Anyone know where I can get some info on Levi Meyerle?

[GiambiJuice]

Levi Meyerle was one of the first stars of orginized baseball. His name suggests that he was probably Jewish, but I don't know this for a fact. I'm doing some research on Jewish athletes and I was wondering if anyone can confirm this for me. I was also wondering if anyone knows of a good source for reading up on pre-1900 baseball stars.

[Tigerfan1974]

I just googled his name and got a bunch of hits. Give it a try.
Hope you find what you need.

As a Tigerfan, let me be so bold as to remind you of Hank Greenberg.
Gabe Kapler is also Jewish I think.

Good Luck.

[GiambiJuice]

yup, as are Shawn Green, Brad Ausmus, and Kevin Youkilis to my knowledge.

[GiambiJuice]

I think I've got my answer. Meyerle was in fact Jewish according to Wikipedia. Here is their list of all the Jewish Baseball figures:

Baseball
Cal Abrams, baseball player
Brad Ausmus, baseball player (Jewish mother)
Bo Belinsky, baseball player (Jewish mother)
Moe Berg, baseball player & spy
Ron Blomberg, baseball player, MLB's first designated hitter
Lou Boudreau, baseball player, MVP 1948, HoF (Jewish mother)
Harry Danning, baseball player
Moe Drabowsky, baseball player
Barney Dreyfuss, co-founder of the World Series
Harry Eisenstadt, baseball player
Ken Eppers, baseball player (Jewish father, converted)
Theo Epstein, general manager of the Boston Red Sox
Sid Gordon, baseball player
Shawn Green, baseball player
Adam Greenberg, baseball player
Hank Greenberg, baseball player, MVP 1935/1940, HoF
Ken Holtzman, baseball player
Gabe Kapler, baseball player
Sandy Koufax, baseball player, MVP 1963, HoF
Mike Lieberthal, baseball player (Jewish father)
Elliot Maddox, baseball player (converted)
Jason Marquis, baseball player
Levi Meyerle, credited with first double and triple (1876)
Marvin Miller, first director of the MLBPA
Buddy Myer, baseball player
Lip Pike, 19th century player
Jerry Reinsdorf, baseball team owner
Al Rosen, baseball player, MVP 1953
Goody Rosen. baseball player
Scott Schoeneweis, baseball player
Bud Selig, baseball commissioner
Art Shamsky, baseball player
Larry Sherry, baseball player
Norm Sherry, baseball player
Steve Stone, baseball player
Adam Stern, baseball player
Phile Weintraub, baseball player
Steve Yeager, baseball player (converted)
Kevin Youkilis, baseball player

[GiambiJuice]

What the heck would we do without Google. I've found some pretty cool stuff
on Meyerle such as:

Levi "Long Levi" Meyerle batted .492 for the Philadelphia A's in 1871. That's the highest batting average EVER in a single season. The bat that he used that season he made himself and carved an intricate engraving into it. It also had a thin leather strap in the base of the bat for him to put his hand through, much like a racquetball racket. The bat is on display in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Meyerle is credited with the first Major Leaugue Double and triple.