New York Yankees Yankees’ Harrison Cohen embracing WBC honor with Team Israel that’s bigger than baseball By Howie Kussoy Published March 2, 2026, 7:27 p.m. ET Yankees pitcher Harrison Cohen at Spring Training. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post TAMPA — You hear about Sandy Koufax first.
Not just because he left the game at the apex of pitching or because he is among the handful of Jewish Hall of Famers, but because he chose not to start Game 1 of the World Series when it coincided with his religion’s holiest day.
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Then you hear about Hank Greenberg, who less famously first sat on Yom Kippur during a pennant race — the two-time MVP, who nearly broke Babe Ruth’s home run record 23 years before Roger Maris.
They were bigger than baseball. Their pictures hung in Harrison Cohen’s Hebrew School on Long Island. Their tales were repeated at his home in Syosset. Their clips were played on YouTube.
