By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of August 21-27, 2017: Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Michael Barash C Michael Barash (Angels/High-A) had a career game on August 24, going 5-for-6 with a home run, 4 RBIs and a walk. For the week, he hit .500 (7-for-14) with 2 HRs,…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of May 29 – June 4, 2017. Members of Team Israel’s 2017 squad are marked with an asterisk: Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Nick Rickles* C Nick Rickles* (Phillies/AA) hit .385 (5-for-13) in his first full week with the Philadelphia Phillies franchise, highlighted by a two-HR,…
By Scott Barancik, editor The roster of players set to represent Israel in the World Baseball Classic in South Korea this March is taking shape. Team Israel general manager Peter Kurz, whose squad of former Major League and current minor-league athletes guided Israel to a qualifying-round win in September, said Tuesday that 15 ballplayers had already committed to…
By Stuart M. Katz, correspondent When centerfielder Sam Fuld and nine other Jewish athletes head to Israel on January 3 for what might be dubbed a ‘Baseball Birthright’ trip, they won’t be alone. Wives, parents, sons, and a fiancée will be traveling with this minyan of Major League players and prospects, all of whom plan to represent…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Israel’s first two wins in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers were fairly close affairs, but the team crushed Great Britain 9-1 in the finals Sunday night to sweep the tournament and earn its first-ever trip to the main WBC event, which will take place in March 2017. Israel dominated equally from the mound…
By Scott Barancik, Editor It took Israel’s bats a while to come alive Thursday at Brooklyn’s MCU Park, but a four-run rally in the 7th inning drove the team to a come-from-behind, 5-2 win over Great Britain. C Ryan Lavarnway led the way with three hits and a walk, and five Team Israel players shared RBI duties, including…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league updates from the week of August 8-14, 2016. Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week 1B Cody Decker (Red Sox/AA) hit .333 last week with 3 HRs, 5 RBIs, and 2 walks. The highlight came August 10, when Decker went 3-for-6 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs. Jewish Baseball News Pitcher of…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league updates from the week of August 1-7, 2016. Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week C Andy Yerzy (Diamondbacks/rookie), a 2nd-round pick in the 2016 draft, hit .400 last week with a double, 5 RBIs, and a walk. The highlight was a 4-for-5 game on August 5. Jewish Baseball News…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league updates from the week of July 11-17, 2016, a period shortened by All-Star games. Jewish Baseball News Player of the Week For the third time this season — and the second week in a row — our Player of the Week is LF Mike Meyers (Red Sox/High-A). Meyers hit…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here they are, your minor-league updates from the week of June 13-19, 2016. Jewish Baseball News Player of the Week LF Mike Meyers (Red Sox/High-A) hit .381 last week with a double, his fifth triple of the season, 2 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases. The highlight: a 4-for-5 showing on June 14….
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here they are, your minor-league highlights from the week of April 18-24. Borenstein’s streak Diamondbacks Triple-A prospect Zach Borenstein is 5-for-9 in his last four games with a double, HR, walk, and 4 RBIs. His 12 RBIs (in 51 at-bats) rank 14th in the Pacific Coast League. Goldberg’s promotion Brad Goldberg, a 6-foot-4…
By Scott Barancik, editor Cody Decker returned to L.A. on Sunday, a day after his El Paso Chihuahuas were knocked out of the Pacific Coast League (AAA) playoffs. His future was uncertain: after seven seasons as a San Diego Padres farmhand, the franchise’s all-time minor-league home run leader (154 HRs) was due to become a…
By Scott Barancik, editor Nu, so what’s going on in the Minors? Cody Decker — the San Diego Padres’ all-time minor-league HR leader and a participant in this month’s Triple-A Home Run Derby — has hit three HRs since the All-Star break, including Thursday’s solo shot (7/23/2015). The El Paso Chihuahuhas star has 18 HRs, and he’s hitting them…
By Scott Barancik, editor Lots of news to report in the minors today. Cody Decker (Padres, AAA) Cody Decker, the San Diego Padres’ all-time minor-league HR leader, has been chosen to participate in this year’s Triple-A Home Run Derby, along with five other All-Star sluggers. The 28-year-old infielder has 15 HRs this season and leads…
By Scott Barancik, editor Cody Decker is known for producing funny videos. But according to our research, he deserves at least as much praise for his production at the plate. Through games played Thursday (6/25/2015), the 28-year-old San Diego Padres prospect had 14 HRs and 49 RBIs in just 183 at-bats this season. That sounded pretty…
By Zev Ben Avigdor, correspondent One reason we love baseball is because baseball players have great stories. Often those tales make us fans of particular players, regardless of their statistical accomplishments or which uniforms they wear. Here is one of them, a story of setbacks and adversity, of failure and loss of confidence, and ultimately of…
By Scott Barancik, editor As baseball fans celebrate Opening Day, Jewish Baseball News is taking a look back at the 21 Jews who participated in MLB Spring Training this year. Fifteen position players and six pitchers saw playing time, some as full-fledged team members, others as non-roster invitees, and several via short-term stints. Their stats are shown…
Help keep Jewish Baseball News free! Use our Amazon.com link ———————————————————————— By Scott Barancik, editor Cody Decker is many things, but “average” is not one of them. Neither is “normal.” That seems to suit the 26-year-old San Diego Padres prospect just fine. The southern California native played a lead role in The Music Man and other productions in…
Going shopping? Please use our Amazon.com link ———————————————————————— By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News With the regular season now underway, we’re taking a quick look back at how Jewish players performed in spring training. The sheer number who played was impressive: a total of at least 24 Jews — 18 position players and six pitchers —…
Going shopping? Use our Amazon.com link ———————————————————————— By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News Kevin Pillar is the best Jewish player you’ve never heard of. In college he set an NCAA Division II record with a 54-game hitting streak. Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011, he led his rookie league with a .347 batting average…
