Leon Feingold
| Leon Feingold | |
|---|---|
| Born | New York, New York |
| Residence | New York, New York |
| Education |
Hofstra University School of Law, State University of New York at Albany |
| Occupation | Professional baseball player, founder and spiritual leader of The Church of Good Deeds |
| Spouse(s) | Yuanyuan Wang (married 2016–17; her death) |
Leon Feingold (born May 1, 1973) is a baseball player, competitive eater, and co-founder of the Church of Good Deeds, from Oceanside, New York.
He was the first pitcher drafted by the Netanya Tigers in the former Israel Baseball League (IBL).[1] The former Cleveland Indians minor leaguer was named to the IBL All-Star team, and was the IBL Player of the Year.[2][3]
In college, he pitched for the State University of New York at Albany in 1990–94. He then pitched in the Cleveland Indians system from 1994–95, the independent Atlantic League in 1999, and also played for the Pleasantville Red Sox.
He has also gained international repute as a competitive eater. Known as "Justice", Feingold was ranked as high as #12 in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.[4] He won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Regionals three times, and competed in the July 4 World Championships at Coney Island three times. He was the second person in history to complete successfully the Carnegie Deli Challenge (two 3½ pound sandwiches of turkey, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and toppings in one sitting), doing it in just under two hours (Ed "Cookie" Jarvis completed the challenge the same day an hour later, after three hours of eating).[5] He has appeared on several televised eating contests, including the US Open of Competitive Eating[6] and the Glutton Bowl.[7]
Feingold became engaged in October 2016 to Yuanyuan Wang; after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, they co-founded the Church of Good Deeds, a humanist, altruistic religious organization. The couple married in November 2016; Wang died in March 2017.[8]
References
- ↑ http://www.israelbaseballleague.com
- ↑ "Baseball / IBL / Beit Shemesh shuts out Modi'in 3–0 to win inaugural championship". Haaretz. August 20, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
- ↑ "Leon Feingold: Israel Baseball League Player of the Year, Jewish Physical and Mental Giant". American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball. Lincoln, Nebraska and London, England: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 355–365.
- ↑ http://www.majorleagueeating.com/
- ↑ Nerz, Ryan, Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit, Macmillan, (2006). Cf. p.31
- ↑ "Kobayashi Takes Alka-Seltzer US Open of Competitive Eating". International Federation of Competitive Eating. July 31, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
- ↑ "Glutton Bowl・全データ＆スナップ集". nifty.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
- ↑ "About". Church of Good Deeds. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
Further reading
- Ruttman, Larry (2013). "Leon Feingold: Israel Baseball League Player of the Year, Jewish Physical and Mental Giant". American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball. Lincoln, Nebraska and London, England: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 355–365. ISBN 978-0-8032-6475-5.
- Tsoulis-Reay, Alexa (2015). "What It's Like to Be a Polyamorous Genius". New York Magazine.