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)…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 10-16, 2020: Mazel tov P Rob Kaminsky was called up by the COVID-depleted St. Louis Cardinals on August 15 and made his MLB debut the following day. A 1st-round pick out of St. Joseph Regional High School (Montvale, NJ) in the…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 3-9, 2020: Mazel tov C Ryan Lavarnway was called-up by the Marlins on August 4 and played the next day, making Miami his seventh MLB team in nine seasons. Lavarnway’s debut also marked his first MLB appearance since obtaining Israeli citizenship in…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the period beginning Opening day (July 23, 2020) through August 2, 2020: Mazel tov CF Kevin Pillar, playing for his third team in the past 2 seasons, went 3-for-5 with a double and 3 RBIs in his Red Sox debut on July 24. His .387 batting…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Two undrafted collegians have signed contracts with MLB teams. Matt Mervis of Duke University was picked up by the Chicago Cubs this month. A two-way ballplayer who bats left but throws right, Mervis was co-captain of the Blue Devils during the abbreviated 2020 season, hitting .304 while leading the team in…
By Scott Barancik, Editor This year’s MLB draft is limited to just five rounds versus the normal 40, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and related financial concerns. But that didn’t prevent a Jewish player from cracking Round 1. Yesterday, the Atlanta Braves chose lefty Jared Shuster with the 25th overall pick. A native of New…
By Scott Barancik, Editor If you could assemble the greatest Jewish baseball team of all time, who would you pick to play? On June 21, Jewish fans around the world will get to watch live as five celebrity duos — including Team Israel member and former MLB All-Star Ian Kinsler — compete to select the…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of October 7-13, 2019, the second week of the playoffs: Mazel tov Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Andy Yerzy, a 21-year-old first baseman and a native of Canada, is on the roster of the Canadian national team, which is pursuing a berth in the 2020…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 30-October 6, 2019, the first week of the playoffs: Mazel tov Kevin Pillar is San Francisco’s nominee for the 2019 Hank Aaron Award, given annually to the outstanding offensive player in each league (see article). Stats to share By one measure, Max…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 23-29, 2019, the final week of the regular season: Mazel tov CF Kevin Pillar, playing in his first season with San Francisco, won the 2019 Willie Mac award. The honor is given to the Giants’ most inspirational player, as voted by…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 16-22, 2019: Mazel tov Led by 1B Danny Valencia and P Joey Wagman, Israel’s national baseball team won an Olympic qualifying tournament in Italy last week, earning it a berth in the 2020 games in Tokyo (see article). The last time…
By Scott Barancik, Editor A veteran oddsmaker wouldn’t have taken the bet. A Hollywood producer wouldn’t have entertained such a preposterous plot line. No one — except perhaps Israel Association of Baseball president Peter Kurz, the eternally optimistic uncle you might dismiss as delusional — would have believed the Israeli national baseball team could earn…
