By Scott Barancik, editor A traveling exhibit featuring Jewish baseball history, quirky memorabilia, and the chance to imitate Sandy Koufax on a real pitching mound will make its international debut this week in Philadelphia. Chasing Dreams, which opens Thursday at the National Museum of American Jewish History (3/13/2014), is more than a collection of objects. Displays crafted by…
By Scott Barancik, editor Hollywood couldn’t have scripted Ryan Braun‘s return from disgrace any better. In his first at-bat since completing a 65-game suspension, the presumably drug-free Milwaukee Brewer smashed an 0-1 pitch off Oakland A’s pitcher Tommy Milone over the left-field wall (see video). “It’s still the first day of spring training,” Braun told USA Today. “Better to…
By Scott Barancik, editor Spring Training has only just begun, but there’s plenty going on in the baseball world. Tyler Kolodny didn’t give up on sports when the Baltimore Orioles released him after six seasons in the minors. He just picked a new one. Although the 6-foot-5-inch, 245-pound Kolodny had never played football at any level, he arranged…
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By Scott Barancik, editor Sam Fuld is leaving one “Moneyball” team for another. A free agent after three seasons with the Chicago Cubs and another three with the Tampa Bay Rays, Fuld has signed a minor-league contract with the Oakland A’s, where competition for a final outfield roster spot on the Major League club is said to be…
By Scott Barancik, editor Jews make up an estimated 1.7 percent of all Americans and an even smaller percentage of professional baseball players. But ESPN Insider’s 2014 ranking of the Top 100 Minor Leaguers features three Jews, a 3 percent rate. And Baseball America’s 2014 list of the Top 10 prospects per franchise includes four Jews. Joc…
By Scott Barancik, editor San Diego Padres prospect Maxx Tissenbaum was one of five players sent to the Tampa Bay Rays today as part of a 7-player trade headlined by Rays pitcher Alex Torres and Padres infielder Logan Forsythe. A 22-year-old infielder who was chosen in the 11th round of the 2012 amateur draft and hit .277 with the…
By Scott Barancik, editor Free agent Kevin Youkilis has covered a lot of ground the past two seasons, playing for A.L. teams in Boston, Chicago, and New York. This time, he’s moving a little farther afield: Japan. The three-time All-Star, 34, has signed a one-year, $4-million deal to play for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, the defending…
By Scott Barancik, editor Danny Valencia, a much-traveled third baseman who enjoyed a strong comeback with the Baltimore Orioles last season, has been traded again. The O’s are sending Valencia, 29, to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for OF David Lough, who finished 8th in voting for the 2013 A.L. Rookie of the Year award. According…
By Scott Barancik, editor Boston Red Sox outfielder Ryan Kalish has signed a minor-league contract with the Chicago Cubs. Behind the deal was a man who knows the 25-year-old well: former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, who drafted Kalish out of high school in 2006 and joined the Cubs as president of baseball operations in October 2011. Considered Boston’s outfielder…
By Scott Barancik, editor Twenty-three minor-league players were selected in the Triple-A phase of today’s (12/12/2013) Rule 5 draft, and three of them are Jewish. The San Diego Padres acquired St. Louis Cardinals prospect Jake Lemmerman. A 24-year-old shortstop out of Duke University, Lemmerman has hit .273 over his 4-year career with the Cardinals and Los Angeles…
By Scott Barancik, editor Free agent Scott Feldman has signed a 3-year, $30-million deal with the Houston Astros. The Major Leagues’ youngest (average age: 26) and worst (111 losses) team last season, Houston was looking for a veteran presence. It found that in Scott Feldman, a 30-year-old righthander who made his MLB debut in 2005 and holds…
By Scott Barancik, editor For Sam Fuld, the Tampa Bay Rays have been the “perfect organization,” a team that appreciated his aggressiveness on the basepaths and competence in the outfield. Had the Chicago Cubs not traded him in 2011, he might never have had enough playing time to achieve legendary status for his diving catches, and to…
By Scott Barancik, editor Ah, the off-season. That time of year when baseball fans and writers have little else to do but speculate about which players will move, and where. Ian Kinsler made a splash recently when the Texas Rangers traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers for slugger Prince Fielder. Who’s next? We at Jewish Baseball News…
By Scott Barancik, editor File this one under the category “Life imitates art.” It came as news to most of us this week that the Texas Rangers were trading Ian Kinsler for Detroit Tigers slugger Prince Fielder. Few could have predicted the swap. But looking back, ESPN seems prescient. In an odd coincidence, a 2010 ad for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball featured…
By Scott Barancik, editor Ian Kinsler, a 32-year-old second baseman who has spent his entire 8-year career with the Texas Rangers, is being traded to the Detroit Tigers for slugger Prince Fielder. Detroit will pay the Rangers an additional $30-million to help cover Fielder’s massive contract. The 29-year-old first baseman “has seven years remaining on his $214-million,…
By Scott Barancik, editor Earlier today we announced the arrival of the Jewish Baseball News ball cap. “Just in time for Chanukah!” we proclaimed. Alas, taking a cue from the Obamacare School of Product Rollouts, we gave you an ordering system that did not work. Would-be customers were left wandering around PayPal like, well, Jews in the…
By Scott Barancik, editor Racking your brain for Chanukah gifts? Consider our new Jewish Baseball News caps. Made in Bangladesh and embroidered in good ol’ St. Petersburg, Fla., the headquarters of minor-league baseball, our one-size-fits-most caps will cover all but the bushiest Jew-fros. The hats are priced at $21.99 apiece, although volume discounts begin when you order…
By Scott Barancik, editor Until yesterday, Brad Ausmus‘s only experience at the helm of a baseball team was managing Team Israel in the 2012 World Baseball Classic qualifiers. But that didn’t stop the Detroit Tigers from hiring the 44-year-old former catcher to replace Jim Leyland as manager. Much is at stake for the team, which made the 2013 postseason…
By Scott Barancik, editor Aaron Poreda, a 6-foot-6-inch pitcher whose rapid rise to the Majors was matched by a swift decline, has signed a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers after a long layoff for “Tommy John” surgery. Poreda, 27, told Jewish Baseball News that Texas was one of 8 to 10 teams that sent scouts to watch…
