Mica Jarmel-Schneider and his grandfather

By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News

A different kind of Jewish baseball documentary is in the works, and its producers need our help to complete post-production work.

Got Balz? is the brainchild of San Francisco filmmakers Ken Schneider and Marcia Jarmel, whose son Mica is the focus of the film. Struck by the poverty of children he saw playing baseball with cardboard mitts and rag balls in Nicaragua, young Mica decides his Bar Mitzvah project will be to donate baseball equipment to the poor. His chosen beneficiary is Cuba, the country that sheltered his grandfather, an Austrian refugee, during World War II when the U.S wouldn’t.

The plot thickens when Mica’s plan runs into a logistical brick wall: the American embargo against Cuba. Got Balz? follows the boy’s 3-year battle to deliver the donated equipment, culminating in his visit to the island nation last month.

(Click here to see the trailer.)

“It started as just a short film to remind families and communities that a bar mitzvah is not about parties and DJs,” Schneider told the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California. “It’s an opportunity to look at what it means for a kid to start taking on some responsibility.”

The filmmakers and the not-for-profit Center for Independent Documentary are nearing the end of a 40-day mission to raise a final $40,000; as of this morning (5/8/2012), they had raised $26,720. To make a tax-deductible donation of $1 or more, click here.

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By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News

Mondays bite. So feed yourself something pleasing:

1. Add this name to our ever-growing list of players: Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Joc Pederson. Drafted out of high school in 2010, the 20-year-old outfielder wowed the rookie Pioneer League last year by batting .353 with 11 HRs, 64 RBIs, 24 stolen bases, and a .997 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) in only 266 at-bats. Now with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (High-A), Pederson is hitting .253 with 1 RBI in 31 at-bats this season. A tip of the cap to Ephraim Moxson for verifying Pederson’s lineage.
2. Aric Weinberg, whose mother hails from Tel Aviv and whose father is a former ESPN and New York Times sports reporter, signed a contract with the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association, an independent league. The 26-year-old outfielder is assistant coach of the Tarbut V’Torah baseball team in Irvine, Calif., which went 11-2 last season.
3. Washington Nationals prospect Danny Rosenbaum continued his extraordinary season with a 2-1, complete-game victory on Saturday (5/5/2012), facing just two batters over the minimum 27. A 24-year-old starter with the Harrisonburg Senators (AA), Rosenbaum saw his 28-inning scoreless streak end during the 6th inning, but you’d hardly know it by looking at his 0.81 ERA, 4-0 record, and strikeout/walk ratio of 27/3. Local news media variously described Rosenbaum’s Saturday performance as “sparkling,” “outstanding,” and “dominant.”
4. Leadoff hitter extraordinaire Ian Kinsler has scored 28 runs in the Texas Rangers’ first 28 games this season, putting him on pace for 162 if he remains injury-free. The only player since 1939 to reach that plateau is Manny Ramirez, who scored 165 with the Cleveland Indians in 1999.
5. San Diego Padres prospect Nate Freiman continues to dominate Double-A pitching in his first season at that level. The San Antonio Missions first baseman is hitting .313 (5th-highest in the Texas League) with 11 HRs (1st), 26 RBIs (2nd), and a 1.032 OPS (3rd/tie) in 115 at-bats.
6. Baseball America’s most recent Prospect Hot Sheet listed two Jewish players among last week’s hottest 13: Washington Nationals prospect Danny Rosenbaum (see above), and Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Jake Lemmerman, a 23-year-old shortstop who is hitting .316 with the Chattanooga Lookouts (AA). The same Hot Sheet described 6’7″ Padres prospect Nate Freiman (see above) as “monstrous” and a “man among boys.” Both Lemmerman and Freiman are Duke University alums.

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Kevin Youkilis (Providence Journal)

By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News

The Boston Red Sox placed 3B Kevn Youkilis on the 15-day disabled list yesterday (5/2/2012) due to a lower-back strain.

“The good thing is they know what’s going on and it’s nothing like a surgery or a major injury,” he told the Boston Globe.

Youkilis, who hadn’t played since April 28, has struggled at the plate so far this season. A career .288 hitter with a lifetime on-base percentage of .389, the 33-year-old Cincinnati native is hitting .219 with 2 HRs, 9 RBIs, and 20 strikeouts in 64 at-bats.

Injuries have been an unfortunate theme recently for Youk. In the past 3 seasons he played only 138, 102, and 122 games, respectively.

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Braun hits the first of 3 HRs (Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News

When Ryan Braun smashed three HRs against the San Diego Padres on Monday night (see video), Jewish baseball fans everywhere celebrated.

Here are a few more reasons to be proud:

• The Milwaukee Brewers right fielder is just the fifth Jewish player since 1918 to homer 3 or more times in a 9-inning game, and the first to do so in nearly 10 years.

Players with 3+ HRs in a 9-inning game, since 1918

• Hank Greenberg, who leads all Jewish players with 331 career HRs, never had a 3-HR game. He did hit two HRs in a game 35 times.
• Thanks to an added triple Monday night, Braun finished with 15 total bases. The last time a major-leaguer had 15 or more total bases in a 9-inning game? Nearly 8 years ago, when Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals hit 3 HRs, a double, and a single against the very same San Diego Padres (7/20/2004).
• Monday night’s game took place in a venue — San Diego’s Petco Park — that is unfriendly to HRs, though much more so to lefties than righties. As this article points out, the Padres as a team hit just 6 HRs in their first 14 home games this season. Braun matched half that number in just one game. (Thanks to Jewish Baseball News contributor Jack W. for the tip.)
• Monday’s performance vaulted Braun into a tie for 2nd-most HRs in the National League this season, behind Matt Kemp’s 12 dingers. The Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder finished 2nd to Braun in last year’s N.L. MVP vote.

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By Scott Barancik/Jewish Baseball News

My 8-year-old says Mondays are among her favorite days of the week because she has ‘running club’ after school. For the rest of humanity, Mondays can be hellish. May these tidbits make your day a little easier:

1. Washington Nationals prospect Danny Rosenbaum recently was named the Eastern League’s player of the week, and it’s no surprise why. Although the 24-year-old Harrisburg Senators (AA) starter barely registers a blip on Baseball America’s list of top Nationals prospects, he’s 3-0 with a 0.94 ERA and two shutouts this season and has struck out 18 batters while walking just two. Rosenbaum is adept at getting players to ground out. When he blanked the Altoona Curve last week, a local newspaper said Curve batters spent more time in the sand than former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff. If he continues to excel — Jewish Baseball News named him its top minor-league starter last year — Rosenbaum could be called-up to the Majors this September. Said Washington Nationals director of player development Doug Harris to the Washington Post: “We think he’s a major-league pitcher, without a doubt.”
2. In baseball, pitchers have a reputation for being introspective thinkers, engineers of their own mechanics. But Philadelphia Phillies reliever Michael Schwimer takes the cake. In an interview with FanGraphs — the chosen website for those who prefer here.
3. Not every Jewish player is so left-brained. Baltimore Orioles prospect Tyler Kolodny is known more for turning a wet tarp into a slip-and-slide, doing full splits to snare balls tossed in the dirt, and cutting-up for his teammates. See the full story here.
4. San Diego Padres prospect Nate Freiman is on another power-trip this season. After hitting 22 HRs and driving in 111 runs last year — good enough to earn him an honorable mention in Jewish Baseball News’ most valuable minor-league player award — the 6’7″ first baseman was moved up to AA ball, where he continues to batter the rawhide. Freiman leads the Texas League with 9 HRs and ranks 3rd in RBIs (18), eighth in batting average (.313), and 13th in slugging percentage (.699).
5. Also excelling early in 2012 is Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Jack Marder. Now in his second season with the High Desert Mavericks (High-A), he ranks 4th among California League players in batting average (.360), doubles (7/tie), and runs (18/tie), and  is tied for 7th in RBIs (13).
6. Research by Jewish Baseball News contributor Jack W. shows just how good today’s Jewish MLB stars are. Milwaukee Brewers RF Ryan Braun has the second-best career fielding percentage among left fielders since the statistic debuted in 1954. Among active players, the N.L.’s reigning Most Valuable Player ranks 1st in fielding percentage, 4th in slugging percentage, 9th in OPS (slugging percentage plus on-base percentage), and 10th in batting average. Texas Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler ranks 1st among active second basemen in range factor per game and ranks 6th in career stolen-base percentage of any player since 1951. Boston Red Sox 3B/1B Kevin Youkilis ranks 2nd among active first basemen in career fielding percentage and 13th among all active players in career on-base percentage.
7. Youkilis is no slouch when it comes to recognizability, but he recently married into New England royalty when he wed the sister of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Does that make him Julie Brady’s Giselle Bundchen? If you’ve ever seen Youk’s mug, you’d know he was no supermodel. But definitely a super guy. No word whether a Rabbi presided over the ceremony, though we kind of doubt it.

Have any good news about Jewish athletes and teams? E-mail them to sbarancik@jewishbaseballnews.com.

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