MLB

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 3-9, 2020: Mazel tov C Ryan Lavarnway was called-up by the Marlins on August 4 and played the next day, making Miami his seventh MLB team in nine seasons. Lavarnway’s debut also marked his first MLB appearance since obtaining Israeli citizenship in…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the period beginning Opening day (July 23, 2020) through August 2, 2020: Mazel tov CF Kevin Pillar, playing for his third team in the past 2 seasons, went 3-for-5 with a double and 3 RBIs in his Red Sox debut on July 24. His .387 batting…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of October 7-13, 2019, the second week of the playoffs: Mazel tov Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Andy Yerzy, a 21-year-old first baseman and a native of Canada, is on the roster of the Canadian national team, which is pursuing a berth in the 2020…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 30-October 6, 2019, the first week of the playoffs: Mazel tov Kevin Pillar is San Francisco’s nominee for the 2019 Hank Aaron Award, given annually to the outstanding offensive player in each league (see article). Stats to share By one measure, Max…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 23-29, 2019, the final week of the regular season: Mazel tov CF Kevin Pillar, playing in his first season with San Francisco, won the 2019 Willie Mac award. The honor is given to the Giants’ most inspirational player, as voted by…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 16-22, 2019: Mazel tov Led by 1B Danny Valencia and P Joey Wagman, Israel’s national baseball team won an Olympic qualifying tournament in Italy last week, earning it a berth in the 2020 games in Tokyo (see article). The last time…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 9-15, 2019: Mazel tov Israel’s national baseball team finished 4th in the 12-team European Championship that ended Sunday (9/15/2019), good enough to advance to the Olympic qualifiers taking place in Italy from September 18-22. Stats to share Two players — rookie…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of September 2-8, 2019: Mazel tov Danny Valencia, a 34-year-old infielder who spent nine years in the Major Leagues and last played in 2018, obtained Israeli citizenship last week and is playing for Israel in the European Championships held in Germany. Valencia manned third…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 26-September 1, 2019: Mazel tov LF Joc Pederson set a career high with his 27th and 28th home runs last week. The latter was special: a pinch-hit, 11th-inning home run on September 1 that traveled 454 feet and proved the game-winner…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 19-25, 2019: Mazel tov Alex Bregman’s 2-run HR on August 22 marked the 119th Jewish home run of 2019, surpassing the 118 hit in 2018. Like the Majors as a whole, Jewish ballplayers are seeing a surge in HRs. Alex Bregman (32)…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 12-18, 2019: Mazel tov 2B Ian Kinsler (Padres), who joined the injured list on August 16 with a herniated cervical disk, played just one game last week, on August 12. It was a memorable one. Entering the game in the top…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of August 5-11, 2019: Mazel tov CF Kevin Pillar (Giants) recently talked to the Jewish News of Northern California about his bar mitzvah, a religious studies course he took in high school, and being one of the few Jewish players in the Major…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of July 29-August 4, 2019: Mazel tov C Garrett Stubbs (Astros) was called-up from Triple-A on August 2 to provide back-up for starter Robinson Chirinos, who reported soreness in his left shoulder. In an earlier stint with Houston this season, Stubbs hit .160…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of July 22-28, 2019: Mazel tov Israel’s baseball team took another step toward qualifying for the 2020 Olympics last week when it crushed Lithuania in a battle of B-Pool champions at the European Championships. Israel beat Lithuania 12-2 and 15-0 in the best-of-three…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of July 15-21, 2019: Mazel tov C Ryan Lavarnway signed a one-year Major League contract with Cincinnati on July 18 and wasted no time contributing. In his Reds debut the following day — his first Major League start since July 29, 2017 —…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the three weeks beginning June 24, 2019 and ending July 14, 2019: Mazel tov The 2019 Home Run Derby was 25% Jewish, with Joc Pederson (Dodgers) and Alex Bregman (Astros) filling 2 of 8 slots. After beating Bregman 21-14 in the first round, Pederson faced…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of June 17-23, 2019: Mazel tov Alex Bregman (Astros) was named a finalist for the 2019 All-Star Game. He led all A.L. third basemen with 2.3-million votes, blowing away #2 Gio Urshela’s 857,474 votes. Joc Pederson (Dodgers) was named a finalist for the…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of June 10-16, 2019: Mazel tov As of June 10, Alex Bregman (Astros) led all A.L. third basemen with 630,159 All Star votes, dwarfing #2 Gio Urshela’s 269,716 votes. As of June 10, Joc Pederson (Dodgers) was the #4 vote-getter among N.L. outfielders,…

By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your MLB highlights for the week of June 3-9, 2019: Mazel tov At least 16 Jewish players were selected in last week’s MLB draft, including one each in the 1st and 2nd rounds. Ryan Braun (Brewers) hit his 332nd career home run to surpass Tigers legend Hank Greenberg as…