By Sam Brief, correspondent Some observers scoffed when Team Israel competed in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, noting that all but a handful of its players were American citizens. Now, Israel’s baseball dreams are about to get a bit more authentic. This fall, 10 Jewish-American ballplayers will acquire Israeli passports, making them dual American-Israeli citizens…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Congrats to Alex Bregman and the defending World Champion Houston Astros, who move on to the A.L. Championship Series following their three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians. Bregman continued his excellent season by going 5-for-9 with home runs in the first two games. He also had a double, four walks and four…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Nearly 148 seasons after Lip Pike hit the first Jewish home run, a new milestone was set last night. Ryan Braun’s 428-foot, 1st-inning bomb tied the record established in 2016, when six Jewish players combined for a total of 115 home runs. Later Friday evening, rookie Rowdy Tellez’s 396-foot moonshot set…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor More home runs. Ryan Braun clouted a pair – a solo shot in the top of the first (#17) and a two-run bomb in the eighth (#18) — to help the Milwaukee Brewers (91-67) to a 12-4 win over the host St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday. Braun is hot lately, going 5-for-13…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Alex Bregman stroked his 51st double of the year Tuesday, driving in one run, as the Houston Astros (99-57) beat the host Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3. Kevin Pillar had a win-some, lose-some game. He hit his 15th homer, a two-run, two-out job to put his team (71-86) on the board in the fourth,…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor The Legend of Rowdy Tellez just keeps growing. On Saturday, he went 3-for-4 with his ninth double and third home run, driving in three runs in a 5-2 win by the Toronto Blue Jays (71-85, fourth in the AL East) over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. Tellez was 1-for-8 in the other…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor The Boston Red Sox (104-49) clinched — finally — the AL East in style, scoring three runs in each the seventh and eighth innings on Thursday to beat the host NY Yankees, 11-6. Ian Kinsler sat this one out, but in a piece from the NBCSports.com, he’s compared favorably with Mark Bellhorn and Dustin…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor L’shana tova, y’all. Hope you had an easy fast. Just a quick recap of erev Yom Kippur: Ryan Lavarnway had a walk-off pinch hit single to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 2-1, 11-inning win over the visiting KC Royals. On the other hand, Ian Kinsler hit into a game-ending 1-4-3 double play for the…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Last night, Joc Pederson stroked two HRs and Kevin Pillar added another, bringing the total number of Jewish home runs this season to 106, led by Alex Bregman’s 30. According to statistical projection services cited by FanGraphs.com, the Jews of 2018 are likely to end the regular season with 112 to…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Interesting game Sunday between the Toronto Blue Jays (67-82, fourth in the AL East) and host New York Yankees. The two Blue MOTS were “responsible” for the come-from-behind, 3-2 win. Trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning with runners on first and third — the former in the person of Kevin Pillar,…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Now that the minor-league season has ended, we can ask: who were the top Jewish players? Jewish Baseball News sought input from half a dozen Jewish Insiders, including professional ballplayers, scouts, reporters and front-office staff. The result of their collective wisdom is our 2018 Minor-League Awards. To our 11 winners: Mazel…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Remember when Joc Pederson hit all those home runs in June? Wonder how many he might have had if he played for the LA Dodgers (79-67) every day? Well, he’s back on a pace, homering in his last two games. No. 21 came in the fourth inning against the host Cincinnati Reds…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Mazel tov to the Boston Red Sox, who clinched a playoff berth with their 99th win last night, a 6-2 decision over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays (65-79). Ian Kinsler was 1-for-4, a two-out single off the Monster to give the Sox a 6-2 lead in the eighth inning. Like Kinsler, Toronto’s…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Between the weekend and Rosh Hashana, this is the first chance I’ve had to do any sort of recap. Too much time has passed to do an individual thing, so here are the highlights: Rowdy Tellez continued to shine for the Toronto Blue Jays (65-78, fourth in AL East). He started out…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Howdy, Rowdy! Rowdy Tellez has gotten off to an historic start for the Toronto Blue Jays with doubles in his first three at-bats. The first came as a pinch-hitter on Wednesday. He got the start Thursday, batting sixth behind Kevin Pillar. He doubled in the second inning then doubled again in the…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Call-up Rowdy Tellez cracked a pinch-hit double on the first Major League pitch he saw, driving in a run as the Toronto Blue Jays (63-76) crushed the visiting Tampa Bay Rays, 10-3. Tellez got some nice write-ups because of the recent tragic loss of his mother, Lori. Alex Bregman just keeps chugging along: he hit his 47th…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Say hello to your newest JML: Rowdy Tellez, a 6’4″, 225-pound first baseman called up by the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday. Ryan John Tellez had 22 doubles and 13 home runs with 50 RBIs in 112 games for AAA Buffalo before being promoted. He did not appear in Tuesday night’s 4-0 loss…
By Scott Barancik, Editor The September expansion of MLB rosters generated two Jewish call-ups today. One was Toronto Blue Jays prospect Rowdy Tellez, a 23-year-old first baseman who has never played in the Majors. Drafted straight out of high school in 2013, the 6-foot-4 California native is hitting .270 with 13 home runs, 50 RBIs…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Hi-ho, boys and girls. Hope you all had a pleasant holiday. In the interest of saving time, I’m just going to cover the games played on Labor Day. Alex Bregman -whose post-homer stares have become a meme — hit a two-out home run (#28) to get the ball rolling for the…
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Mazel Tov to Robert Stock, who picked up his first Major League win by tossing three shutout innings for the San Diego Padres (53-83) in a 4-3, 13 inning win over the visiting Colorado Rockies. He walked one and allowed one hit. Ian Kinsler reached base four out of five times — three…
