I will freely admit that I don't follow baseball that much, though I will go to games or watch it if a game is on TV, but I am not the target audience for this film. This is not to say that Jews and Baseball is a bad film or a boring film, but it is a documentary meant for people who memorize players' stats and obsess over the history of the game. I don't fall into that category, but if you do, Jews and Baseball is a pretty fascinating look into the connection between baseball and the acceptance of Jewish immigrants into American society.
Jews and Baseball, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, goes back to the early days of baseball in America. Many Jews were immigrating to the United States, and they were searching for a means of acclimation into American culture. Sports were a means of acceptance.
They might not have a lot in common with their neighbors, but they could discuss the game. They could go to a game and be part of the larger social experience of being a fan. Even more importantly, prominent Jewish sports stars could go a long way towards America accepting the growing Jewish population. Unlike music or art, sports were not objective. Either a player was good or they weren't, and it could be measured in stats. Baseball was a level field where class status and country of origin didn't matter so long as someone could play the game.
For the non-sports fan, Jews and Baseball does a decent job showing the difficulties that Jews faced in being viewed as true Americans. There were anti-Semitic preachers in Michigan and throughout the Midwest teaching their followers to fear or distrust Jews. Many establishments refused to serve Jews. Even as Jewish baseball players were on the road with their teams, some hotels openly discriminated against Jewish players. In one famous example, a team was told that their Jewish player would not be allowed to stay at the hotel with his teammates, and the team manager said that either the hotel would house all of the team or none of the team. (The hotel eventually agreed to let the whole team stay.)
Jewish players would also hear anti-Semitic slurs from the stands while they were playing. Luckily, these early players were not discouraged but instead decided to play all the better and prove their detractors wrong. It is unsurprising then that Jewish players later mentored baseball's early African-American players and helped them gain wider acceptance from fans. I was unaware of many of the challenges facing these early Jewish players, so these segments of the documentary were most interesting to me.
Now, as I said before, most of this documentary wasn't meant for me or other non-sports fans. I kept glancing at my watch during the segment on contract negotiations, and certain sports references went right over my head. I want to end this review on a positive note, though, because this is certainly a well-made documentary and worth a watch. I was sincerely touched by stories of Jewish players who had to make a choice between playing in major games or observing certain Jewish holidays. Early on, fans probably would have rejected players skipping out on a game to go to temple, but when these players chose faith over sport, fans defended their decision to stick to their values. It was a testament to how American culture had changed and no longer saw Jews as outsiders. At its heart, Jews and Baseball is a story of America and how a person, no matter where they come from, can work hard and find success and a new home.
DVD Bonus Features
Special features include deleted scenes, newsreels, Sophie Milman singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” and trailers for other releases from Docuramafilms.
"Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story" is on sale April 19, 2011 and is not rated. Documentary, Sports. Directed by Peter Miller. Written by Ira Berkow. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Larry King, Ron Howard.
