By Scott Barancik, Editor Minor-league baseball went dark in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Happily, play has resumed in 2021. During May, the first month of the 2021 season, a total of 35 athletes on the Jewish Baseball News roster played minor-league ball. This is a smaller number than in recent seasons, thanks to…
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of May 24-30, 2021: Mazel Tov C Garrett Stubbs (Astros) was called up from Triple-A on May 28 after Houston C Jason Castro was placed on the injured list. Since a brief call-up earlier this season — he saw action only once, as a pinch runner —…
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of May 17-23, 2021: Mazel Tov Two players with Major League experience signed minor-league contracts with the Seattle Mariners last week: Team Israel’s Ty Kelly, a retired infielder seeking to brush-up his skills in preparation for the 2021 Olympics, and pitcher Zack Weiss. Both men made their…
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of May 10-16, 2021: Rest in peace Richie Scheinblum passed away at age 78 on May 10. A right fielder, he spent 8 years in the Major Leagues with six different franchises. Richie earned a spot on All-Star team in 1972, a year he hit .300 with…
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of May 3-9, 2021: Stats to share Last week was by far the strongest of the season for Jewish players: Jewish hitters stroked a combined .346 (28-for-81) with 3 HRs, 5 doubles, 12 RBIs, and a .379 on-base percentage. The performance brought their collective season batting average…
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of April 26-May 2, 2021: Stats to share For the first time in his 5-year MLB career, P Max Fried (Braves) — who finished 5th in the National League’s Cy Young Award vote in 2019 and didn’t play in 2020 — is enjoying a sizeable salary jump….
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of April 19-25, 2021: Mazel tov P Ryan Sherriff (Rays), who took leave of baseball after his first appearance this season, is back at Tampa Bay’s alternate training site and working on his pitching as well as his mental health. Click here to see an extended interview…
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of April 12-18, 2021: Mazel tov The Astros called-up C Garrett Stubbs from the team’s alternate training site on April 14 and deployed him as a pinch runner the same day. His younger brother, CJ Stubbs, was drafted by Houston in 2019. At the plate 1B Rowdy…
By Scott Barancik, editor Team Israel has several household names on its expanded Olympic roster, including former Major League stars Danny Valencia and Ian Kinsler. Minor legal issues. however, have prevented the organization from printing any names on its branded clothing. That is, until now. In a move backers hope will goose sales — and…
Here are your MLB highlights for the week of April 5-11, 2021: OF Joc Pederson (Cubs) hit .211 (4-for-19) with a home run, 2 RBIs, and a .250 on-base percentage last week. After going hitless in his first 5 games of the season, Pederson strung together a 4-game hitting streak. 3B Alex Bregman (Astros) hit…
Here are your MLB highlights for opening week of the 2021 season: Who’s on first? A total of eight Jewish athletes started the 2021 season on Major League rosters. They include Richard Bleier, Alex Bregman, Max Fried, Dean Kremer, Joc Pederson, Kevin Pillar, Ryan Sheriff and Rowdy Tellez. At the plate 3B Alex Bregman (Astros)…
By Scott Barancik, editor Team Israel beat long odds to earn a spot in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Qualifying tournaments were conquered. More than a dozen Jewish American ballplayers obtained Israeli citizenship in order to participate. The payoff will be national pride — and, hopefully, an awakening to the beauty of baseball. The team’s 24…
By Scott Barancik, editor (NOTE: This article was updated on March 6, 2021.) At least 15 least Jewish players are participating in Spring Training with a Major League team this season. Some are familiar names, including LF Joc Pederson (Cubs), CF Kevin Pillar (Mets), 3B Alex Bregman (Astros) and P Richard Bleier (Marlins). Both Pederson…
By Scott Barancik When Israel and the United Arab Emirates inked the Abraham Accords last year, the two countries pledged to “provide all children a better future.” Who knew the plan would include baseball? Today, the Israel Association of Baseball and the Dubai Little League announced a forthcoming competition for their 12-and-under national teams. The…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 21-27, 2020, the final week of baseball’s 60-game regular season: Mazel tov Of the 13 Jewish athletes who played Major League ball in 2020, 10 are on teams that will participate in this season’s expanded playoffs: Ryan Braun (Brewers), Alex Bregman…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 14-20, 2020: Mazel tov P Ryan Sheriff (Rays) earned his first career save on September 18, pitching a perfect inning of relief on just 9 pitches to preserve a 2-1 win. The southpaw has yet to give up an earned run…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 7-13, 2020: Mazel tov MLB.com columnist Jonathan Mayo ranked Orioles rookie Dean Kremer #9 last week on a list of baseball’s hottest rookies. MLB.com gave manager Gabe Kapler credit for inspiring his San Francisco Giants to come back from their early-season…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 31-September 7, 2020: Mazel tov The Orioles threw rookie P Dean Kremer into the deep end for his Major League debut on Sunday (September 6), making him start against the Yankees on less than 24 hours’ notice. Kremer delivered a dominant…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 24-30, 2020: Mazel tov Ryan Sherriff (Rays) earned a win in his Tampa Bay Rays debut on August 26, pitching a perfect inning of relief on 11 pitches, 10 of them strikes. It was the Team Israel veteran’s first MLB appearance…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 17-23, 2020: Stats to share Alex Bregman (Astros) has safely reached base in 40 straight games, dating back to 2019 (see rankings). The next best current streak? Mike Yastrzemski, at 20 games. One of the knocks on Kevin Pillar (Red Sox)…
