Braun to pass Greenberg as Jewish HR king
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Articles | Minor Leagues | MLB
Breaking news: 10 American ballplayers to make aliyah
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…
New Jewish home-run record set
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…
Will Jewish home-run mark fall in 2018?
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…
Jewish Baseball News issues 2018 Minor-League Awards
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…
Mazel tov!
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…
September is near
By Scott Barancik, Editor On Saturday, Major League teams will have the option to begin expanding their 25-man rosters to up to 40 players as the minor-league season nears an end. No Jewish prospect is a lock for a call-up. But according to responses from our first-ever Jewish Insiders Poll, several players may have a…
At the All-Star break, a mid-season summary
By Ron Kaplan, contributor They call the All-Star break the midpoint of a baseball season. It’s not really, since teams have played well over half of their 162 games. But it’s still a good time to look back and see how everyone is doing. As you know, Alex Bregman killed it at the All-Star Game,…
Call-up!
By Scott Barancik, Editor After a 10-year journey that took him through five franchises and an independent-league team, Oakland Athletics prospect Jeremy Bleich finally got the call-up and made his MLB debut on Friday. It wasn’t an ideal situation. The A’s introduced Bleich in the 7th inning with the bases full of San Francisco Giants,…
Introducing: Ty Kelly
By Scott Barancik, Editor Ty Kelly, a 29-year-old utility man who was called-up by the New York Mets on July 9, has officially joined the ranks of Jewish major leaguers. Some might say Jewish Baseball News is a little late to the game in recognizing Kelly. The California native not only played on Team Israel…
Call-up!
By Scott Barancik, Editor Robert Stock (Twitter), a 28-year-old reliever who has played for four franchises in his minor-league career, was called-up by the San Diego Padres today and promptly inserted into the 10th inning of a home game at AT&T Park. Stock delivered like a seasoned pro, yielding a double on his third Major…
Who’s Jewish in the 2018 MLB draft?
By Scott Barancik, Editor The 2018 MLB amateur draft is over. So, you might wonder, which of the 1,214 college and high-school draftees are Jewish? Our friends at Jewish Sports Review, the invaluable bi-monthly newsletter, have assembled an initial list shown below. Jewish Baseball News will update it as additional players are identified. The list…
Opening Day rosters
By Ron Kaplan, contributor Welcome back, faithful readers. The baseball season is upon us. Not only is this the earliest Opening Day in history, it’s the first time all 30 teams have debuted on the same day. So without further ado… The JML (Jewish major leaguer) roster to start the 2018 season includes: Richard Bleier,…
How’d they do?
By Scott Barancik, Editor Major League Baseball’s 2018 Spring Training ended yesterday. So how did the 19 Jews who were invited to play perform? Here are the batting highlights: A total of 12 Jewish position players collectively hit .272 with 12 HRS and 53 RBIs in 372 at-bats. Alex Bregman’s 12 walks tied for #5 among all MLB players. His…
A loss for Jewish baseball fans
By Scott Barancik, Editor Braden Bishop, Jewish Baseball News’ 2017 Minor-League MVP, is a player to watch. Selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 3rd round of the 2015 amateur draft, the California native hit .320 in his first season of professional ball. He has continued to impress. In 2017, Bishop was named MVP of…
Introducing O’s prospect Cory Jones
By Scott Barancik, Editor Cory Jones, a 6-foot-5-inch pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles franchise, is the latest athlete to join the ranks of known Jewish ballplayers. The 26-year-old California native was plucked out of junior college by the St. Louis Cardinals in Round 5 of the 2012 amateur draft and given a $220,000 signing bonus….
Missing draftee: Scott Manea
By Scott Barancik, Editor Sometimes, a player slips through the cracks. And it can take quite a while for us to find them. Thanks to our friends at Jewish Sports Review, we now know about another athlete selected in the 2016 MLB draft: Scott Manea, a 40th-round pick of the New York Mets. (Yes, I…
Missing draftee: Tyler Benson
By Scott Barancik, Editor With 1,215 amateur players chosen in the 2017 MLB draft, it was perhaps inevitable that we’d miss a few. Mea culpa, Tyler Benson. A 21-year-old from New Jersey, Benson hit .377 his junior year at Bloomsburg University, adding 8 HRs, 41 RBIs, 15 stolen bases, and a sweet .505 on-base percentage….
Home run #3 adds to Pederson’s miraculous Series
By Scott Barancik, Editor Joc Pederson hit a solo home run last night to help the Los Angeles Dodgers earn a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the 2017 World Series and force a decisive seventh game. His post-homer celebration was jubilant: The homer, his third of the Series, set a…
Another World Series game, another record falls
By Scott Barancik, Editor Game 4 of the the 2017 World Series produced yet another record, says The Jewish Baseball Card Book author Bob Wechsler. In his team’s 6-2 win yesterday, Los Angeles Dodgers DH Joc Pederson hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 9th to pad a one-run lead. The 410-foot drive to right…