Major League Baseball And JCCs Join Forces
In late June, the JCC Association of North America and Major League Baseball announced grants to sponsor the after-school Rookie League Pitching Machine Program at 10 JCCs around the country.
The league is geared toward players 12 and younger who are making the transition from hitting the ball off a tee to live-pitch baseball. In rookie-league play, pitching is done by machine, so as to minimize the number of balls outside the strike zone and to allow hitters to develop their confidence — as well as their swing.
Rookie League guidelines keep the stress on learning the fundamentals. Scrappy tactics like bunting and base stealing are banned, and keeping score is discouraged.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
