Softball Inductee Dani Yudin with Sportscaster Randy Rosenbloom
Sunday’s Jewish Sports Hall of Fame 17th Annual Induction at the American Jewish University yielded some familiar names and some not quite as familiar but equally as talented. The event, with Master of Ceremonies and Los Angeles Emmy-winning sports legend Roy Firestone presented 14 inductees to the Hall of Fame, along with Pillar of Achievement honoree Howard Zuckerman, who produced sports events for Southern California on ABC, NBC and CBS television. He is also notable for starting many prominent sportscaster’s careers as well as producing Clippers and Golden State Warriors games and Big-10 games. He also handled the producing end of the Live Aid music telethon and concert.
Photo Essay after the jump
The inductees were:
- Mike Lieberthal; baseball, Phillies and Dodgers All-Star catcher and batting star
- Thea Lemberger; basketball; one of the top point guards for UCLA Women’s Basketball
- Sasha Cohen; figure skating; Olympic Silver Medalist 2006; professional skater
- Erik Lorig; football, fullback/tight end Tampa Bay Buccaneers, signed 2014 with the New Orleans Saints
- Alla Svirsky; gymnastics; Head Coach 1984 Women’s Olympic Rhythmic Gymnast Team
- Art Sherman; horse racing; trainer of California Chrome, winner of 2014 Preakness and Kentucky Derby
- Helene Elliot; media; LA Times beat writer for the 2014 Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings, 1980 Winter Olympics “Miracle on Ice”; LA Times General Sports Columnist
- Ted Leitner; Media; Broadcaster for 35 years for San Diego Padres; Sportscaster KFMB-TV
- Scotty Freedman; World’s #1 Paddle-Tennis Champion, winningest player in history
- Camille Levin; soccer; Stanford, NCAA College Cup All-American, NCAA title winner for Cardinal; Captain, US women’s U-23 National Soccer Team
- Dani Yudin; softball; UCLA, .336 batting average, hit in winning run to propel UCLA to 2010 World Series Champs; Tesoro High, .449 average senior year; one of UCLA’s all-time catchers
- Barbara Breit; tennis; US Girl’s-18’s National Harcourt Champion 1954-55. author
- Amanda Fink; tennis; four time USC Collegiate All-American; four-time PAC-10 selection
- Merrill Moses; Water Polo; 2008 Silver Medal Olympics, goalkeeper; Collegiate All- America
Several stories were told, some funny and some heart-wrenching, such as Mike Lieberthal’s story about his grandmother’s survival while her sisters died in a concentration camp. Following in the footsteps of past inductees such as the Dodger’s Sandy Koufax and Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz, they showed that sports is still an area where many Jews excel. Overall, it was a great day with well-deserved honors for the inductees. Also receiving awards were three High School Award Winners, Olivia Rosendahl, Josh Rosen and Alec Neimand.
