When you think of Major League Baseball’s Jewish pitchers, one name stands out among all others: Sandy Koufax. His athletic exploits are many in his short career but many remember that Koufax famously refused to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur cementing his place in Jewish history. Koufax not only played in Brooklyn for the Dodgers but he was born and raised there. And despite a short stay in Rockville Centre during his early years, Koufax is not the first professional Jewish baseball pitcher from Long Island.
That distinction goes to Leo Fishel.
Brad Kolodny, president of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island, literally wrote the book on Jewish history on Long Island and in an article for Forward magazine he outlines Fishel’s baseball career.
Fishel first played for the Babylon Base Ball Club, according to Kolodny, then joined a team from Hempstead for a late season game where he was called up for relief duty.
“[Fishel] promptly put out the fire, retiring the side with the bases loaded,” writes Kolodny.
Fishel led the team to victory and he was immediately signed up for the next season but he had other plans. He jumped ship in July going upstate to play for Richfield Springs. His salary was a whopping $25 per week.
He finally made his Major League Baseball debut for the New York Giants on May 3, 1899 pitching a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, all while still a student at Columbia Law School. The Giants lost the contest and it became Fishel’s first and only game in the MLB.
“[He] decided not to pursue a career in baseball and instead became a lawyer in Freeport,” wrote Kolodny in a Facebook post about Fishel.
Fishel was born on December 13, 1877 in Babylon to Leopold and Theresa Fishel. He was the youngest of eight children. According to reports, he graduated from Columbia Law School in 1900 and was admitted to the bar that same year, setting up shop in Freeport. He played for a Freeport baseball team for a number of years and also coached the Freeport High School baseball team to a championship in 1905.
It was not a lack of talent that prevented Fishel from pursuing a career in baseball. He was sought after by a number of teams and his pitching prowess was celebrated in print at the time.
In a biographical post online about Fishel, Jane Jacobs writes that one newspaper report said that his family disapproved of his baseball career, which may have influenced him to go into the law profession instead despite other offers from major league ball clubs.