By Scott Barancik, Editor Israel’s bid to play baseball in the 2020 Olympics just grew a little more believable. Danny Valencia, a 34-year-old infielder who spent nine years in the Major Leagues, obtained Israeli citizenship today and is headed to Germany to play in the European Championships later this week. The top 5 finishers in that…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Baseball journeyman Ty Kelly announced his retirement last weekend with characteristic humor, accusing retiring Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck of stealing his thunder. “Let me have my moment, Andrew,” he wrote. It turns out Kelly’s not quitting baseball entirely. The 31-year-old second baseman recently obtained Israeli citizenship and will be joining Israel’s…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Israel’s national baseball team went 6-0 last week to win its pool in the European Championship, a preliminary qualifying tournament for the 2020 Olympics. Led by tournament MVP Blake Gailen, a Triple-A prospect with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Israel’s 24-man roster ran through opponents Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Ireland but had…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Ryan Braun hit career home run #332 on Friday (6/7/2019) to surpass Detroit Tigers legend Hank Greenberg as the all-time Jewish leader (see list). The three-run homer was suitably majestic. Coming off a 92-mph fastball tossed by Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Nick Kingham, the 6th-inning shot traveled 419 feet to dead center…
By Scott Barancik, Editor The 2019 draft was a strong one. Our colleagues at Jewish Sports Review have identified at least 16 Jewish draftees so far and may yet find more. The class includes 9 pitchers, 4 outfielders, 2 catchers and a shortstop. Three players were selected in the first 5 rounds, all but one…
By Scott Barancik, editor It’s Opening Day of the 2019 Major League Baseball season, and Jewish Baseball News wants to welcome you to what we hope will be another great year for Members of the Tribe. One key change you’ll notice at JBN this season is the frequency of posts. In past years, Ron Kaplan…
By Scott Barancik, editor When Major League teams begin playing Spring Training games tomorrow (2/21/2019), at least 15 Jewish players will be among them. Some are familiar names, including 3B Alex Bregman (Astros), CF Kevin Pillar (Blue Jays) and 2B Ian Kinsler (Padres), who signed a two-year deal with San Diego during the offseason. Three…
Click here for article # # # Get your Jewish Baseball News updates via e-mail
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 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 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 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 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 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…
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,…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
