Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story

2010

1 hr. 30 min.

Documentary

List

69%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

63%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Players, managers, sports writers and fans discuss the contributions of Jewish ballplayers and their impact on American Jews.

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Audience Member

Oh please this movie made me want to throw a baseball at the screen

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/29/19

Full Review

Audience Member

I went to see this with my Jewish friend and his dad who’s a rabbi and they said this movie was very anti semetic and a disappointment to the Torah. They left the theater throwing popcorn everywhere and on people. We got kicked out for disturbing the peace

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/29/19

Full Review

Audience Member

We have a sports documentary you know I’m not a fan of documentaries but sports is my life

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/04/18

Full Review

Audience Member

Interesting documentary.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

walter m

"Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story" is a sweetly insightful documentary about, well, Jews and baseball.(See, that wasn't so hard, was it?) On a general note, it is also about ethnic groups assimilating into the United States upon their arrival, Jews being no different, fleeing oppression in their home countries. And is there anything more American than baseball? Well, as Maury Allen puts it, there is baseball in the bible with the phrase "in the big inning."(Ha! Get it? Seriously, I think "let there be light" could just as easily be about baseball.) And there have been Jewish ballplayers since the beginning but the first Jewish superstar was Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers who combated anti-semitism and stereotypes on the field in the 1930's, while being a hero for Jewish fans, seeking affirmation in one of their own.(At the same time, Moe Berg was a major league catcher who accomplished much more in secret than he did on the playing field.) A lot of the documentary's attention is focused on Greenberg and Sandy Koufax. I knew a lot about Greenberg from a documentary of several years ago but little about Koufax's story. Today's Jewish ballplayers look back to those who paved the way for them as their parents paved the way into the suburbs. But it is also no longer just in front of the lights that Jews have made contributions to baseball with union organizer Marvin Miller and baseball commissioner Bud Selig having huge impacts in their own way.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

I thought that this was a terrific documentary. I would rate it 9.7 out of 10!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Peter Miller

Director

Dustin Hoffman

Narrator

Ira Berkow

Screenwriter

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Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

"Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story" not only lives up to its title -- how could it not? -- but also delivers a bit extra as well.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 18, 2010

Full Review

Aaron Cutler

Slant Magazine

The film feels simultaneously micromanaged and slapdash, spouting generalities about the game while neglecting to show a full at-bat.

Rated: 2/4

Nov 7, 2010

Full Review

Paul Brunick

New York Times

Were it not for a masterly production coup...this slight and unambitious work would be wholly indistinguishable from basic-cable filler.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 5, 2010

Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Dugout Dirt (Substack)

Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story is a must-watch film for baseball fans. Much like the history of comedy, it’s the story of Jews in America.

Rated: 5/5

Aug 7, 2023

Full Review

Jonathan W. Hickman

Daily Film Fix

It's a must for baseball fans-Jewish or otherwise.

Mar 31, 2011

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Keith Cohen

Entertainment Spectrum

This engaging and well-put-together documentary has universal appeal to sports fans, regardless of ethnic background. It has a running time of 91 minutes that passes by much too quickly.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 20, 2010

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Synopsis

Players, managers, sports writers and fans discuss the contributions of Jewish ballplayers and their impact on American Jews.

Director: Peter Miller
Screenwriter: Ira Berkow
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2017

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