Ian Kinsler
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Texas Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler continued his recent HR tear, belting two more Wednesday in a 10-inning, 5-4 heartbreaker to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Kinsler’s 2nd dinger of the night sent the game into extra innings. Wednesday’s barrage left him with 28 HRs, tied for 5th highest in the American League and the most among MLB Jews. Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun has 27.
Like grapes, Kinsler’s HRs come in bunches.
The 29-year-old has 7 round-trippers in his past 7 games, including two multi-homer games. His five multi-homer games this season are tops in the Majors; 7 other players have had four multi-homer games in 2011, including MLB home-run leader Jose Bautista.
With 18 games left on the first-place Rangers’ regular-season schedule, Kinsler is a legitimate threat to join the 30/30 club — players who have reached 30 HRs and 30 stolen bases in the same season — for the second time. In 2009, he hit a career-high 31 HRs and stole 31 bases.
Dodgers CF Matt Kemp is the only player to reach the 30/30 plateau so far this season, with 32 HRs and 37 SBs. Braun, who has 27 HRs and 31 SBs, also is on target to join the club. The only other Jewish player in the 30/30 club is Shawn Green, who became a member in 1998.
The 30/30 club is highly exclusive. Only 35 of the roughly 17,000 players in MLB history are members.
# # #
Support Jewish Baseball News by clicking the link below whenever you want to buy something on Amazon.com. We get a small commission, and it costs you nothing!
