Imagine having all the great
Jewish baseball legends together in one place, say your living room-sounds like
a dream, right?
Well Greg Harris of Buffalo Grove has made that dream a
reality.
Harris spends his days working as a personal injury attorney in
Chicago, but ever since he worked as a peanut vendor at both Cubs and Sox
parks-his first job ever-baseball has been his passion.
It was that first
baseball gig where Harris made the connections that would enable him to complete
this project: five series of signed lithographs, called "Jews in Baseball,"
drawn by artist Ron Lewis, depicting 26 current and former Jewish baseball
players and other Jewish baseball celebrities in the stands. Each piece of art
is a lithographic, certified authentic by Major League Baseball and signed by
each of the players and celebrities, including Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, MVPs
Ryan Braun and Al Rosen, Kevin Youkilis, Ian Kinsler, Bud Selig, Jerry
Reinsdorf, Theo Epstein and more.
The pieces are limited edition-only 500
exist-and range in price from $6,500 to $10,000.
The inspiration for "Jews
in Baseball" came from a similar piece created by the same artist of the Negro
League baseball stars. After seeing the interest in that piece, Harris decided
he had to create one for the Jewish players.
Though at first he was
concerned about getting all the players to participate in his project, he soon
learned he need not have worried.
"One by one I contacted the players and
I realized that it wasn't me begging them to be in the piece of art, it was them
saying I don't want to be left out," Harris said. "It's kind of a piece of
history."
Harris, who also works with MLB pitcher Doug Davis to run the
Doug Davis Foundation, has a deep vested interest in charity work.
For
that reason, every person depicted in the piece designated a charity of their
choice to receive funds from the project, including the Jewish United
Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, and his goal is to raise
hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity.
For Harris, this project was
truly a labor of love.
"For me, [the most rewarding part] was the
universal appreciation for this of all the players," he said. "They love that I
was able to put this together and they love this piece of art."
For more
information, visit www.Jewishbaseballplayer.com
or call Greg Harris at (847) 924-6140.
SPECIAL FOR JUF NEWS READERS:
When you make a purchase, if you use the code 1003, a portion of the purchase
price will be donated to the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Chicago.
