JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The Milwaukee Brewers are putting injured CF Carlos Gomez on the disabled list and calling up CF Adam Stern from AAA to replace him, says the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Stern, a 30-year-old from Ontario, will be the 12th Jew to play for a Major League Baseball team this year. Through 12 games with the Nashville Sounds this season he is batting .349 with 1 HR, 4 RBIs and a .429 on-base percentage.
Stern may not have much time to impress Milwaukee. Gomez, 24, strained his rotator cuff but is eligible to return to the Brewers’ lineup as early as May 19. He is batting .276 with 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, a .321 on-base percentage and six stolen bases in as many attempts.
Milwaukee already boasts one of baseball’s best Jewish players, power-hitting LF Ryan Braun. Stern’s arrival raises the intriguing possibility that the Brewers’ outfield soon might feature two Jews, if only briefly.
Few would have predicted Stern’s return to the major leagues after nearly a three-year layoff. A third-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2001, he made his big-league debut with the Boston Red Sox in 2005. But in two seasons with Boston he batted a mere .143 and struck out 8 times in 35 at-bats. Stern played two games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2007 but without a single plate appearance and has lingered in the minors ever since.
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