JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Major League Baseball handed out suspensions for a series-long skirmish between the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks that peaked on Sunday (6/5/2011). Among those named: Nationals P Jason Marquis, who was ordered to sit out 5 games, or roughly one start in a 5-pitcher cycle. Marquis was 5-and-a-third innings into a…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Little was at stake that day at Riverfront Stadium (6/3/1971). Just 11,751 fans turned up to see their 5th-place Cincinnati Reds, 16-and-a-half games out of first place, play the 4th place Chicago Cubs. On the mound, the Reds’ Gary Nolan (3-6) was due to face the Cubs’ Ken Holtzman (4-6). But…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Call it the Jewish Baseball News curse. Last month, we reported that Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun was leading the National League with 12 HRs and dared to speculate whether he might become the first Jewish home-run king since Cleveland Indians 3B Al Rosen in 1953. Braun, 27, didn’t hit another…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS –Israel and its fledgling baseball culture have never been invited to compete in the World Baseball Classic. But Team Israel will get a chance to earn its way there next year. WBC officials announced Wednesday (6/1/2011) that a newly-instituted qualifying round scheduled for late 2012 will give Israel and 11 other countries…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — It was Jew vs. Jew on Wednesday (6/1/2011) as the Tampa Bay Rays and LF Sam Fuld took on the Texas Rangers and 2B Ian Kinsler in St. Petersburg. Here’s how it went. Direct interactions Batting in the 3rd inning, Kinsler flied out to Fuld. After drawing a walk in the…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Sunday (5/29/2011) was Super Sam Fuld Cape Day at Tropicana Field, and the Tampa Bay Rays LF responded with characteristic scrappiness in a 7-0 rout of the Cleveland Indians. With two men on base in the 5th inning, Fuld legged out an infield hit to drive in one run. An errant…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — It’s been quite a while since a Jewish ballplayer won a major-league home run crown. Fifty-eight years, to be precise. The last to do it? Cleveland Indians 3B Al Rosen, whose 43 HRs led the American League in 1953. Today, Rosen is 87 years old, which is a pretty good measure…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Thanks to off-season surgery on his right knee, Texas Rangers P Scott Feldman has spent the 2011 season on the disabled list. But he may be turning the corner. On Saturday (5/14/2011), the 6-foot-6-inch starter pitched 5 strong innings for the “AA” Frisco RoughRiders in an 11-2 win over the Corpus…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Jason Marquis became the 5th Jewish pitcher to win 100 games on Tuesday (5/10/2011), leading the Washington Nationals to a 7-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Marquis, who spent the first 4 years of his MLB career with Atlanta, held the Braves to one run through the first 7 innings. He…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — The good news is that all six Jewish non-pitchers in the MLB this season are on the 2011 All-Star ballot. The bad news? Two of the 6 are competing for a single slot. Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox and Danny Valencia of the Minnesota Twins are among 14 men…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Washington Nationals P Jason Marquis continued his remarkable turnaround Friday (4/29/2011) with a complete-game shutout against the San Francisco Giants. It was a win to savor: Marquis, 32, gave up no walks and just 5 hits while striking out 7 batters. The 3-0 victory came against two-time Cy Young Award winner…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Baseball fans will be able to cheer Israel, Sam Fuld, and the Tampa Bay Rays all at once on Sun., May 15. Thanks to the Rays and the JCC Suncoast JCC, Tropicana Field will host the team’s first-ever Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration, honoring Israel’s 62nd birthday. But time is running out to…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Voting began yesterday (4/26/2011) for the 2011 All-Star Game, and all 6 Jewish position players were on the ballot. The six include: Tampa Bay Rays OF Sam Fuld Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun New York Mets 1B Ike Davis Minnesota Twins 3B Danny Valencia Boston Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis Texas…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Major League Baseball has named Ryan Braun its National League Player of the Week for April 18-24, the 3rd time he has won the distinction. The award coincided with Braun’s signing of a 5-year contract extension that will pay him a total of $105-million. But that doesn’t even begin to describe…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Sam Fuld doesn’t strike out much. Through Saturday (4/23/2011) he had whiffed just 6 times, or once in every 18.5 at-bats, second best in the American League. But Fuld just can’t do anything half way. And on Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays (4/24/2011), he put on a strike-out clinic….
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — There was another display of Maccabee Power in Major League Baseball yesterday (4/23/2011). Four Jewish ballplayers — Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun, New York Mets 1B Ike Davis, Minnesota Twins 3B Danny Valencia, and Boston Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis — hit HRs, along with a combined 8 RBIs. It’s no…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS –Maybe it’s the matzoh. What is it about Jewish baseball players and Passover this season? On Monday (4/18), the night of the first seder, five Jewish batters hit a collective .650, each one knocking out anywhere from 2 to 4 hits apiece. Last night (4/23), the Jews brought their homer sticks to…
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — On the first night of Passover (4/18/2011), five Jewish batters split the defense like the Red Sea, batting a collective .650. Every player had at least 2 hits, and each one saw his team win. Tampa Bay Rays OF Sam Fuld vaulted to first place in batting average among American Leaguers….
JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Tampa Bay Rays CF Sam Fuld has become one of baseball’s most unlikely stars this season. Thanks to jaw-dropping catches, a rifle of an arm, and clutch hitting, he has captured the imagination of fans both Jewish and not. Statistics gathered by Jewish Baseball News reader Jack W. provide hard evidence…
Note: This article by Jewish Baseball News editor Scott Barancik appeared in the April 17, 2011 edition of the St. Petersburg Times. All last season, my friend Jessica sent me updates about a Chicago Cubs prospect named Sam Fuld. Sam ran into a wall chasing a pop fly, she wrote. Sam threw out two runners….
