Yom Kippur - Observance By Athletes

Observance By Athletes

Some notable athletes have observed Yom Kippur, even when it conflicted with their playing their sport.

In baseball, Sandy Koufax, the Hall of Fame pitcher, decided not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur. Koufax garnered national attention for his decision, as an example of the conflict between social pressures and personal beliefs. When pitcher Don Drysdale took Koufax's place and fared poorly, giving up seven runs in 2-2/3 innings, he told his manager as he was pulled from the game: "I bet right now you wish I was Jewish, too."

Hall of Fame first baseman Hank Greenberg attracted national attention in 1934, nearly three decades earlier, when he refused to play baseball on Yom Kippur, even though the Tigers were in the middle of a pennant race and Greenberg was not a religious Jew. The Detroit Free Press columnist and poet Edgar A. Guest wrote a poem titled "Speaking of Greenberg," which ended with the lines "We shall miss him on the infield and shall miss him at the bat / But he's true to his religion—and I honor him for that." When Greenberg arrived in synagogue on Yom Kippur, the service stopped suddenly, and the congregation gave an embarrassed Greenberg a standing ovation.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green, similarly, made headlines in 2001 for sitting out a game for the first time in 415 games, to honor Yom Kippur, even though his team was in the middle of a playoff race. Other baseball players who have similarly sat out games on Yom Kippur include Chicago White Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, former Houston Astros catcher Brad Ausmus and outfielder Art Shamsky.

Gabe Carimi, the Consensus All-American left tackle in American football who won the 2010 Outland Trophy as the nation's top collegiate interior lineman faced a conflict in his freshman year of college in 2007. That year Yom Kippur fell on a Saturday, and he fasted until an hour before his football game against Iowa started that night. Carimi said, "Religion is a part of me, and I don't want to just say I'm Jewish. I actually do make sacrifices that I know are hard choices.” In 2004, Matt Bernstein, standout fullback at University of Wisconsin–Madison, fasted on Yom Kippur, then broke his fast on the sidelines before rushing for 123 yards in a game against Penn State.

Boris Gelfand, Israel's top chess player, played his game in the prestigious London Grand Prix Chess Tournament on Tuesday 25 September 2012 (eve of Yom Kippur) earlier, to avoid playing on the holiday.