About the Author
Judaism is part of who I am, but without Baseball I would never have seen the potential of either community. Born 25 days after The Arizona Diamondbacks won the 2001 World Series, I was taught player names before I could walk. Baseball provided me the opportuity to learn how to win and lose with grace, to work hard and enjoy the results, and that my individual success is dependent on the success of those around me.
Being committed to playing the game for the first 16 years of my life created a unique need to balance school, my Jewish life, and my baseball life. It was not until later did I realize that Judaism and baseball are not that different. The approaches to education and experience may look different on the surface, but the values and themes they both present are nearly identicle.
This exhibit is my first attempt at bridging the artifical divisions that continue to seperate my Jewish and academic lives. I am currently a Senior at Northern Arizona University studying Experiential Education through Museum Studies, Humanities, and Parks & Recreation Management. As a culmination of academic pursuits of history and public education, combined with a true love for sports and a deep desire to feel represented within my community, an explore into the lives and careers of Greenberg, Koufax, and Miller felt more than appropriate.
I felt prepared to tell a larger story, but to focus in on specific pieces of those stories was more difficult than expected. Until Miller, the MLB was not for the players and as a result many of the accolades, artifacts, and momentos from the playing careers of Greenberg and Koufax have been lost to time. The few consistent but accessible artifacts able to be found were all print media, however many of the noted editions fell behind paywalls and were innaccessible. The artifacts available were the driving force behind the scope and content of this exhibit.
