[Updated and corrected 10/26/2017 @ 11:15 am]
By Scott Barancik, Editor
The 2017 World Series is only two games old, but according to stats gathered by The Jewish Baseball Card Book author Bob Wechsler, it’s already making history.
[Revised and corrected] For the first time since the 2011 World Series, when Ian Kinsler and Scott Feldman played for the Texas Rangers, two Jewish players are on the field: 3B Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros, and CF Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The last time Jewish players were on opposite teams was the 2004 World Series, when Gabe Kapler‘s Boston Red Sox defeated Jason Marquis‘s St. Louis Cardinals in four games.
In Game 1, which the Dodgers took 3-1, Bregman homered off Cy Young Award candidate Clayton Kershaw for Houston’s lone run. It was the first Jewish home run in a Series since All-Star pitcher Ken Holtzman shocked Athletics fans with a home run in Game 4 of Oakland’s 1974 matchup against…the Dodgers.
In Houston’s 7-6, extra-inning win last night in Game 2, Bregman drove in the game’s first run with a second-inning single.
Pederson, who started in left field for Los Angeles, broke up Justin Verlander’s no-hitter with a fifth-inning home run to tie the game 1-1. As author Wechsler pointed out, it took 43 years for Bregman to break a Jewish home run drought in the World Series but just one game for Pederson to hit the next one.
But Bregman wasn’t done. In the 8th inning, he scored Houston’s second run of the game after hitting a ground-rule double.
And in the 11th, Bregman helped preserve Houston’s lead with a clutch catch of a screaming liner by L.A.’s Justin Turner.
[Updated] According to author Wechsler, Game 2 was the first time in World Series history that two different Jewish players had RBIs.
“Today’s game was the game that showed what the Astros are all about and it’s one through nine,” Bregman said afterward. “It’s an entire pitching staff coming through. It’s gotta be the greatest game I’ve ever played in and probably everybody in here.”
Tied at one game apiece, the Series now moves to Houston, with Game 3 scheduled for Friday.
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