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The Jewish Sport Report: Talking Jews in baseball with ESPN’s Jeff Passan
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Good afternoon and happy Spring Training Opening Day!
OK, so the games don’t count, but Major League Baseball teams are playing today, and I, for one, am excited. So is Jeff Passan, ESPN’s senior MLB insider, who I spoke to this week as he traversed the Phoenix area visiting a number of big league camps.
Read on for our conversation — and sign up for our event Jews on First: A Celebration at the World Baseball Classic to see Jeff, alongside other exciting Jewish baseball experts and personalities, talk baseball and the WBC.
Jeff Passan on Hebrew school, Sandy Koufax and Jewish baseball history
Jeff Passan at his bar mitzvah, Oct. 9, 1993. (Courtesy of Passan)
Since joining ESPN in 2019, Jeff Passan has quickly become one of the most prominent and trusted baseball reporters in the industry. He constantly breaks news to his million Twitter followers and shows up across ESPN’s TV, radio and podcast shows.
But like many of us, Passan also grew up going to Hebrew School and looking up to Sandy Koufax.
So when it came time to interview Koufax for his book on pitchers and Tommy John surgery — which itself was an arduous process, as Koufax rarely grants interviews — Passan was, understandably, nervous.
“I was in awe the whole time,” he told me. “Generally speaking, when I’m talking to people, I’ll call them by their first name. He was Mr. Koufax.”
Passan also told me about his Jewish upbringing, finding camaraderie with fellow Jewish reporters and players and why he thinks Jews love baseball so much.
Halftime report
MACCA-SEE YOU LATER. The Yeshiva University men’s basketball team lost in the Skyline Conference semifinals on Thursday, bringing the Maccabees’ season to an end. The club had forfeited a crucial matchup last Saturday, citing inadequate warmup time after Shabbat. The no contest cost Y.U. a shot at the top seed.
SPEAKING OF FORFEITS. The Miami Catholic school team that had brawled with a team from a nearby Jewish school forfeited its semifinal game in a state soccer tournament last weekend. The school’s athletic director confirmed the decision was made due to the brawl, but he didn’t offer further details about the incident.
A SECOND CHANCE. Meyers Leonard, the NBA player whose career took a turn in 2020 after he used an antisemitic slur online, has signed a contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. Leonard has apologized numerous times — including in a recent interview with Jewish ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap — and has engaged with the Jewish community to make amends. The Bucks cited Leonard’s Jewish community work when they signed him this week.
BEST OF THE BEST. MLB Network has been slowly releasing its list of the top 100 players entering the 2023 season, and Max Fried (a fitting number 36) and Alex Bregman (24) both ranked fairly high. Both players also improved over their 2022 ranking (Fried was 48th; Bregman was 29th).
BOBBLE BABY BOBBLE. The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee — whose Jewish founder I wrote about in 2021 — has announced its newest bobble: Jewish Olympian Jason Brown.
IN OTHER JASON NEWS. Two-time All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis officially announced his retirement this week. Kipnis is now a practicing Roman Catholic, but his father is Jewish and he reportedly grew up self-identifying as Jewish. Kipnis once celebrated a home run with a “Hava Nagila” dugout dance.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN HOCKEY…
Zach Hyman and the second-place Edmonton Oilers face off against the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET. On Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, Adam Fox and the New York Rangers host the LA Kings, while Jakob Chychrun and the Arizona Coyotes play the Nashville Predators at 7 p.m. ET. Chychrun is expected to be traded imminently.
IN BASKETBALL…
Deni Avdija and the Washington Wizards host the New York Knicks tonight at 7 p.m. ET and face the Chicago Bulls Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET. Over in the G League, Ryan Turell’s Motor City Cruise, who have won five straight, play the Delaware Blue Coats tonight at 7 p.m. ET and the Raptors 905 Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
IN BASEBALL…
Spring Training games begin today — here is the full league schedule. The Boston Red Sox and new reliever Richard Bleier hosted Northeastern University for their annual exhibition game at 1:05 p.m. ET today. There are 17 games tomorrow (yes, there are only 30 teams, Spring Training is weird). Baseball is back!
A yeshiva wrestling tournament returns
The Henry Wittenberg Invitational Wrestling Tournament was held last weekend at the Frisch School in Paramus, New Jersey. (Courtesy Yeshiva Wrestling Association)
The Henry Wittenberg Invitational Wrestling Tournament, an annual competition sponsored by the Yeshiva Wrestling Association, returned for its 26th year last weekend after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
Hosted by the Frisch School in Paramus, New Jersey, the competition featured 120 wrestlers from a dozen schools in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Atlanta and Chicago. The host school won the championship.
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: Talking Jews in baseball with ESPN’s Jeff Passan appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Several Areas in Lebanon
Illustrative: Smoke rises after Israeli strikes following Israeli military’s evacuation orders, in Tayr Debba, southern Lebanon, Nov. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ali Hankir
The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in several areas in Lebanon on Thursday, adding that the strikes were in response to Hezbollah‘s “repeated violations of the ceasefire.”
An Israeli military spokesperson had earlier issued a warning to residents of certain buildings in the Lebanese village of Sohmor.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed terrorist group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations.
Lebanon has faced growing pressure from the US and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, and its leaders fear that Israel could dramatically escalate strikes across the battered country to push Lebanon‘s leaders to confiscate Hezbollah‘s arsenal more quickly.
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Pakistan-Saudi-Turkey Defense Deal in Pipeline, Pakistani Minister Says
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 17, 2025. Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have prepared a draft defense agreement after nearly a year of talks, Pakistan‘s Minister for Defense Production said, a signal they could be seeking a bulwark against a flare-up of regional violence in the last two years.
Raza Hayat Harraj told Reuters on Wednesday the potential deal between the three regional powers was separate from a bilateral Saudi–Pakistani accord announced last year. A final consensus between the three states is needed to complete the deal, he said.
“The Pakistan–Saudi Arabia-Turkey trilateral agreement is something that is already in pipeline,” Harraj said in an interview.
“The draft agreement is already available with us. The draft agreement is already with Saudi Arabia. The draft agreement is already available with Turkey. And all three countries are deliberating. And this agreement has been there for the last 10 months.”
Asked at a press conference in Istanbul on Thursday about media reports on negotiations between the three sides, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said talks had been held but that no agreement had been signed.
Fidan pointed to a need for broader regional cooperation and trust to overcome distrust that creates “cracks and problems” that led to the emergence of external hegemonies, or wars and instability stemming from terrorism, in the region.
“At the end of all of these, we have a proposal like this: all regional nations must come together to create a cooperation platform on the issue of security,” Fidan said. Regional issues could be resolved if relevant countries would “be sure of each other,” he added.
“At the moment, there are meetings, talks, but we have not signed any agreement. Our President [Tayyip Erdogan]’s vision is for an inclusive platform that creates wider, bigger cooperation and stability,” Fidan said, without naming Pakistan or Saudi Arabia directly.
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The Trump-Backed Palestinian Who Wants to Push Gaza’s Rubble Into the Sea
A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, Oct. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a US-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.
The appointment of the civil engineer and former deputy planning minister on Thursday marked the start of the next phase of US President Donald Trump‘s plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza.
Shaath will chair a group of 15 Palestinian technocrats tasked with governing the Palestinian enclave after years of rule by Hamas terrorists.
Under Trump‘s plan, Israel has withdrawn from nearly half of Gaza but its troops remain in control of the other half, a wasteland where nearly all buildings have been destroyed. Trump has floated turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Shaath will face the uncertain task of rebuilding the territory’s shattered infrastructure and clearing an estimated 68 million tons of rubble and unexploded ordnance even as Israel and Hamas continue to trade fire.
After past rounds of fighting with Israel, Palestinians in Gaza used war rubble as foundational material for the historic marina in Gaza City and for other projects. In an interview with a Palestinian radio station on Thursday, Shaath suggested a similar approach.
“If I brought bulldozers and pushed the rubble into the sea, and made new islands, new land, I can win new land for Gaza and at the same time clear the rubble,” Shaath said, suggesting the debris could be removed in three years.
He said his immediate priority was the provision of urgent relief, including forging temporary housing for displaced Palestinians. His second priority would be rehabilitating “essential and vital infrastructure,” he said, followed by reconstruction of homes and buildings.
“Gaza will return and be better than it used to be within seven years,” he said.
According to a 2024 UN report, rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes will take until at least 2040, but could drag on for many decades.
REBUILDING GAZA
Shaath, born in 1958, is originally from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. He previously served as the deputy minister of planning in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, where he currently resides.
In that role and others, he oversaw the development of several industrial zones in the West Bank and Gaza. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast.
Shaath’s upbeat assessment of the timeline for rebuilding Gaza is almost certain to face challenges as mediators struggle to agree terms on disarming Hamas, which refuses to give up its weapons, and deploying peacekeepers in the enclave.
It was unclear how Shaath’s committee would proceed with rebuilding and gaining permissions for the import and use of heavy machinery and equipment – generally banned by Israel.
Israel, which cites security concerns for restricting the entry of such equipment into Gaza, did not respond to requests for comment on Shaath’s appointment and plans.
Shaath said the Palestinian committee’s area of jurisdiction would begin with Hamas-controlled territory and gradually increase as Israel’s military withdraws further, as called for in Trump‘s plan.
“Ultimately, the [committee’s] authority will encompass the entire Gaza Strip — 365 square kilometers — from the sea to the eastern border,” Shaath said in the radio interview.
SUPPORT FROM HAMAS AND ABBAS
The formation of Shaath’s committee has won support from Hamas, which is holding talks on Gaza’s future with other Palestinian factions in Cairo.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the “ball is now in the court of the mediators, the American guarantor and the international community to empower the committee.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority has limited sway in the West Bank, voiced support for the committee, which he said would run Gaza through a “transitional phase.”
“We reaffirm the importance of linking the institutions of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza, and avoiding the establishment of administrative, legal and security systems that entrench duality and division,” Abbas said in a statement published on Thursday by the official WAFA news agency.
Israel and Hamas agreed in October to Trump‘s phased plan, which included a complete ceasefire, the exchange of hostages living and deceased for Palestinian prisoners, and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The deal has been shaken by issues including Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas operatives, the failure to retrieve the remains of one last Israeli hostage, and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt.
On Thursday, a senior Hamas figure was among seven people killed in a pair of Israeli airstrikes in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a Hamas source said.
The source said one of the dead was Mohammed Al-Holy, a local commander in the terrorist group’s armed wing in Deir al-Balah.