After the worst season in his 8-year career, Ryan Braun will “undergo surgery this week to fix a nagging nerve problem near his right thumb” (9/30/2014) *** Clutch: in the 10 last games of the regular season, Pittsburgh’s Ike Davis hit .280 with 1 HR, 4 doubles, 5 RBIs, and 2 walks (9/30/2014) *** Clutch: in the 10…
By Stuart M. Katz, correspondent Dean Kremer spent this past Summer like many other college students, traveling and meeting new people. But unlike his peers, Kremer returned home with an award: Best Pitcher in the European Pool C Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Playing for tourney champ Israel, the 18-year-old Californian started two games and went 2-0 with…
Check out our interview with Dean Kremer, a Hebrew-speaking 18-year-old who was named “Best Pitcher” at the recent European Pool C Championships (9/29/2014) *** Detroit’s Brad Ausmus won a division title in his managerial debut. How many others have done this? Stat heads, we need your help (9/29/2014) *** A total of 15 Jews played in…
Ian Kinsler‘s 17th HR, RBI single, and backhanded grab helped Detroit — and rookie manager Brad Ausmus — clinch the A.L. Central title Sunday (9/28/2014) *** Ian Kinsler hit a 3rd-inning HR today to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead over Minnesota. A win today will guarantee Detroit 1st place in the A.L. Central (9/28/2014) ***…
Danny Moskovits, who played for Les Capitales de Quebec with Jewish teammates Aaron Brill and Ari Ronick, was 2-2 with a 3.03 ERA (9/27/2014) *** Great news out of Quebec: CanAm League pitcher Danny Moskovits, a 23-year-old Harvard alum, has been signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks (9/27/2014) *** Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun reached base three times Friday….
It was 2 doubles in 2 at-bats for Pittsburgh’s Ike Davis in a 9-1 win over the Braves on Thursday (9/26/2014) *** First teammate to congratulate Kevin Pillar after his HR Thursday? Danny Valencia, who’d singled and scored earlier (9/26/2014) *** Until Kevin Pillar homered off him Thursday, Fernando Rodney was one of only four A.L. relievers who’d…
The NYTimes says rookie Joc Pederson is the best defenseman among L.A.’s 6 outfielders and has a chance to start in centerfield in 2015 (9/24/2014) *** Did Kevin Youkilis perform better on the Sabbath, or off? Check out Diane Firstman’s ‘Sabbathmetrics‘ blog for the answer (9/24/2014) *** Speedy pinch-hitter Ryan Kalish legged-out an infield single…
How a Jewish roommate at U. of Florida led 6’9″ power forward Alex Tyrus to convert to Judaism, play ball in Israel (9/23/2014) *** Maxx Tissenbaum is one of 4 Rays prospects who will play in Australia for the Brisbane Bandits this Fall (9/23/2014) *** In limited play — 30 ABs in 15 games —…
[Editor’s note: Jewish Baseball News correspondent Stuart M. Katz recently visited Chasing Dreams, a baseball-themed exhibition currently at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. He offered to share his thoughts.] By Stuart M. Katz, correspondent Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American, a wonderful exhibition highlighting the deep and historic connection between American Jews…
Best news of all? Ryan Lashley and Adam Kam have a Jewish teammate: Ben Ruff, who led the United League in relief appearances. Welcome, Ben! (9/20/2014) *** In fact, Ryan Lashley just missed winning the United League triple crown: .369 B.A. (1st), 6 HRs (1st/tie), 45 RBIs (2nd)…(9/20/2014) *** Amazing season for two Jews on the independent Fort…
Cardinals “rookie-league” prospect Adam Ehrlich went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs last week as the State College Spikes won the New York-Penn League championship (9/19/2014) *** With the “AAA” finals over now — his team came in 2nd — Ryan Lavarnway is back with the Boston Red Sox (9/19/2014) *** Every so often, Diane Firstman (@dianagram) picks…
Toronto’s Kevin Pillar doubled and scored a run in a pinch-hit appearance Wednesday (9/18/2014) *** L.A.’s Joc Pederson, a sixth-inning sub Wednesday, singled and walked in two trips to the plate (9/18/2014) *** Oakland carried a 1-0 lead into the 9th Wednesday thanks to Sam Fuld‘s RBI single, but Texas’s 6-run inning put the game out…
By Scott Barancik, editor With the 2014 Minor League regular season complete, we thought you might want to see how Jewish players did at the plate. The more ambitious among you can download this Excel file and crunch the numbers yourself. For the rest of you, look below. You’ll find a table showing all 31 players…
By Stuart M. Katz, Jewish Baseball News correspondent Even among followers of Jewish baseball players, Simon Rosenbaum is not a household name. Not yet, anyway. A 20-year-old junior at Pomona College in California, Rosenbaum ranked 2nd in the nation among Division III players last season with a .474 batting average. D3Baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings both named him a Division…
Check out our Q&A with Simon Rosenbaum, a Division III star who’s also become Israel baseball’s secret weapon (9/15/2014) *** Adam Greenberg, who suffered a beaning in his MLB debut but recovered enough to play 6 years of pro ball, was inducted in the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame yesterday (9/15/2014) *** Israel debuted at…
Joc Pederson, whose 100 walks ranked 2nd among all minor-leaguers in 2014, drew 2 Saturday in the Dodgers’ 17-0 rout of the Giants (9/14/2014) *** Ian Kinsler singled in a run and made this nifty play in first-place Detroit’s 5-4 win Saturday. We’ll forget that he was picked off at first… (9/14/2014) *** Sorry to report…
Jew X 2: After Oakland’s Nate Freiman singled Friday, Sam Fuld knocked him in with an RBI bunt. Fuld also walked and stole his 20th base, tying his career high (9/13/2014) *** Ike Davis contributed a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in Pittsburgh’s 7-3 win Friday. In 30 pinch-hit ABs, he’s hitting .300 with 3 HRs and…
Ryan Braun hit his 19th HR on Thursday, an opposite-field shot deep to right-centerfield in Milwaukee’s 4-2 win (9/12/2014) *** An RBI single by Ike Davis gave Pittsburgh its first run in a 4-1 win over the Phillies on Thursday (9/12/2014) ***
Jew X 2: Danny Valencia went 2-for-4 with an RBI double off the centerfield wall and an RBI single in Toronto’s 11-1 win on Wednesday, while Kevin Pillar added a double of his own (9/11/2014) *** Oakland’s Sam Fuld went 0-for-3 with a walk Wednesday. More notable was his new moustache, which a teammate compared to Ned Flanders’ of…
Making a difference: Toronto is 14-7 this season in games where Kevin Pillar is a starter, and 61-62 in all others (9/10/2014) *** Toronto’s Kevin Pillar has 7 hits over the past 3 games and is auditioning for a 2015 starting spot, says this article (9/10/2014) *** Jew X 2: Kevin Pillar went 3-for-4 in Toronto’s 9-2 win Tuesday, while Danny Valencia singled and made an…
