(JTA) — A Jewish publisher pulled a photo of Ryan Braun from the cover of a children’s book about Jewish sports stars.
Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder suspended in July for the remainder of the season for violating Major League Baseball’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, was removed from the cover of Kar-Ben publisher’s “Sports Stars: Athletic Heroes Past and Present” by David J. Goldman, which is set to be released next month in its second edition, according to Publisher’s Weekly.
Braun, known as the “Hebrew Hammer,” and American gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman had been slated to appear on the cover.
“While Ryan Braun is a very talented baseball player and we were originally excited to have a contemporary sports figure of his talent and stature with such a strong identification to his Jewish heritage on the cover, there was no question that, after the steroids scandal surfaced, his image was tarnished and he was no longer appropriate to serve as a role model for Jewish kids,” Kar-Ben publisher Joni Sussman told Publisher’s Weekly.
The book had been scheduled for release in August, but the date was pushed to October in order to reprint the cover. Braun will be replaced with Jewish baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.
Braun’s profile remains, since it was too expensive to change the text of the book, but a disclaimer on the inside back cover reads: “Shortly after the publication of this book, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun (pages 6-8) was suspended for 65 games, the remainder of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.”
