JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Lower back strain. Hip bursitis. A hernia that will require off-season surgery. Much like last year, injuries have kept slugger Kevin Youkilis out of the Boston Red Sox lineup for a good chunk of 2011. Through Wednesday, the 32-year-old infielder had sat out 36 games and was on pace to have…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun clubbed 2 HRs in Friday night’s 6-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds — and launched himself into the record books. Braun’s HRs (see video) were his 29th and 30th of the season. Combined with his 31 stolen bases, Braun now joins one of the most exclusive…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — More than 50 Jewish athletes played minor-league baseball in 2011, and Jewish Baseball News has identified the very best. Here is our 2011 list of the top Jewish minor-leaguers: Lenny Linsky, P Winner: Best rookie pitcher Bowling Green Hot Rods (A) Hudson Valley Renegages (A-short season) Franchise: Tampa Bay Rays A…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Birthright Israel, the charity that provides free group tours of the Holy Land to Jews ages 18 to 26, has scheduled a unique trip for just baseball and softball players and their fans. Ballplayers who participate in the inter-semester trip will not only get to experience Israel but compete against the…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Texas Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler continued his recent HR tear, belting two more Wednesday in a 10-inning, 5-4 heartbreaker to the Tampa Bay Rays. Kinsler’s 2nd dinger of the night sent the game into extra innings. Wednesday’s barrage left him with 28 HRs, tied for 5th highest in the American League…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — New York Mets infielder Josh Satin singled in his first MLB at-bat Sunday as the Mets dispatched the Washington Nationals 6-3 in D.C. Satin, 26, led off the 3rd inning by smacking a 2-2, 63-mph curveball from Nationals P Livan Hernandez into left field (see video). He later scored on a…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The New York Mets made their first two September call-ups today (9/1/2011), and one of the lucky players is Jewish. Josh Satin, a 26-year-old infielder in his 4th season with the Mets franchise, began the year with the Binghamton Mets (AA) before being promoted to the Buffalo Bisons (AAA) in July….
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Time to add two names to your list of Jewish minor-leaguers. Thanks to information provided by Jewish Baseball News reader Bill R., we now know that C Kevin Moscatel and P Will Krasne are Members of the Tribe. Krasne, a 23-year-old rookie out of Stanford University, is 3-4 with a 4.22…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — It’s good to be Ryan Braun. This week’s issue of Sports Illustrated features the 27-year-old outfielder on its cover, along with Milwaukee Brewers teammates Prince Fielder and Nyjer Morgan. The headline refers to Braun and Fielder as “two wallbanging MVP candidates.” (Braun was 3 years old the last time SI devoted…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Philadelphia Phillies P Michael Schwimer should be proud. The 6’8″ reliever pitched admirably in his MLB debut Sunday, a three-inning stint in relief of two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay in which he retired 9 of 11 batters faced, yielding just 2 hits, walking none, and striking out 4, including…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Boston Red Sox rookie Ryan Lavarnway collected his first MLB hit in a 7-1 drubbing of the Kansas City Royals on Friday, going 1/4 in the DH slot. The rookie catcher hit an opposite-field single off Royals P Jeff Francis in the 5th inning (see video) and drew a walk off…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The Boston Red Sox didn’t waste any time getting C Ryan Lavarnway into the lineup. Playing DH, the 24-year-old Lavarnway went 0/4 in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals, just hours after being called-up from the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA). He was nothing if not consistent, flying out 3…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The Boston Red Sox called-up catcher Ryan Lavarnway today (8/18/2011) from the minors, where he has pounded a total of 30 HRs for the franchise’s AA and AAA squads. The 24-year-old backstop is the second Jewish player to be promoted this week. Philadelphia Phillies reliever Michael Schwimer was promoted Tuesday (8/16/2011)….
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The Philadelphia Phillies called-up reliever Michael Schwimer on Tuesday (8/16/2011) from the club’s AAA team, where the towering right-hander amassed a 9-1 record, 10 saves, and a 1.88 ERA. “The first part of my life dream has come true,” he Tweeted yesterday. “I cant wait!!!!” Many MLB teams would have called-up…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — We’re not publicity hounds by any means. But for a Jewish-oriented publication like Jewish Baseball News, getting a mention in the New York Times like we did today (8/16/2011) is a milestone of sorts (see article). Times sports reporter Richard Sandomir had interviewed people such as lawyer Alan Dershowitz and JBN…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — As far as he knew, Ralph Branca was 100% Catholic. A three-time All-Star with the Brooklyn Dodgers perhaps best known for giving up New York Giants 3B Bobby Thomson’s pennant-winning home run in 1951 (see video and box score), Ralph Theodore Joseph Branca was confirmed and baptized. He often attended Mass…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — A comebacker off the bat of New York Mets CF Angel Pagan on Sunday (8/14/2011) may have ended the regular season of Arizona Diamondbacks P Jason Marquis, by fracturing his right fibula. Marquis, recently acquired by the N.L. West-leading Diamondbacks from the Washington Nationals, continued pitching after the 3rd-inning incident but…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Sam Fuld hasn’t had many chances to be a hero since rookie phenom Desmond Jennings assumed left-field duties for the Tampa Bay Rays. But the diminutive 29-year-old made the most of a rare start Wednesday (8/10/2011), reaching base all 5 times he came to the plate and delivering a two-out, game-winning…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Newly-acquired P Jason Marquis will make his Arizona Diamondbacks debut today at 3:45pm EST, just days after the Washington Nationals traded the veteran right-hander for a minor-league prospect. The first-place D’backs hope Marquis, 32, can strengthen their pitching rotation as the N.L. West pennant race tightens. The Manhasset, N.Y., native is…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Middle East politics got you down? Strike out again at the company softball game? Cheer up! Life is good for Jewish baseball fans these days. Here are 12 reasons to smile: So far this season, MLB Jews are out-hitting their peers .266 to .257, and out-slugging them .460 to .400. At…
