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Showing posts with label Major League Baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Major League Baseball. Show all posts

Is Ian Kinsler Jewish?

Ian Kinsler is a Jew. Ian Kinsler is a Major League Baseball player with the Texas Rangers. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers in November 2013 during the offseason in a trade that sent Prince Fielder to the Rangers.

Ian Kinsler's father is Jewish and Kinsler considers himself a Jewish baseball player.

Kinsler's mother is Catholic. According to Wikipedia, he has become a prominent figure in the Jewish community, and enjoys the attention that he attracts from it. He was featured in the 2008 Hank Greenberg 75th Anniversary edition of Jewish Major Leaguers Baseball Cards, licensed by Major League Baseball, commemorating the Jewish major leaguers from 1871 through 2008. He joined, among others, teammate Scott Feldman, Brad Ausmus, Kevin Youkilis, Ryan Braun, Gabe Kapler, Jason Marquis, Jason Hirsh, John Grabow, Craig Breslow, and Scott Schoeneweis. Kinsler was one of three Jewish players in the 2008 All Star Game, joining Youkilis and Braun. He says that "Youkilis will always say something to me on the bases [referring to the fact that they are both Jewish]. 'Happy Passover,' he'll throw something at me."

Kinsler, who would have been eligible to play for Israel in the 2013 World Baseball Classic because of his Jewish heritage, said: "Wow, I would be happy to play for Team Israel.... The truth is that if a proposal comes from Team USA to play for them, I will have a very difficult decision to make. Youk [New York's Kevin Youkilis], Braun [Milwaukee's Ryan Braun], and I could make a fantastic team. I am sure that I'll talk it over with Youk – we always laugh about things like this."

Kinsler married Tess Brady, his high school sweetheart, on November 18, 2006. Their daughter, Rian Brooklynn Kinsler, was born December 5, 2008.On June 8, 2011 Ian's wife gave birth to a son, Jack Jamisson Kinsler. He was put on paternity leave due to the birth.

In 2008 Kinsler won the Rangers' Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award, in recognition of his having devoted a great deal of his personal time to the community.

[Source: Rabbi Jason Miller in the Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-jason-miller/the-jews-fetish-with-jewish-baseball-players_b_3210313.html]