Scott Feldman, a Jewish pitcher from Burlingame, helped the Texas Rangers reach the World Series with three strong relief appearances in the American League Championship Series, which ended Oct. 15.
In Game 2 of the ALCS, Feldman hurled 41⁄3 innings of shutout relief as the Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2. In Game 4, he was the winning pitcher.
The 28-year-old left-hander entered the World Series, which began Oct. 19 against the St. Louis Cardinals, with superb postseason statistics: in 82⁄3 innings, no runs allowed with nine strikeouts and no walks. In the ALCS, he faced 19 batters and allowed just one hit.
“It has been a lot of fun,” Feldman told mlb.com. “It’s cool to be a part of all this. Everybody wants to be in this situation.”
Last season was another story. Feldman had a rough year and was left off the team’s postseason roster as the Rangers advanced to the World Series, losing four games to one to the San Francisco Giants.
Feldman attended Burlingame High School and then played for the College of San Mateo. He grew up in Burlingame, where his family belonged to Peninsula Temple Sholom for a spell (his father, Marshall, is Jewish; his mother, Joyce, is not).
Feldman is included on virtually all lists of Jewish major leaguers even though, according to his mother, he didn’t have a bar mitzvah or much of a Jewish upbringing.
Also, Feldman has a Jewish teammate in star second baseman Ian Kinsler, who hit 32 homers and stole 30 bases in the regular season and stayed hot in the first two rounds of the playoffs: one homer, four doubles, six singles, seven walks and nine RBIs in 10 games.