NFL: What position would I NOT want to play? I probably would want to play at any position except maybe fullback, long snapper, and kicker, as they’re rarely on the field. I want to be on the field as much as possible. Assuming my body size/speed stays the same, I probably couldn’t play any position at all, but maybe I would be closest as a defensive back.
Basketball: I always loved the center/power forward position. I was never big enough, and my outside shot stank, but I liked the idea of being the wall around the basket and posting up on offense.
Baseball: I played just about every position. The only one I really liked was first base. You get just enough action to stay awake, but not so much action you make mistakes.
Track and field: I wanted to do either the pole vault or high jump.
Lou Boudreau (his mother was Jewish)
Mike Epstein
Shawn Green (he holds the record for the most total bases in a nine-inning game)
Hank Greenberg
Ken Holtzman
Al Rosen
Steve Yeager (converted to Judaism)
Kevin Youkilis
Jeff Lichtman has already stolen my thunder with Shawn Green and Hank Greenberg. From the NBA, one possible Jew that had me shaking my head in disbelief at the news was Amare Stoudemire. No, really.
To the OP, since I’m left-handed, I’d wanted to be a pitcher, LOOGY if necessary (have you seen what those guys make?!). Catcher’s the most strategically interesting to me; you call the game, talk to everybody, and are usually required to hit from time to time.
Football, kicker/punter, for the reasons John DiFool listed.
Soccer, probably a left or center back. Center back, for many of the same reasons as I picked catcher for baseball. Stopping the other guy from scoring was always more interesting to me than trying to score. Probably because I was so inept at the latter.
Basketball, at 6 foot, what else could I do put play point and shoot 3s?
Skiing, downhiller. Edit: never mind skiing, just saw that the OP meant team sports. Whoops.
Pitcher or center fielder. As a kid, I found pitching stances and arm angles a lot of fun to play around with, while I got bored imitating swings. Weird, I know. I also love sprinting hard after fly balls, so out of the position players, I’ve always most enjoyed playing the outfield.
You know how people sometimes debate the reasons for black dominance in various sports? People used to ask the same question about why Jews dominated sports.
Baseball: Catcher
Basketball: Center. There are a lot of 5’10" centers around in the NBA, aren’t there?
Football: Team owner. You could get hurt actually playing that game.
Hockey: Goalie
Golfer: Golfer.
I’d play hockey. A goalie would be cool, because then I could be like, the Gandalf of the team. “YOU CANNOT PASS, MOTHERFUCKER!!!”
If I wasn’t a goalie though, I’d probably be a big time bruiser, agitator. I don’t think I’d be on the Matt Cooke, Sean Avery level, but I’d probably spend a lot of time in the penalty box. I get waaaaay too into the game. I’m always screaming and swearing at the TV.
Basketball - Shooting Guard. I’ve always been a great shot but never had the ball handling skills to play point guard. But there’s nothing quite like getting set up for the perfect shot and watching it go into the rim, nothing but net.
I probably would want to play at any position except maybe fullback, long snapper, and kicker, as they’re rarely on the field. I want to be on the field as much as possible. Assuming my body size/speed stays the same, I probably couldn’t play any position at all, but maybe I would be closest as a defensive back.