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Only 2 Jewish players are in the baseball Hall of Fame. Who could join Koufax and Greenberg in Cooperstown?
(JTA) — Any Jewish baseball fan knows the names of the two Jews in MLB’s Hall of Fame: Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg.
But since Koufax got his Hall call 52 years ago to the day — when he became the youngest player ever elected, at 36 — exactly zero Jewish players have made it into Cooperstown. And that drought will stretch for at least one more year: No Jews appear on the 2024 Hall of Fame ballot, whose voting results will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 23, by the Hall’s Jewish president, Josh Rawitch.
Jewish players are actually pulling their weight, more or less, when it comes to making the Hall of Fame: Of the 20,532 players who have appeared in what is now known as Major League Baseball, 194 have been Jewish — a ratio of 0.9 percent. That’s not much higher than the 0.7 percent of Hall of Fame players who are Jewish — two out of 270.
Three Jewish executives — Barney Dreyfuss, Bud Selig and Marvin Miller — have also made the Hall. Two-time curse-breaking front-office maven Theo Epstein is a near certainty to join that group one day.
But for those eager to see another Jewish player inducted into the Hall, is there any hope? Is anyone worthy of joining Koufax and Greenberg in Cooperstown?
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency surveyed a number of Jewish baseball writers and experts — including the MLB’s official historian and multiple Hall of Fame voters — for their predictions. Read on to see what they said.
How to make it in
Sandy Koufax, left, and Hank Greenberg are the two Jewish players in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. (Getty Images)
For any baseball player, just getting onto the Hall of Fame ballot is an achievement.
To get a shot at the Hall, players need to have played 10 or more years in the major leagues. They must then pass a screening committee that filters out clearly under-qualified candidates (like Jewish veteran players Gabe Kapler and Jason Marquis, who didn’t make the cut in 2016 and 2021, respectively). Qualified players first appear on the ballot five years after retirement and can remain on the ballot for up to 10 years.
The ballot is voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, and to get into the Hall, a player must receive at least 75% of the vote. If he receives 5% or less, he’s removed from consideration in the future.
The last two Jewish players to appear on the ballot were Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis in 2019 and Houston Astros catcher Brad Ausmus in 2016. But the most recent Jewish player to receive any votes was Shawn Green in 2013, who got only two votes out of 569 ballots that year. One of the writers who voted for him, Jill Painter Lopez, cited his Jewish identity in justifying her vote. She did not respond to a request for comment.
Other Jewish players have had a shot in the past. Three-time World Series champion pitcher Ken Holtzman received votes in 1985 and 1986 but fell well short of induction. Lipman Pike, the first Jewish baseball star and one of the first professional baseball players ever in the 1860s-80s, received one vote in the veterans’ election in 1936, Cooperstown’s first year of voting.
The retired players with a chance
Ian Kinsler, left, and Ryan Braun are the next two Jewish players to join the Hall of Fame ballot. (Getty Images)
While no Jews are on this year’s ballot, one is on deck and another is in the hole.
Ian Kinsler, a four-time All-Star with a 14-year MLB career, is set to join the ballot next year. Ryan Braun, the former National League MVP with the most home runs of any Jewish player (352), will be on the ballot the following year, in 2026.
Kinsler — a former Team Israel player and manager who won two Gold Gloves for his defense and a World Series in 2018 with the Red Sox — is eighth all-time among second basemen with 257 home runs. By some metrics, Kinsler has a shot at a plaque in Cooperstown: He is 20th on sabermetrician Jay Jaffe’s ranking of second basemen by Hall of Fame worthiness, ahead of several Hall of Famers.
Braun, who spent his entire 14-year career with the Milwaukee Brewers, won the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year and the 2011 NL MVP. He also received six All-Star selections and five Silver Slugger awards for his offensive prowess.
Braun’s legacy was tarnished when he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and served a 65-game suspension in 2013. Other erstwhile all-time greats who were busted for steroids — such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens — have so far been denied Hall of Fame induction, an ominous sign for Braun.
But Braun, who sometimes went by the moniker “Hebrew Hammer” during his playing days, has gotten some recognition: He was recently chosen for induction into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
In the veterans committee category — where players who were not inducted on the ballot get a second look — Pike could be a candidate. He helped professionalize the sport and was one of baseball’s first sluggers. Pike led the sport in home runs four times (peaking at a grand total of seven home runs in a season — it was a different sport then) and finished his 10-year career with a .322 batting average.
What about active players?
Alex Bregman, left, and Max Fried are the top two Jewish players in the MLB today. (Getty Images)
Among players still on the field, Astros third baseman Alex Bregman and Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried are the best bets.
Bregman, the two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, has 165 home runs and a .274 batting average through his first eight seasons. He won the Silver Slugger in 2019, when he also came in second place in American League MVP voting. Bregman is additionally a decorated postseason hitter — he ranks in the top 10 all-time in postseason games, at bats, home runs, runs scored, total bases, runs batted in and walks.
A recent MLB.com article on “40 potential Hall of Famers we’ll see play in 2024” listed Bregman 17th, part of the third-ranked tier of players who are “well on their way.”
Bregman, who has been involved in the local Houston Jewish community, will also have to overcome an ethical asterisk on his baseball resume: the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, which tainted the team’s championship season.
Fried’s biggest hurdle may be staying healthy. When he’s on the mound, Fried is among baseball’s elite starting pitchers — MLB Network ranked him the ninth-best starter entering 2024, and he was ranked seventh the year before. The Los Angeles native grew up idolizing Koufax and is a Maccabiah Games alum.
In 2022, Fried posted a 2.48 ERA with 170 strikeouts and 14 wins, finishing second in the NL Cy Young Award voting and earning his first career All-Star selection. He won three consecutive Gold Gloves from 2020-2022 and the 2021 Silver Slugger — the last-ever pitcher to win the offensive award. Fried also helped lead the Braves to a World Series title in 2021.
What do the experts say?
If there’s one thing Jews and baseball fans both love, it’s a debate. We reached out to a number of Jewish baseball writers, some of whom vote on the official Hall of Fame ballot, to seek their predictions.
Here’s what they had to say.
Ken Rosenthal, senior baseball writer for The Athletic and a Hall of Fame voter:
I’ll go with Bregman. He’s not really on a Hall of Fame track at the moment, but he still has a chance to have a long, stellar career. And by the time he is eligible — probably 10 or more years from now — the sentiment against members of the sign-stealing Astros might be diminished. [His Astros teammate Jose] Altuve could be in by then.
Jonathan Mayo, reporter for MLB.com and MLB Pipeline:
As a Jewish fan of baseball, I wholeheartedly wish there was an obvious “next up” for Cooperstown. As someone who writes about the game professionally and analyzes it, however, I can’t see anyone who currently fits the description. Alex Bregman is having a very good career and Max Fried has had some very good seasons, but I think their ceiling is the “Hall of Very Good.” I love young players like Zack Gelof, and you should never say never (keep an eye on his brother, Jake, too!), but again, they don’t jump out as Hall-worthy type players. But that won’t keep me from wishing.
Bob Weschler, managing editor of jewishbaseballmuseum.com:
Of the current active players, Max Fried might have the best shot if he stays healthy. He’s a free agent next year, and signing with a media-saturated, successful franchise like the Dodgers could help his chances.
It’s too soon to consider Zack Gelof, who’s only played 69 games. Only 20 second basemen are in the Hall.
It’ll never happen, but Lipman Pike — the first home run champion — should be in the Hall.
If we’re talking non-players, Theo Epstein will be the next Jewish inductee.
Jayson Stark, senior baseball writer for The Athletic and a Hall of Fame voter:
Is Alex Bregman going to wind up Cooperstown? He’d be my pick from the current pool of active Jewish players.
He ranks top 10 in the modern era among all third basemen in a category I look at closely — park-adjusted, era-adjusted OPS+. And he’s an excellent defender who is still agile enough to play shortstop.
Seven full seasons into his career, he has never had a bad season. And he’s made an indelible impact on a team that has done nothing but win since he showed up. But now comes the hard part — his 30s!
He hasn’t reached 1,000 hits or 200 homers yet. So these next seven years are going to have to look a lot like his first seven.
But I’ve always believed you can’t be great at anything unless you aspire to be great. And it’s always clear that greatness is where Alex Bregman sets his bar.
Scott Barancik, editor of jewishbaseballnews.com:
No current or recent Jewish player has much chance of making the Hall, in my opinion. Ryan Braun is out due to PED use. Alex Bregman is a no because of Houston’s sign-stealing scandal. Active veterans lack Hall-level stats. As for newbies like Zack Gelof and Matt Mervis, it’s too soon to tell. The player with the best chance? I’d say Max Fried. But pitcher is by far the most competitive position in Hall voting.
Howard Megdal, author of “The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball’s Chosen Players”:
It is tempting to select Max Fried and his 2.66 ERA since 2020, but the counting stats may work against him, even with two top-five Cy Young finishes and three Gold Gloves by age 29.
Similarly, Zack Gelof’s OPS+ of 137 as a rookie was overshadowed by the Oakland Athletics’ team drama but remains one of the most impressive rookie seasons of any Jewish player. For comparison: Hank Greenberg’s rookie OPS+ was 119, Al Rosen’s 145.
But my pick for the next Jewish Hall of Famer is Alex Bregman. Through his age-29 season, he’s already collected 35.4 win shares, 19th all-time among third basemen through age-29. Most of the third basemen ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame — the third baseman just below him is the late, great Brooks Robinson. He’s consistent, he’s durable, he’s yet to post what anyone could consider a down year, and he’s got precisely the type of makeup and profile that should age well. (As Al Rosen proves, durability is as important as dominance when it comes to creating a Hall of Fame resume.)
There aren’t enough third basemen in the Hall of Fame. And Alex Bregman is a good bet to fix that.
Finally, MLB’s official historian, John Thorn, said he believed that no Jewish player aside from Koufax and Greenberg are worthy of entry to Cooperstown. Rather than offer a prediction — “my crystal ball works only in retrospect,” he said — Thorn shared his insight on why Jews love baseball.
“First, because in Europe outdoor play had been forbidden to their children,” he said in an email to JTA. “Second, because for an oppressed people it offered a window onto freedom and joy; and third, because it promised a level playing field from which heroes might emerge, like Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax … heroes who were like us.”
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Maccabi Tel Aviv Plays Soccer Game in Empty Hungarian Stadium Amid Security Concerns After Amsterdam Violence
Soccer Football – Europa League – Besiktas v Maccabi Tel Aviv – Nagyerdei Stadion, Debrecen, Hungary – November 28, 2024 General view before the match as the teams and match officials line up. Photo: Reuters/Bernadett Szabo
The Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv played a UEFA Europa League match on Thursday against their Turkish rivals Besiktas in an empty stadium in Hungary, which was closed to supporters likely due to security concerns following the recent attack on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam.
Maccabi won the match 3-1 in the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary, during the fifth week of the UEFA Europa League. Gavriel Kanichowsky secured Israel’s lead in the 23rd minute with a goal, but Besiktas struck back in the 38th minute with a goal by Rafa Silva to tie the score. Maccabi Tel Aviv took the lead again right before halftime by scoring another goal in added time. The Israeli club finished 3-1 with Weslley Patati’s goal in the 81st minute.
Groups of police patrolled outside the venue and the game concluded with no incident, according to the Associated Press.
On Nov. 11, days after the attack against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam, the European soccer body UEFA announced that this week’s match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Besiktas, which was originally scheduled to take place in Istanbul, would be moved to Hungary “following a decision by the Turkish authorities not to stage it in Turkey.” Hungary, which has hosted several home games for Israel’s national soccer team since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last year, agreed to host the match and UEFA said it “will be played behind closed doors following a decision of the local Hungarian authorities.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Zarko Lazetic said after Thursday’s match that playing in front of an empty stadium was hard for the team. “We play football because of the fans, to give them some pleasure, some excite(ment) and to be together,” he explained, as reported by the AP.
The match on Thursday was Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first game in Europe since its fans were violently attacked in The Netherlands during the late hours of Nov. 7 and into the early hours of the following morning. After the team competed against the Dutch club Ajax in a UEFA Europa League game in Amsterdam, anti-Israel gangs chased Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv through the streets of Amsterdam, ran them over with cars, physically assaulted them, and taunted Israeli soccer fans with anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian slogans such as “Free Palestine.” Five people were reportedly hospitalized for injuries.
Leaders in Israel and Europe condemned the premeditated and coordinated attack as antisemitic. Amsterdam’s mayor called the attackers “antisemitic hit-and-run squads” and said the assailants were going “Jew hunting.” Police in Amsterdam said they have already identified, investigated, and even arrested 45 suspects in connection to the incident.
The post Maccabi Tel Aviv Plays Soccer Game in Empty Hungarian Stadium Amid Security Concerns After Amsterdam Violence first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Preacher Slammed for ‘Appalling’ Remarks at Irish Memorial, Accusing Israel of Viewing Itself as a ‘Master Race’
A man walks past graffiti reading ‘Victory to Palestine’ after Ireland has announced it will recognize a Palestinian state, in Dublin, Ireland, May 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
An Irish cleric has come under fire for delivering an antisemitic memorial sermon in which he suggested that Israelis and Jews see themselves as a “master race” that justifies “eliminating” other groups “because they don’t count.”
Reverend Canon David Oxley delivered the sermon last week at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin during a Remembrance Sunday service attended by Irish President Michael Higgins and other high-ranking dignitaries.
Ironically, Oxley had previously revealed familial ties to the Nazis in a sermon delivered at the same event five years ago.
In last week’s remarks, Oxley contended that Israel’s war against the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza represented “the horrible blasphemy of the master race in action.”
“This takes different forms in different times and places, but it is the same horrible idea, that one group of people is intrinsically more valuable than any other. Once that is accepted, then the elimination of others follows as a matter of course — because they don’t count,” he said.
Oxley’s comments sparked strong condemnation from both Israeli officials and Jewish leaders in Ireland.
Israel’s embassy in Ireland said Oxley had “hijacked” the memorial service in favor of an “outrageous and dangerous … libel on the State of Israel.”
The statement published on X also said the diatribe was “divorced from reality” and “willfully ignored the complexities of the Middle East.”
Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder condemned the Anglican establishment for allowing such remarks, saying it was “an abrogation of moral and religious leadership that such a speech could be delivered by a representative of the Church of Ireland.”
“This type of inflammatory, hateful rhetoric has been used by politicians here countless times over the past year, and we’ve seen it constantly across mainstream Irish media. Now it’s gone beyond politics and journalism and is coming from a senior religious figure, a minister in a Christian Church,” Wieder told The Algemeiner.
“The anti-Israel narrative in Ireland now regularly spills over into overt antisemitism,” he added.
In an open letter addressed to Oxley, Wieder condemned the preacher’s “appalling” accusations.
“You fail to grasp the depth of offense invoked by suggesting that Jewish people have adopted the same murderous outlook that was perpetuated against them by the Nazis,” Wieder wrote.
He also slammed the Anglican cleric’s failure to make any mention of the threats posed by the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups, which “are explicitly committed to destroying Israel and murdering Jews.”
“You claim Israel has a policy of targeting schools, hospitals, and mosques, yet you fail to mention that Hamas purposefully positions itself within and beneath such civilian infrastructure — and they do so precisely because they know it will deter attacks against them. Hamas have openly stated that it is their strategy to place civilians in harm’s way,” the chief rabbi continued.
Wieder called the destruction in Gaza as well as the loss of life “an unbearable humanitarian catastrophe.”
“You and I are united by a desire to see an end to this heartbreaking tragedy. But the situation is also fraught with complexities, which cannot be ignored. Would it not be more honest to acknowledge this, rather than to proffer an simplistic and partisan perspective?” he wrote.
During a 2019 address at the same event, Oxley reportedly disclosed his wife’s ties to the Nazis, according to a report published this week by the British Jewish Chronicle, which cited an article published at the time in the Irish Independent.
In that sermon, also delivered in the presence of the Irish president, Oxley shared that his wife, Amalia, was German and that her family included members who fought for the Third Reich.
“It’s not everyone who can boast that their mother-in-law had Adolf Hitler as a godfather. It’s not everyone who would want to,” he quipped, before going on to praise the Irish citizens who opposed Nazism.
Oxley told the Jewish Chronicle that his comments, which did not represent the Church of Ireland, contained “no hatred” and he stood by them.
“In delivering my sermon, I speak only for myself. I do not speak on behalf of the Church of Ireland, or of St Patrick’s Cathedral. As our church does not believe in infallibility, it is quite conceivable that I am mistaken. No one is obliged to agree with me. However, I am prepared to stand over my remarks,” he said.
“There was no hatred in my sermon, except a hatred of all theories that make one group of people more valuable than another, so that some become expendable,” Oxley added.
A 2021 report by antisemitism researcher David Collier found that traditional Christian attitudes play a significant role in shaping antisemitism in Ireland, with Christian NGOs often playing a role in perpetuating and spreading these sentiments.
“[M]uch of the antisemitism in Ireland appears to be driven from the top down. Regrettably, this certainly seems to be the state of affairs at the moment. Words carry weight, and political and religious leaders in particular ought to remember this,” Wieder said.
He also condemned the Church of Ireland for not distancing itself from Oxley’s comments.
A spokesperson from St Patrick’s Cathedral told the Jewish Chronicle: “In St Patrick’s Cathedral we continue to pray daily for peace in all the countries of the Middle East. We pray fervently for an end to all wars and the human suffering that they bring. Everybody, of all faiths, is welcomed in St Patrick’s Cathedral.”
In Europe, Ireland has been among the fiercest critics of Israel since Oct. 7 of last year, when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded the Jewish state from neighboring Gaza. The terrorists murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and abducted over 250 hostages in their rampage, the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign in Hamas-ruled Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling the terrorist group’s military and governing capabilities.
Earlier this month, the Irish parliament passed a non-binding motion saying that “genocide is being perpetrated before our eyes by Israel in Gaza.” As the measure passed, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that the government intended to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) before the end of the year.
Around the same time, Ireland accepted the appointment of a full Palestinian ambassador for the first time, confirming that Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid would step up from her current position as Palestinian head of mission to Ireland.
In May, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, prompting outrage in Israel, which described the move as a “reward for terrorism.” According to The Irish Times, Ireland is due to have its presence in Ramallah in the West Bank upgraded from a representative office to a full embassy.
Israel’s Ambassador in Dublin Dana Erlich said at the time of Ireland’s recognition of “Palestine” that Ireland was “not an honest broker” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
More recently, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris last month called on the European Union to “review its trade relations” with Israel after the Israeli parliament passed legislation banning the activities in the country of UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, because of its ties to Hamas.
Recent anti-Israel actions in Ireland came shortly after the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (Impact-se), an Israeli education watchdog group, released a new report revealing Irish school textbooks have been filled with negative stereotypes and distortions of Israel, Judaism, and Jewish history.
Antisemitism in Ireland has become “blatant and obvious” in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught, according to Alan Shatter, a former member of parliament who served in the Irish cabinet between 2011 and 2014 as Minister for Justice, Equality and Defense.
Shatter told The Algemeiner in an interview earlier this year that Ireland has “evolved into the most hostile state towards Israel in the entire EU.”
Just last month, an Irish official, Dublin City Councilor Punam Rane, claimed during a council meeting that Jews and Israel control the US economy, arguing that is why Washington, DC does not oppose Israel’s war against Hamas.
The post Preacher Slammed for ‘Appalling’ Remarks at Irish Memorial, Accusing Israel of Viewing Itself as a ‘Master Race’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Candace Owens Barred From New Zealand After Facing Similar Ban From Australia for Comments on Jews, Holocaust
Right-wing political commentator Candace Owens speaks during an event held by national conservative political movement ‘Turning Point’, in Detroit, Michigan, US, June, 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
Right-wing American political commentator and YouTube content creator Candace Owens has been denied a visa to enter New Zealand because she was banned from the nearby country Australia, immigration officials reportedly said on Thursday.
Owens was scheduled to embark on her first speaking tour across Australia and New Zealand in February and March of next year. The tour includes a stop in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 28 and tickets remain on sale online.
Australia rejected her request for a visa last month. Australian Immigration Minister Tony Burke said the decision was made because of Owens’s past remarks, including her apparent denial that Nazis forcibly did medical experiments on Jews in concentration camps during World War II.
“From downplaying the impact of the Holocaust with comments about [Nazi doctor and war criminal Josef] Mengele through to claims that Muslims started slavery, Candace Owens has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction,” Burke said at the time. “Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else.
Jock Gilray, a spokesperson for New Zealand’s immigration agency, said on Thursday that Owens was refused an entertainer’s work permit for New Zealand because visas legally cannot be granted to someone who have been banned from another country, The Associated Press reported on Thursday. New Zealand officials did not refer to Owens’s past comments when announcing the denial of her visa.
Owens and the Australia-based promoter behind her speaking tour, Rocksman, have yet to comment on news regarding the ban from New Zealand but said in October that they will file a legal appeal to a federal judge in response to the ban from Australia. Owens commented on Burke’s decision to deny her a visa for Australia and blamed it partially on the alleged influence of the global “Zionist media empire.”
Owens, who has over 3 million subscribers on YouTube and hosts the podcast titled “Candace,” has promoted conspiracy theories and made numerous antisemitic comments about Israel, Jews, Zionists, and the Holocaust. She has also made controversial comments against Black Lives Matter, feminism, vaccines, and immigration.
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