Dean Kremer of the Baltimore Orioles, prior to a game at Camden Yards. Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images

By Louis Keene October 10, 2023

Dean Kremer took the mound Tuesday with his Baltimore Orioles in a hole — and with a hole in his heart.

Kremer, the first Israeli drafted by an MLB team, was born in Stockton, California, to Israeli parents. He has family in Israel and spends part of the offseason there, and pitched for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic in March.

After Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds of Israelis in an attack this weekend, Kremer posted in Hebrew on Instagram, saying, “No words. My heart is broken.”

He told assembled media on Monday that his family in Israel was safe, but that the situation continued to weigh on him.

“I still want to pitch, but, I mean, it’s going to be in the back of my head,” Kremer said.

The first start of the 27-year-old’s playoff career came with the Orioles — the American League’s top-seeded team — having lost the first two games of their best-of-five series against the Texas Rangers. Kremer was yanked in the second inning after giving up six runs, and the Rangers advanced to the American League Championship after a 7-1 romp.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had told Kremer on Sunday, the day after the attacks, that he would be starting Game 3.

Support from the Orioles

Kremer told reporters that Hyde and “almost every single person in the clubhouse” had checked in on him since the attacks. Several of those teammates also posted MLB’s statement expressing solidarity with Israel.

In his news conference announcing Kremer as the starter, Hyde said the pitcher “seemed OK” and “ready to pitch.”

“Obviously he’s very disturbed, but I think he’s really looking forward to pitching tomorrow,” Hyde said. “I didn’t sense that it was gonna affect him.”

Kremer won 13 games this year for the Orioles, logging a 4.12 ERA, with 157 strikeouts in 172 innings. He turned in two of his best performances in the team’s playoff and division clinchers.

The team won 101 games on its way to the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2016.

“Hopefully Dean can give us some innings, and get a nice start for us,” Hyde said. Alas, it was not to be.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount