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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.

Here’s the story.

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.


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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Jailed Iranian Peace Laureate Mohammadi Moved to Hospital in Tehran

A picture of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on the wall of the Grand Hotel in central Oslo before the Nobel banquet, in connection with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2023, in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2023. Photo: NTB/Javad Parsa via REUTERS

Iran’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has been moved to a hospital in the capital, Tehran, and has been granted a suspension of her sentence on heavy bail, a foundation run by her family said on Sunday.

Mohammadi, 54, won the ‌prize in 2023 while in prison for a campaign to advance women’s rights and abolish the death penalty. She suffered a heart attack two weeks ago.

Her family had called for her to be transferred from Zanjan, northwest of Tehran, where she was serving her sentence and where she had been initially taken to a hospital, so that she could receive better medical care.

She is now at Tehran Pars Hospital for treatment by her own medical team after being transferred by ambulance, the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said ⁠in a statement.

Mohammadi was sentenced to a new prison term of 7-1/2 ​years, the foundation said in February, weeks ​before the ⁠US and Israel launched their war against Iran. The Nobel committee at the time called on Tehran to free her immediately.

She ⁠had been arrested in ​December after denouncing the death ​of a lawyer, Khosrow Alikordi. A prosecutor told reporters that she had ​made provocative remarks at Alikordi’s memorial ceremony.

The foundation gave no details of the bail arrangements or suspension of her sentence.

“However, a suspension is not enough,” it said. “Narges Mohammadi requires permanent, specialized care. We must ensure she never returns to prison.”

Iran shut down most of the internet in the country in January as authorities suppressed mass protests triggered by economic unease. Rights groups have reported ongoing ⁠executions of ​people involved in the unrest.

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Israel’s Attorney General Calls to Cancel Netanyahu’s Mossad Chief Appointment

Israeli Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara. Photo: Twitter

i24 News –  Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told the High Court of Justice on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to appoint Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next Mossad chief must be canceled.

Baharav-Miara filed her position ahead of a Tuesday hearing on petitions challenging the appointment, telling the court that “substantial flaws” had been found both in the process conducted by the advisory committee and in the conclusions it drew. She said Netanyahu’s decision suffered from “extreme and blatant unreasonableness” and could not stand legally.

At the center of the dispute is the case of Ori Elmakayes, who was a 17-year-old minor when he was activated in 2022 by Division 210, without going through authorized intelligence channels. At the time, the division was commanded by Gofman. Elmakayes was arrested in May 2022 under espionage charges after two officers sent him classified information and told him to post it online as part of an “influence campaign,” despite not being authorized to do so. Gofman initiated this operation. Elmakayes was then held in full detention until July, spending an extended period under electronic monitoring and house arrest before the indictment against him was canceled in late 2023.

Baharav-Miara says Gofman’s involvement in leaking the classified information to the minor, “casts a heavy shadow on Gofman’s integrity and thus on his appointment to head the Mossad.” The attorney general also identified serious procedural failings in the advisory committee’s work. She notes that the majority members signed their opinion before committee chairman and former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis had written his dissent and before two members had reviewed several classified documents significant to the full picture. Grunis concluded that integrity flaws had been found and that it was not appropriate to appoint Gofman as Mossad chief.

The attorney general also says the committee failed to hear directly from Elmakayes or from a relevant senior military intelligence officer, instead relying in part on media interviews.

Netanyahu, who appointed Gofman to head the Mossad starting in early June, for a five-year term, submitted his own response to the court on this past Friday, arguing that the decision fell within his executive authority. The Prime Minister also said that his assessment of the matter was “dozens of times superior” to that of the court, adding that Gofman’s integrity was “found pure,” and describing him as the most qualified candidate.

Other coalition figures responded to the attorney general with sharp criticism, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir accused Baharav-Miara of fighting the state, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said her position was “one step too far” and vowed to advance legislation splitting the attorney general’s role in the Knesset’s summer session.

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Kuwait’s Army Says It Has Intercepted Hostile Drones Over Airspace

A drone is seen at an underground site at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on May 28, 2022. Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Kuwait’s army said it had detected and dealt with several hostile drones in the country’s airspace at dawn on Sunday, the latest incident following similar cross‑border drone activity linked to the Iran conflict.

On April 25, Kuwait’s army said two drones launched from ​Iraq had targeted ​two northern border posts, causing ​damage.

Its air defenses also dealt with a wave of Iranian drones on April 8 that targeted vital infrastructure.

While hostilities during the conflict have largely been scaled down since a ceasefire came into effect in April, drones have been launched from Iraq towards Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

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