And listen, I'm not saying he's better than Sandy Koufax.

SPEAKER 3: I don't think anyone will, will make that case, but I will tell you that he has more wins than Sandy Koufax. So what we can say is he's the winningest Jewish Jewish pitcher in baseball history, not the best, but the winningest you know, Jewish pi or Hurler in baseball history. So how do you not have him on the list? He comes in five for me.

SPEAKER 3: He also went on to manage in the Israeli League after his Major League Baseball career was over. So, winning this Jewish pitcher, two no hitters. Ken Holtzman is at number five. So now I'll give you my sixth pick and this is the, I hate to say sleeper, but this, this guy and I'm gonna read a lot about him here because I, I, you know, Ruben said, you know, he wanted to, he had a feeling this was gonna be occasional.

SPEAKER 3: I think this is where it, it comes in. This is a guy that might not make Danny's list. All right. I won't say that this had nothing, no insight on why he made it for number six for me. But he, this gentleman is from Brooklynn played in the early years.

SPEAKER 2: That, that is a huge reason.

SPEAKER 3: He made the list. It helped, it helped. But it's not the only reason.

SPEAKER 3: And this is in the early, you know, when baseball was first start being played late 18 hundreds.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, this, this guy goes back while full disclosure, I did not know about this gentleman until I started doing research and the more I start learning about him, the di the deeper I dug and I'm like, this guy's got to be on this list.

SPEAKER 3: He started, I'm not even to mention his name. Let me give the bio first as he started playing professional level ball at 15 years old, played till he was 42. During this Time period, he was probably the best power hitter in speed combo. He led the leaks most years and not only just home runs and stolen bases, he was known for taking bets and racing other players in the league and always winning and taking their money.

SPEAKER 3: And in 18 73 in your hometown of Baltimore, he raced a race horse or a trotting horse named Clarence 100 yards in Baltimore where people were betting money. He beat the horse, he beat Clarence and 100 yard cash. He did it in 10 seconds flat. So think about when we talk about the NFL combine, right? And guys are running a 43 40 right? This guy which I have not mentioned his name yet, ran 100 yards in 10 seconds.

SPEAKER 3: So a 50 yard, he did the 50 yard dash in five second average. That's incredible. When, when you think about it, he played till he's 42 and then he went on to become the first professional Jewish manager in baseball history. His name is Lip Pike, L IP Pike. And so Lip Pike makes number six on my list. Look him up if you think that, you know, this is not a Sid finch story. Like, you know, this is a real person.

SPEAKER 3: And really everything I read about him just really like would be like the first pick and, and if we had, if they had drafts, then he would have been unanimous for his pick, hit home runs, stole bases and, you know, raced, everybody beat everybody including a horse in Baltimore.

SPEAKER 2: So, I like, I don't know how Clarence ends up getting the, the short end of the story.

SPEAKER 3: So the horse named Clarence lost the 100 yard dash to Lip Pike 18 73 in Baltimore. And and then became the first Jewish professional baseball manager, right? So, so, you know, I mean, now be honest, Danny, did, you did have you ever heard of Lip Pike?

SPEAKER 2: We will get to him later on my list.

SPEAKER 3: Yes. Ok. All right. All right. All right. Yeah.

SPEAKER 2: But, this, this is a little bit of a niche for me. So, wait, so what number was that for you?

SPEAKER 3: Six. So this is your six and then you also give me seven.

SPEAKER 2: Ok. My six, is Ryan Braun on talent alone. He probably could have been higher.

SPEAKER 2: But he has a problem with fedex delivery shipments. So I had to lower him a little bit.

SPEAKER 2: You know, a lot of people I know have a problem with fedex delivery, I hear. So, you know.

SPEAKER 2: Right. So, you know, you, you don't know who to believe. And, Ryan had a 1 34 ops plus, but 350 plus home runs and over 200 stolen bases, a rookie of the year and an MVP. So a 302 100 with a rookie of the year and an MVP.

SPEAKER 2: Just, just a, a heck of a player at, at a University Of Miami.

SPEAKER 2: You know, unfortunately tainted at the end of his career but, but AAA tremendous career, I think it was almost 15 years. People forget how long it was.

SPEAKER 2: And so, I had Ryan Braun as my number six.

SPEAKER 3: All right. Give your seventh.

SPEAKER 2: Seven, Sean Green 328 lifetime Homers, 100 and 20 ops plus, and 15 major league seasons. So, a very solid career, I remember him playing very well. He was for many years, considered a middle of the order bad and a dangerous hitter.

SPEAKER 2: And some of the other names on my list I, I have, on for maybe not necessarily statistical reasons. So Sean Green was one of the last straight statistics.

SPEAKER 3: On here we have the same number seven guy. We'll tell you that. It's also Sean Green number seven on, on, on my list, 30 30 guy right at 30 home runs. So 30 bases, 328 home runs and also won gold gloves and, and you know, there was a, a 3 to 5 year stretch where he was a top 10 ball player, if not a higher.

SPEAKER 3: I got to see him here in Syracuse as a minor league ball player when the Syracuse was the Blue Jays minor league affiliate. And so I saw Sean Green before he was Sean Green, we know the major league player and he was just as good in AAA if not better.

SPEAKER 3: And so he made my number number seven. He's also 14 days older than me, just just so everyone knows he was born on November 10th, 1972. I was born on November 24th. So he beat me on earth by two weeks. He made this list and, and I didn't, so I beat me. Other than that.

SPEAKER 2: Everything in your life is identical.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, I don't know about that. All right. So, number eight and, and I know I'm not gonna lie to you, Danny. I know you like this guy.

SPEAKER 3: And, and I told you I did like kind of three different versions on, on my list before I settled on my final one that I have here. I will tell you there was one version where this gentleman did not make the, the list. But I did settle with putting him, at, at eight, eventually, and honestly, let's, you know, I'll probably give this away without saying his name to why I didn't have a, didn't know who it is.

SPEAKER 3: When you look at his numbers, he really has no business being on a top 10, right? But I think when you look at the whole body of work and the story, he gets on and to tell you the truth when he started his major league careers, actually playing very well in an injury, sidetracked him and became sort of a role player hit six. You know, here's, this is a crazy stat, has six major league home runs in his career.

SPEAKER 3: Only 206 ribbies.

SPEAKER 3: But he had.

SPEAKER 2: A, he played here 20 years. That's how bad he was.

SPEAKER 3: 15, 15, 15.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah. And, but he read 10 papers a day, spoke multiple languages and, and arguably one of the smartest guys, baseball, all his managers said, he was one of the most intelligent players they've ever, managed. He's famous probably more for the stuff off the baseball field. They made a movie, which I've not seen. I, I actually got to see it. The catcher was a spy where Paul Rudd plays him.

SPEAKER 2: The book is better. I've, I've done both.

SPEAKER 3: Ok, the movie it is and has got it. It's Mo and so, you know, and that's what I mean, I've, I've played Tug of War in my mind, Ruben and everyone else too. Is he worthy of the top 10 list? But, you know, when, when you, when you, I guess when you put the whole story together, you know, and he served this country.

SPEAKER 3: And, and so, you know, someone could argue, he probably shouldn't be on the list and at one point he wasn't on my list. I, it would, so I, I get it, I get it because I, I, you know, I, I can, I can make arguments for both being on and not being on, but I, I wound up settling, putting him eight, rather than not have him on the list.

SPEAKER 3: So it, it's Mo be in my, my eighth spot. Just the, the, the whole enigma of the story. And I think what made him what, you know, if, if, what made me put him on the list was reading that, had he not, I think it was a knee injury. Had he not got a knee injury? He was on track to be a better ballplayer.

SPEAKER 3: And, so I think II, I put him on the list kind of when I read that.

SPEAKER 3: And then the whole rest of the story. So there you go. Now it's, to Danny for eight and then, and then.

SPEAKER 2: Well, II, I think you've, you've done a great job covering a lot of the history of these two. My number eight is Li Pike.

SPEAKER 3: All right, I thought I was gonna snake. I, I, before I thought I was gonna like get.

SPEAKER 2: Up early in the morning to find a Jewish ballplayer I haven't met.

SPEAKER 2: Yeah.

SPEAKER 2: Let Pike not, not, not just the first Jewish baseball player of all Time, but, but like you said, he was a star in his Time. He was one of the first professional baseball players in general. He, he, he was just an outright superstar in the 18 seventies, I believe it was.

SPEAKER 2: And so you're talking really the dawn, the dawn of the organized game.

SPEAKER 2: So it's hard to compare against modern players from a statistics standpoint, but everything John says is correct, he was regarded as one of if not the best player of the Times and more importantly, just one of the founding fathers of professional baseball and being the first Jewish player of all Time has a special significance. So that, that's why I had let Pike and.

SPEAKER 3: Real, you know, when I was learning about him and reading about him, Danny, the comparison, I kind of made my own mind. He had like a Jack Josh Gibson sort of feel to him. You know, many people said man, Josh Gibson was better than Babe Ruth. He just didn't get the opportunity. I'm not saying Lit Pike was better than Babe Ruth, but he played in an era before that, but he was arguably the best player of that, that Time period.

SPEAKER 3: And so I, there was sort of a Josh Gibson element to him. I, I had that sort of feel. So I thought I might get, I might sneak that one through the five hole but he, he made, he got on your list. I had it. Well, let me ask you this. He made both of our, he made both of our lists. I had him at six. You have them one at eight. Why? I guess, I mean, you know.

SPEAKER 2: Why did I have them lower?

SPEAKER 2: Yeah, because my first criteria was on the field production and my second criteria was contributions to the game. And so I thought about putting him ahead of like a Sean Green. I, I went back and forth on that. I probably in hindsight maybe could, should have or could have done that.

SPEAKER 2: Ryan Braun is just such an enigma because of his career. But on the field, his numbers, were really spectacular. So I don't think I would have put a Pike, in front of braun or Boudreaux.

SPEAKER 2: But certainly in the top 10 for me.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. All right. So your number nine guy, my number.

SPEAKER 2: 91 of my all-Time favorite players you touched on it. The catcher was a spy Mo be hurt his knee in the first couple of years of his career and still managed to play 15 seasons, in the major leagues. And there's many reasons, why people think he stayed around that long. He, was a member of all star teams that toured Japan when he was far from an all-star player.

SPEAKER 3: Iii, I don't know why. Right.

SPEAKER 2: He was, he was filming for the Os S and, he provided a lot of the, film that they had pre World War Two, actually of, Japan in the harbor and, and their military setup. So, the there are questions about whether or not he was ordered to do that or some of that was done on his own.

SPEAKER 2: But when he was in Japan, he snuck away from the team, he went to the hospital which was the tallest building in downtown Tokyo and he walked right into the hospital and walked right up to the roof and filmed the harbor and the downtown and that film went, went to the US government.

SPEAKER 2: So he was involved with the US government for years during and after his playing days how much he was involved in what role is kind of, you know, up in the air.

SPEAKER 2: At one point, he was actually given permission to, to assassinate German nuclear scientist if he felt it was necessary. So, his story is remarkable.

SPEAKER 2: And the fact that he was a baseball player for 15 years, whether it was a covered story or not, is, is, is really, is really remarkable. So, there was no way I was gonna have a top 10 without Morris Beg.

SPEAKER 3: All right. So you had him, what number nine? Number nine? All right. So my nine, this is the other guy that I took off, put back on the list along with Mo Beg.

SPEAKER 3: And he's already been mentioned on your list higher than mine. He's the probably the best active Jewish player. And that's really why I I'm not saying he's bad. That's, that's why I took him off the list at one point because I'm like, he's still playing the book's not completed yet, but his numbers are, are, I guess too good to ignore.

SPEAKER 3: And, and that's obviously Alex Bregman, two World Series rings are already maybe more added to that before. His career is done. We've kind of went on, you know, two Time all star, pretty good hitter, pretty good, long ball hitter.

SPEAKER 3: And, you know, defensively pretty good and he's still, he's still playing. That was my only trepidation is like, do I want to put an active player on this list? Whose, whose body works? Not complete? But I did, you know, I'll talk about it kind of when we, when we're, when we're done. But, you know, not everyone on your list made my list and, and, and I, I can explain, that.

SPEAKER 3: So that's, that's nine. My, my 10th guy, and my last guy in the official top 10, you know, another guy, when you look at complete stats, you can make an argument like, how do you make your list or how did I know mentions you're gonna make, could argue, we've been ahead of them.

SPEAKER 3: But when you, you, you know, we talk about the first, right? The Kennedy President Center, right? It, it's gonna be Bloomberg, you know, playing in New York too, which is a, a big, Jewish city. He said that was one of the things that drove him was, he knew that there was a lot of Jewish people watching him. He's the first DH in Major League Baseball history.

SPEAKER 3: He's got a sandwich named after him at the stage deli.

SPEAKER 2: If that, if, if that's not reason enough.

SPEAKER 3: So, so, you know, if someone argued me that Ron Bla Bla Bla shouldn't be on this list, I, I get it, I get it but I, I put him on just because of all the history, I think being a Yankee playing in New York, and, he's still very active on social media.

SPEAKER 3: You know, a lot of his stuff in, he's not in Cooperstown but a lot of his stuff is and, you know, that's why he's at 10, because you could make an argument that he probably, he couldn't be, not on someone's list. He, he slipped in, at 10 for me.

SPEAKER 3: I get it, it might not be, everyone might not be agreement on that, but that's why it's our list, right. So that's my, my last guy in the top 10. I, I do want to talk about some honorable mentions. But, your last guy that, that gets in, well, I'll give.

SPEAKER 2: You my last, guy who you already talked about was Ken Holtzman. I think you just got to have the number one, Jewish, pitcher as far as all Time wins on the list. Like you said, a couple, no hitters, and, 15 year major league career with the 349, a so, no, nothing to sneeze at, for the full career, to, to, for full disclosure. Bloomberg did not make my list.

SPEAKER 2: He, he did make my honorable mention, so I'll snake back around to that.

SPEAKER 2: But I took Ken Holtzman because I thought his significance to his career to baseball.

SPEAKER 2: Www was bigger.

SPEAKER 2: Although the footnote of being the first designated hitter ever is a very cool footnote for run.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah.

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SPEAKER 2: All right, John, we finish our top 10 and we're heading into the honorable mention portion here. I gave my first honorable mention was Ron Bloomberg. And who do you have?

SPEAKER 3: So this guy would have made the 10th spot if it wasn't for me putting, you know, Bloomberg in, Sid Gordon, 2 83 career average, 202 home runs. He's a two Time all-star. He's also from Brooklyn.

SPEAKER 3: You know, sent a surprise, he also lost year for a few years serve in the war too. And, he's a, he's a great player's not in the baseball Hall Of Fame, but, you know, you hit 200 home runs in that era and missing Time due to the war, he was right there on the ci I want to add, I didn't put, I didn't put, you know, I didn't put Brian Brown on my list.

SPEAKER 3: I, I couldn't, you know, the, the steroid era guys, I'm a little more harder on him than maybe some are that really ruined it for, for me and then some of his in the way he handled it once it kind of came out that it was the case that I thought he didn't do a great job.

SPEAKER 3: Can I argue? You know, I, I don't blame you for putting it on the list. The numbers are there, they're definitely worthy. I just, I couldn't get over the, the, you know, the steroid stuff. So, so Ryan Braun didn't make my list for that reason.

SPEAKER 3: A, a couple other guys, I put Rob Care on my honorable mention list even though he's not eligible.

SPEAKER 3: You know, and, and, and then one last guy, you the top 10 Jewish players and you picked a non Jew, you know, Adam Sandler, Adam Sandler called me up and said John, if you're not gonna put him on the list, give him an honorable metro for me.

SPEAKER 3: So my Hanukkah song still has some, some hoods put to it. And, and then the, the last guy that was sort of in the mix, he never made any of the three drafts honestly, but he was, you know, on the ballot, so to speak.

SPEAKER 3: Lieber, you know, famous, Philly Catcher. I just, I just couldn't put him on over a lot of the other guys when, when push came to show up, but it's probably fair to, to mention, to mention him in there. So, who was on the outside looking in for you?

SPEAKER 2: I had Ian Kinsler a heck of a career in Texas.

SPEAKER 2: And, and he was probably closer to the list than some of the other guys. Just couldn't quite them in there, I had Mike Lieberthal as well. And Brad Smith, who's gone on and, and using the, the contribution being a manager and a player and just extending that.

SPEAKER 2: And Gabe Kaler is the other one because I think when all is said and done, he's gonna have a good managerial career, I think he's gonna be around for a long Time, but that's why he's an honorable mention on the outside looking in.

SPEAKER 3: No Sid Gordon though, on your honorable mention.

SPEAKER 2: I, I, I'll admit that I saw Sid Gordon and I totally forgot to put him on my list, but.

SPEAKER 3: I just, I maybe had like a Sid Gordon bone to pick or something.

SPEAKER 2: I, I got no bones for Sid.

SPEAKER 3: Well, listen, this is, this is fun. We're gonna, you know, probably from Time to Time we'll, we'll do this again.

SPEAKER 3: You know, top 10 of some sort. We were a lot closer than I thought we were gonna. Yeah, I really, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm glad, you know, but I thought that the Lip Pike, you know, might slip, slip by yet.

SPEAKER 3: But, I, you know, not Danny Black, he's not letting that one. He's on top of his, his game. And, I'm glad he made your list. I thought, you know, I, I thought he would be, if he was on your list, I thought he would be around the same part of the list or not on your list.

SPEAKER 3: You know, so I was, you know, the fact that he was eight, that's why I asked you why he was kind of eight. Yeah, I think, you know, it's a tough era, you know, the guys weren't hitting 30 home runs or, or more then.

SPEAKER 3: But, arguably everything I read just said he was just, one of the best ball players of that Time period. And, so I moved him up. I had him six on mine. You had him eight? I'm glad we, we both got him, on the list. I had you not put him on the list. And is another one?

SPEAKER 2: He, he, I meant to put him on my honorable mention.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, he definitely, he was on, he was on my radar for sure.

SPEAKER 3: I, he didn't make my top 10.

SPEAKER 3: But, you know, we, we would have, we could have did easily a top 20 a lot of those guys were, were made it and it's, it's, and that's where like Moberg was on my list and he wasn't, you know, Ryan Braun, numbers wise should have been on my list.

SPEAKER 3: I just couldn't get over the whole steroid thing and, and how he handled it before and even after and, even at the end, he was kind of just Peter and out and he hung on a little bit too long. Two. And, but, you know, I, I won't argue the Ryan Braun. I mean, the numbers are there. I just, I just personal how I feel about that. I just couldn't pull the trigger and put them on, on the, on the list.

SPEAKER 2: All right. Well, I'm gonna give, a recap of my top 10 for anybody who didn't catch the whole show, just give a quick recap.

SPEAKER 2: In order one through 10, Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg, Al Rosen, Alex Brigman Lou Boudreau Ryan, Braun Sean Green lippman Pike, Mo Bird and Ken Holtzman.

SPEAKER 3: All right. So mine, we were chalk on one and two with Koufax and Greenberg. We had three and four, just kind of reversed. With, I had Boudreau third and rose and fourth. You had it the other way around. Ken Ken Holtzman was a little high on my list at five, Lip Pike at six, Seann Green at seven. Moberg at eight.

SPEAKER 3: Ron Bloomberg, at nine and, I think, no, I put Alex Bregman at eight, I think, Moberg at nine and then, Ron Blomberg, finished at, at 10, almost in, I really debated, on him as well. Well, and, so, like you said, so it, it was probably a little more closer than I, I thought it was gonna be.

SPEAKER 3: But it was some of those honorable mention guys that, you know, could have honestly, you know, could have been in that top 10 on the back on the back part of it. Lieberal even, not, you know, he was, he was in the mix. He just didn't make it. For me, Sid Gordon wa was on my list actually at, on probably two of the three, but, at the end I, I put him 11th, you know, but arguably had the numbers to be, in the top 10.

SPEAKER 3: And that's what's, that's what's fun about these lists, right? Is you get different perspectives and, and, you know, even in, in, with chat with, with Dan Ryan mentioned e I mean, arguably a great career, predominantly in Boston and, you know, became a character, right? You know, what, just by that sentiment.

SPEAKER 3: So, you know, it, it, it was fun to put together and kind of compare notes and we'll do it again with, with something else that we're not gonna overdo it either, but we'll do it from Time to Time and I thought it would be a a fun thing and to do and I, I think it came out, well, I think, you know, I learned stuff in the process of, of making my list.

SPEAKER 3: I'm sure you did. I saw Ruben say, you know, very cool show. He, he learned something that's, and, and at the end of the day, right? That's, that's cool to learn about, you know, guys that you, you didn't really know either a lot about or, you know, or a little bit and then you learn more and more you kind of deeper dive like with, with Lip Pike and, and, and, and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER 3: So, you know, it's, it's fun. Happy birthday. Congratulations as you now own a Sandy Koufax rookie. You do want a Mo burg, rookie as well. That's still on, you're on the hunt for that eventually, as well. So if anyone wants to give one to Danny for his birthday, you know, private message him, and he'll forward his, you can public message.

SPEAKER 2: Me if it's free.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen but it's worth a shot. So, but you know, yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER 2: I want to thank you for the, for the idea of doing this because you gave me an opportunity on my birthday to opt out and not do the show tonight. And I said I wanted to do the show. So we picked something that I that I think we just had some good fun with. I hope people to take it that way.

SPEAKER 2: I hope they learned a little bit of something like you said and you know, there, there's nothing wrong with diving a little bit into history, whichever whatever reason it's for. I think we all get into cards and collectibles because we, you know, like the stories and the people and this is really what that exercise was for me. So thank you.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, no doubt. And, and you know, it's, it's even in doing this list. It's like I said before, we, we started mentioning players right now, I'm sort of like, hey, I wanna look up Sid Gordon's Rookie. Right. I wanna, I might wanna get Al Rose. Right. And do something sort of centric around this list. Right.

SPEAKER 3: And that's, that's the beauty of the hobby as well. But bringing a hobby back into it. Right. Is, you can, you can hobby any way you want to and encompass it any way you want to. And so, you know, maybe someone else will, you know, I know people collect players from their area right though, you know, around their hometown. So any way you have, that's the beauty of it.

SPEAKER 3: You're the CEO of how you do it. And, you know, maybe this gave someone, you know, even if it's just a player that we mentioned like, hey, I, I wanna look for his cards and see what I can find, you know, and that sort of thing and all that being said, John absolutely gave extra points to anybody from Brooklyn.

SPEAKER 2: So just know that when you listen II I have to.

SPEAKER 3: Right. It's, it's all right.

SPEAKER 2: Well, John, anything else?

SPEAKER 3: Well, I just wanted to say and was gonna be my number one, whether he was from Brooklyn or, or he wasn't, but he is from Brooklyn. So it made it easy to pencil name in at number one.

SPEAKER 2: And I'd like to point out that, I know you have his rookie as well and it was the one that I was gonna buy last year at the national. So coming up al almost exactly on one year since you bought that card from under me.

SPEAKER 3: So, but now the curse is over. It's like the Red Sox win in the World Series. You got your and, and it's all good. All right, man.

SPEAKER 2: Well, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER 2: I, I hope, I hope everybody, enjoy, enjoyed everything tonight and, we will catch you in two weeks. See you see you.