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WHEN IT COMES TO JEWISH BASEBALL PLAYERS, SANDY KOUFAX TAKES THE KNISH

It's hard to determine the funniest single moment from Airplane, but this could be a contender: Julie Hagerty asking a passenger if they'd like something to read, the passenger asking for something light, and Hagerty coming back with: "How about this leaflet, famous Jewish sports legends?" This year's All-Star Game, however, has three Jewish players: Kevin Youkilis, Ian Kinsler and Ryan Braun; Braun's even nicknamed "The Hebrew Hammer." (Apparently when the Sox play the Rangers, Youk says stuff like "Happy passover" to Kinsler.) Taking a different tack on the All-Star festivities, we celebrate Jewish heritage with a look at the best baseball-playing Jews of all-time.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (9)	SANDY KOUFAX	All you need to know: in 1995, a New Jersey memorabilia company sold yarmulkes signed by Koufax for $75 each. Oh, also, he could be the best pitcher of all-time.
	2 (824)	HANK GREENBERG	Interesting: first Jewish player to gain attention for refusing to play on Yom Kippur, which was an issue because it happened during the '34 pennant race. Bonus: his 58 HR in 1938 was the best by a right-handed hitter for sixty years.
	3 (162)	KEN HOLTZMAN	Doesn't get as much credit as Koufax (and shouldn't), but won 3 World Series titles with the A's, went 21-13 in 1973, and is 6-1 with a 2.30 ERA lifetime in the postseason.
	4 (291)	ROD CAREW	All you need to know: Adam Sandler's reference to him. Uh, also: 3,000 hits and a career .328 hitter. Would rank higher, but he's not technically Jewish, although he observes Jewish customs after marrying a Jewish woman.
	5 (28)	SHAWN GREEN	You almost never think about this, but Green has 328 career HR, over 1,000 RBI, and yakked over 40 out of the yard three times. He's easily one of the most capable Jewish hitters ever.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	6 (380)	STEVE STONE	In 1980, he went 25-7 while throwing 250 innings and won the Cy Young. A year later, he was out of baseball. Bonus: good commentator, and by "good" we mean "informative but abrasive." Wait, aren't those synonyms?
	24 (140)	KEVIN YOUKILIS	Remember in Moneyball when he's called the "Greek god of walks?" Uh, he's Jewish. Bonus: watch this video.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		IAN KINSLER (Dude is legitimate)
		DAVE ROBERTS (Because we're not talking about the '04 ALCS guy; we're talking about the 13-year MLB veteran. But seriously, try being named "Dave Roberts" in baseball post 2004. It's gotta be hard.)

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