Who Is a Ball-Playing Jew?

By Jordana Horn April 29, 2010

Play ball, already! For those who are in the “fascinated by Jews who are professional athletes” category, a new website will help you indulge your yenta streak.

JewishBaseballNews.com, a website that debuted this week, follows all Jewish Major League Baseball players, showing how they perform, as well as how they fare compared with the rest of Major League Baseball.

“It’s hard to believe that as recently as 1987, there were no Jews playing Major League ball,” editor Scott Barancik said in a press release. “On Opening Day rosters this year, there were 10 Jewish players. Two weeks later, the New York Mets called up slugger Ike Davis from the minors. Jewish baseball fans should feel proud.”

What is the “who is a Jew?” standard for the website? Jewish Baseball News’s definition is a bit more lax than that of the state of Israel under the Law of Return. The site considers a player Jewish if he has at least one Jewish parent, or converted to Judaism; doesn’t practice another religion; and is happy to be identified as Jewish. Hey, we’ve got to get them however we can. It is unclear as to whether or not refusing to play on Kol Nidre would also constitute part of the definition.

Eleven of today’s 750 Major League players meet Jewish Baseball News’s “Who is a ball-playing Jew?” test. They are:

Brad Ausmus (C), Los Angeles Dodgers (on disabled list)
Craig Breslow (P), Oakland A’s
Ryan Braun (LF), Milwaukee Brewers
Ike Davis (1B), New York Mets
Scott Feldman (P), Texas Rangers
John Grabow (P), Chicago Cubs
Gabe Kapler (RF), Tampa Bay Rays
Ian Kinsler (2B), Texas Rangers (on disabled list)
Jason Marquis (P), Washington Nationals (on disabled list)
Scott Schoeneweis (RP), Boston Red Sox
Kevin Youkilis (1B/3B), Boston Red Sox

“Everyone needs heroes,” Barancik said.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO