JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
In a sport where players generally peak in their late-twenties and decline precipitously thereafter, Ian Kinsler’s early-thirties revival has been an unexpected joy to watch. A three-time All Star second baseman (and two-time 30-30 player) during eight seasons with the Texas Rangers, Kinsler has somehow kicked things into even higher gear since being traded to…
You have to admit that this is a good time for Jews in baseball. On the field, Team Israel’s strong showing was the talk of the World Baseball Classic. Meanwhile, Ian Kinsler played a key role on the U.S. team. While Alex Bregman had limited duty for the U.S., the star watch is on for…
(JTA) — The rarity arose in the initial meeting of first-year Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and his second baseman Ian Kinsler, newly traded from the Texas Rangers: a Jewish player reporting to a Jewish manager. Ausmus was “raised the same way I was,” Kinsler learned, with one Jewish parent and an upbringing in which…
(JTA) — In the biblical tradition of lingering in the desert en route to the Promised Land, Major League Baseball teams are packing up and embarking on their exodus from Arizona (and Florida) spring training sites to begin the new season. Rosters won’t be finalized until this weekend, but 10 Jewish players are likely to…
This year’s Major League Baseball All Stars game had two arguably Jewish players on the roster (out of 78 players total): second-baseman Jason Kipnis of Cleveland (American League) and first-baseman Paul Goldschmidt of Arizona (National League). Both have Jewish fathers and Christian mothers (same as the two arguably Jewish players on last year’s All Star…
The great slugging first baseman Hank Greenberg famously said, in the 1984 documentary film “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg,” ”There was always some leather lung yelling at me. I found it was a spur to make me do better because I could never fall asleep on the field. As soon as you struck…
As Jordan Farmer plays a steady back-up role for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals and Kevin Youkilis, Ryan Braun and Ian Kinsler all rank in the top five in MLB All-Star voting at their respective positions – Braun, a Milwaukee Brewer, leads all National League outfielders – three other Jewish American athletes…
We’ve come a long way from the joke about the “leaflet on Famous Jewish Sports Legends” presented to a character in the movie “Airplane” after he requests some “light reading.” The baseball season may still be young, but some of the most terrifying and productive players so far are Jewish. On the heels of his 2008 All-Star…
