Sports 10 Jewish baseball players you've never heard of — including 2 Giants By Caleb Friedman, JTA Aug 12, 2022 Jewish (and many non-Jewish) baseball fans know the names and achievements of Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg, along with their hallowed status in the greater American Jewish history books. But they…
Sports Joc Pederson joins Team Israel for 2023 World Baseball Classic By Gabe Fisher Jul 19, 2022 Palo Alto High School graduate Joc Pederson, the San Francisco Giants’ outfielder starting in Tuesday’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game, will compete for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball…
Sports Biden is first US president to attend Maccabiah Games By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA Jul 15, 2022 Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to attend the Maccabiah Games, known also as the Jewish Olympics, on Thursday. The audience at the opening ceremony of the 21st Maccabiah games showered…
Sports Giants’ Jewish slugger Joc Pederson makes the MLB All-Star Game By JTA, J. Staff Jul 12, 2022 Joc Pederson, the San Francisco Giants outfielder and local Jewish boy, made the Major League Baseball All-Star game roster this week. He’s joined on the National League side by one other…
From the Archives In early 20th century, sports were measure of 'Jewish manhood' By Maya Mirsky Jul 6, 2022 Why don’t more Jews play sports? In 1911, that question was on the mind of Rabbi Martin Meyer, who favored the moral and physical virtues of a nice outdoor game. “While it may be sporadically noted…
Talking With ... Reporter heading to Maccabiah in Israel sees sports as ‘uniting force’ By Gabe Fisher Jun 16, 2022 Griffin Epstein, 21, grew up in Petaluma and is now a rising senior at Indiana University, studying media with a sports media concentration. The Petaluma native will head to Israel for the first time…
Sports Giants manager Gabe Kapler is skipping pregame national anthems By Philissa Cramer, JTA May 31, 2022 In the summer of 2020, Gabe Kapler, then in his first season as manager of the San Francisco Giants, joined figures across sports in taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police…
Sports All the Jewish Major League Baseball players we’ll see in 2022 By Jacob Gurvis, JTA Apr 7, 2022 After two pandemic-altered seasons, a three-month lockout and a truncated free agent frenzy, the 2022 Major League Baseball season has finally arrived. For Jewish fans of America’s Pastime, there…
Sports Jewish slugger Joc Pederson returns home to play for Giants By Michael Gutnick Mar 22, 2022 After the San Francisco Giants won their first World Series in 2010, a teenage Joc Pederson traveled with some friends from Palo Alto to attend the victory parade in downtown San Francisco — with…
Bay Area Two camps, two assistant directors, one case of brotherly love By Dan Pine Mar 14, 2022 Whenever the assistant directors of URJ Camp Newman and the JCC Maccabi Sports Camp, both Bay Area Jewish summer camps, bump into each other at a professional gathering, one of them might razz the…
Obituaries Death announcements for the week of March 4, 2022 By J. Staff Mar 4, 2022 Obituaries are supported by a generous grant from Sinai Memorial Chapel. Kenneth David Brenner Sept. 9, 1946–Feb. 14, 2022 Kenneth David Brenner, born Sept. 9, 1946, passed away on Feb. 14, 2022,…
Sports Gabe Kapler wins top baseball manager award after historic season By Jacob Gurvis, JTA Nov 17, 2021 Gabe Kapler, the Jewish manager of the San Francisco Giants, was named the National League Manager of the Year on Tuesday. In his second year at the helm of the Giants, Kapler guided a team with low…
Sports Giants ink Gabe Kapler deal through 2024 By Gabe Stutman Nov 15, 2021 Singing the praises of their 46-year-old Jewish manager, the San Francisco Giants announced last week they had extended Gabe Kapler’s contract by two years after an impressive 2021 season, his second…
Obituaries Obituaries for the week of Oct. 29, 2021 By J. Staff Oct 29, 2021 Obituaries are supported by a generous grant from Sinai Memorial Chapel. Howard Marc Block April 29, 1960–Oct. 10, 2021 Howard Marc Block, peacefully on Sunday Oct. 10, 2021, after a hard-fought…
Sports 3 Jewish baseball players could make or break the 2021 World Series By Jacob Gurvis, JTA Oct 26, 2021 The World Series is upon us, and there are likely more Jewish players in this year’s edition than there have been in decades. The American League champion Houston Astros, who ousted Chaim…
Sports Meet the 2021 inductees to the NorCal Jewish Sports Hall of Fame By Gabe Stutman Oct 15, 2021 The Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Northern California will induct five new members at a banquet on Oct. 24 at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco. Tickets, which start at $150, can be purchased…
Profile Before the Mission, Joe Eskenazi raked muck in Jewish S.F. By Eliyahu Kamisher Oct 5, 2021 Joe Eskenazi wanted a rare day off for Yom Kippur last month. He fasted and hoped to atone on the holiest day of the year, but then without public notice the San Francisco Board of Supervisors…
Editorial A happy distraction, a reason for pride at Tokyo Olympic Games By J. Editorial Board Aug 5, 2021 The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which conclude this weekend, will be remembered by Jewish sports enthusiasts for many things. First, for taking place in 2021 after being delayed a year due to Covid,…
Sports Team Israel’s Olympic baseball hopes ends after 9th-inning loss By JTA, Philissa Cramer Aug 3, 2021 Israel’s improbable quest for an Olympic medal in baseball ended Aug. 3 after the team, which features several former Major League ballplayers, fell in a close match to the Dominican Republic. Israel…
Celebrity Jews Bird waves the flag; Israel gets on a horse; Pink gets mad; etc. By Maya Mirsky Jul 29, 2021 Bird holds flag, Israel gallops in When the U.S. contingent marched into the stadium in Tokyo for the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, Sue Bird — the 12-time WNBA All-Star and Olympic gold…
Sports 12,000 Olympic pins: Inside a Jewish philanthropist's collection By Stephen Silver, JTA Jul 27, 2021 Sid Marantz loves tradition so much that he spent 20 years as a board member of his family’s Los Angeles synagogue. So it’s a big deal that he isn’t in Tokyo this week for the start of the Olympics,…
Sports Orthodox baseball prospect Jacob Steinmetz: ‘Why can’t I be the first?’ By Rob Charry, JTA Jul 21, 2021 If all goes well for Jacob Steinmetz, he could run into a kosher food problem in the near future. Steinmetz, a 17-year-old pitcher from suburban New York with a blazing fastball, made history on last…
Sports A record year for Israel at the Olympics? By Gabe Friedman, JTA Jul 20, 2021 Will it be a historic Olympics for Israel? The Associated Press thinks so. On its list of predicted medalists for each event in Tokyo published Monday, the news agency includes seven Israeli…
Sports Second Orthodox baseball player drafted into the MLB in 2 days By Gabe Friedman, JTA Jul 15, 2021 It has now become a doubly historic Major League Baseball draft. The Washington Nationals selected Elie Kligman with their final and 20th round pick on Tuesday, making him the second observant…
Sports Olympic baseball puts Israel's US players in touch with Jewish identity By Gabe Friedman, JTA Jul 14, 2021 In May, as the latest violent Israel-Gaza conflict heated up, Ty Kelly did something he could never do in any other professional baseball dugout: He turned to some teammates to learn more about the…