All Star Jews

As a Jewish guy myself, I couldn't resist passing this story along. With the all-star selections soon to be announced, there could be a first on the horizon: four Jews in the all star game.

"Ryan Braun, Kevin Youkilis and Ian Kinsler lead in balloting for the squads, and pitcher Jason Marquis had the most wins in his league through June 30, meaning the four Jewish players are favorites to earn invitations to Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game on July 14. It would be the first time four Jews were named to the event. “We’re in a glory time for Jewish baseball players,” said Howard Megdal, author of The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball’s Chosen Players."

When you consider that there are only 11 Jewish baseball players currently in the major leagues, having four Jewish all stars is pretty impressive. The obvious wild card in this scenario is Marquis, who is having a very good season with the Rockies and leads the NL in wins. The other three should be locks, but Marquis could potentially miss out on the mid summer classic.

For Jews everywhere, this a reason to be proud. We're generally not thought of as athletes, but maybe this is the start of a new perception for Jews in baseball.

Mazel Tov!