By Scott Barancik, editor You had to rise at 4:30pm ET today to watch underdog Team Israel play Korea live in the 2017 World Baseball Classic opener, but seeing Israel triumph 2-1 in 10 innings was worth missing some sleep. There were a few ulcer-inducing moments. Israel — which knocked out 8 hits and drew…
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 Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of August 29 – September 4, 2016. New additions Jewish Baseball News welcomes three more players to its list of professional ballplayers. All three will play for Team Israel later this month in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in Brooklyn. P Tyler Herron (Mets/AAA) is a 30-year-old right-hander…
Your browser does not support iframes. By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of August 22-28, 2016. New additions Jewish Baseball News welcomes two more players to its list of professional ballplayers. The first is P Joey Wagman (Athletics/High-A), a 25-year-old reliever out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The second is 3B…
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 July 25-31, 2016. Jewish Baseball News Player of the Week LF Zach Borenstein (Diamondbacks/AAA) hit .600 last week with a home run, triple, 3 doubles, 4 RBIS, and a walk. This is his second straight Player of the Week award. In his first full…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league updates from the week of June 27-July 3, 2016. Jewish Baseball News Player of the Week What an incredible week for SS Alex Bregman (Astros). Last year’s #2 overall draft pick homered and went 2-for-3 in the Texas League (AA) All-Star game. He was named to the U.S. roster for…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here are your minor-league updates from the week of June 20-26, 2016. Jewish Baseball News Player of the Week P Corey Baker (Cardinals/AAA) earned a shutout win in his first-ever Triple-A game, scattering four singles and a walk over 6.2 innings while striking out 6. Baker had two 1-2-3 innings and threw 62 of…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here they are, your minor-league updates from the week of May 9-15, 2016. Highlights Astros #1 prospect Alex Bregman (AA) hit .286 with 2 HRs, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs, and 3 walks in the week ended May 15. He also made his first professional start at third base, a show of versatility that could…
By Scott Barancik, Editor Here they are, your minor-league updates from the week of May 2-8, 2016. Highlights After getting only one hit in his first 22 at-bats, former major leaguer Ike Davis (AAA/Rangers) went 3-for-5 with two doubles and five RBIs on May 2. Davis has reached base in his last six games and had…
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 As we munch matzoh on this sacred holiday of Pesach, some might wonder: Who are the most unleavened Jews in MLB history? We looked into this scholarly question and found two men, each a compact 5-foot-4-inches. Not surprisingly, both played ball in the early 1900s, when men Jewish and not alike struggled to rise….
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…
By Scott Barancik, editor Hollywood couldn’t have scripted Ryan Braun‘s return from disgrace any better. In his first at-bat since completing a 65-game suspension, the presumably drug-free Milwaukee Brewer smashed an 0-1 pitch off Oakland A’s pitcher Tommy Milone over the left-field wall (see video). “It’s still the first day of spring training,” Braun told USA Today. “Better to…
By Scott Barancik, editor For some Jewish baseball fans, Yom Kippur isn’t just the holiest day on the calendar. It’s also a litmus test of a ballplayer’s commitment to Judaism. That’s not so true here at Jewish Baseball News, a secular website that holds no grudge against a ballplayer for choosing to swing a bat during the…
Help keep Jewish Baseball News free! Use our Amazon.com link ———————————————————————— By Scott Barancik, editor Eye color is not the first thing one notices about Oakland A’s rookie Nate Freiman. Does he part his hair on the left, or the right? No clue. The first thing every teammate, scout, agent, sportswriter, and fan observes about Freiman (pronounced ‘FRY-men’)…
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…
Help keep Jewish Baseball News free! Use our Amazon.com link ———————————————————————— By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News It took Oakland A’s rookie Nate Freiman just 14 MLB at-bats to smash his first home run (see video), a 3-run shot off Houston Astros starter Erik Bedard that landed in the upper-level left-field bleachers before a cheering hometown crowd on Monday (4/15/2013)….
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 Nate Freiman has made the opening-day roster of the Oakland A’s. The 26-year-old slugger told the San Francisco Chronicle he was “shaking” when A’s manager Bob Melvin let him know during batting practice. He is expected to platoon at first base along with 7-year MLB veteran Brandon…
