Why Jewish Athletes?

"Why," a well-meaning friend asked, "are you writing this book? Does it really make a difference that Al Rosen and Sandy Koufax were Jewish, Joe Louis or Joe Morgan black or John McGraw an Irishman?"

The best answer would be that it shouldn't make any difference, but the sports fan, like the average citizen (who is the sports fan in another guise) likes to know all about his idols; he wants to know their history; he wants to be able to attach himself to them. Sports lovers are really dreamers. One of the attractions of sports is that the spectator can and does project himself into the shape of his heroes and makes believe that it is he, and not they, who are performing the great deeds which make all America cheer wildly. Therefore, the Negro, or black, fan feels closer to the black athlete than he does to the white one. Italian fans have a tendency to root for Italian ball players and Jewish fans take a special interest in Jewish players. It is hard to deny this conclusion, for life is not an isolated thing and neither is the sports world. The tie between the individual and his society is strong and so is the tie between the sports fan and his hero.

All men are gregarious. They are proud of their relatives, of their townsfolk, of their co-religionists, if these people