Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 6, 2024

As Jacob Steinmetz prepared for his first international road trip as a professional baseball player last week, he had plenty on his plate literally.

The 20-year-old pitching prospect, who in July 2021 made history as the first Orthodox Jew drafted into MLB, was set to make his third start for the Hillsboro Hops, the Arizona Diamondbacks High-A affiliate in Oregon, as they traveled across the border to face the Vancouver Canadians.

But before he could take the mound on Sunday afternoon, Steinmetz had to work out where hed stay and what hed eat. Since joining the Diamondbacks organization, the team has ordered kosher food for Steinmetz and put him up in hotels near the field so he could walk to practice on Saturdays.

But in Vancouver, there werent any hotels within walking distance. And the team was concerned that the kosher food it usually orders for him from the Western Kosher supermarket in Los Angeles would get caught up in customs. So Steinmetzs family stepped in, helping him find local kosher restaurants and arranging an Airbnb near the ballpark.

The 6-foot-6 righty wasnt fazed by the logistical hangups.

I had a kind of expectation going in of it being much harder, Steinmetz said of being Orthodox in professional baseball. With [the Diamondbacks] putting all that together, and just being so open and honest about everything, and just so willing to adjust to anything I need, its been a lot easier than I could have ever imagined. Thankfully I havent had to stress out too much about anything.

Since being picked 77th overall in the 2021 draft, Steinmetz has been working his way up the many ranks of the Diamondbacks minor league system. He made 12 starts in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League in 2021 and 2022 before being promoted to Low-A last year, where he made 19 appearances with the Visalia Rawhide in central California. He also enjoyed a breakout moment in the 2023 World Baseball Classic with Team Israel, striking out three big leaguers while facing the powerhouse Dominican Republic.

Steinmetz said the initial buzz that accompanied his likely being the first Orthodox Jew to go this far in the minor leagues has begun to wear off.

I am used to it, so its tough to put it into words now, Steinmetz said. At first it was definitely very cool, and I think it might have been a little, not pressure, but I kind of wasnt taking it as seriously. But now Ive kind of been able to just focus on baseball.

Even as his uniform and zip code changes, Steinmetz has settled into a unique routine. The organization orders frozen kosher meals that are delivered to wherever hes playing that week, with a usual rotation including chicken tenders, spaghetti and meatballs and pulled brisket. He orders grape juice from Amazon Prime for Shabbat, and matzah for Passover.

And while the observance has entailed a bit of a learning curve for some of his coaches, Steinmetz said they follow his lead even if they do sometimes text him on Shabbat.

But theyre understanding, he said, about the times he needs to miss practice or a game because of Jewish religious restrictions.

Theres definitely some explaining being done, Steinmetz said. But at the end of the day, theyre just trusting me with a lot of it. And I dont take it lightly. Whenever I can be there, I try to be there. Whenever I have a little bit of a dilemma, Ill tell the coaches and theyll always say, Hey, whatever you need, dont worry about that.

Minor league teams, especially in Single-A, are often located in rural areas, far from any local Jewish communities or synagogues. Steinmetz sometimes does a quick Shabbat service by himself in his room, and while he pitched on Shavuot last month, he said he avoids playing on Shabbat or Jewish holidays whenever possible.

Being a pitcher who only has to start roughly once a week makes things easier. And he got used to these kinds of makeshift arrangements as a promising teenage player crisscrossing the country with his father, Elliot Steinmetz, the mens basketball coach at Yeshiva University.

Especially growing up playing in tournaments where we were kind of in the middle of nowhere, me and my dad, making Shabbos on our own, Ive definitely gotten used to it, Steinmetz said.

In the clubhouse, Steinmetz said his teammates occasionally ask questions about his Orthodox lifestyle particularly about the laws of kashrut and about Shabbat. And, of course, whether McDonalds has kosher food. (Outside of Israel and Argentina, it does not).

I just try to keep it as simple as possible, Steinmetz said. Ill kind of give them the basics, like what makes food kosher. Ill tell them its just how the animal is killed and how the foods prepared from that point on.

Steinmetz said his teammates have begun to catch on, and even teach each other.

There are some times when someone will ask whats kosher and one of my teammates will be like, Oh, it just means the animal is killed in a certain way, and the foods prepared in a certain way, he said. And then theyll look at me and theyre like, Right? And Im like, Yeah, thats pretty much it.

Steinmetz said some of his teammates hail from cities with sizable Jewish communities, like Miami or Memphis, and are used to seeing Jews walk to synagogue on Saturdays. But for others, Judaism is completely foreign.

There was a kid that I was pretty close with thats from the middle of nowhere in Indiana that hadnt met a Jew ever, Steinmetz said. So it was a little bit different explaining to him as opposed to some other guys.

Steinmetzs top priority, of course, is his game and thats improving. He started 2024 with Visalia, posting a 3.60 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 50 innings solid numbers for a starter before being promoted to Hillsboro on June 18. He had cut his ERA nearly in half from 2023, while drastically reducing the number of walks he surrendered.

Last year, I was kind of struggling with command, Steinmetz said. Even in outings where I wasnt walking a lot of guys, I was still falling behind in counts. I think this year Ive just gotten a lot more confident with all my pitches in the zone, so it kind of allows me to expand more off of that. Just get early contact, get early outs and go deep into games.

One of Steinmetzs closest friends in Visalia was his roommate Druw Jones, the 2022 second overall pick and the son of former MLB star Andruw Jones.

Hes awesome, Jones told JTA before Steinmetz was called up. Hes one of my best friends on the team. Just a good guy, a good guy to have around, good vibes all the time.

Jones, who grew up in a Christian home, said he would frequently ask Steinmetz questions about his Jewish upbringing and practice though he hadnt yet tried any Jewish delicacies.

On the field, Steinmetz proudly wears his identity on his sleeve or more accurately, on his wrist. He has an Israeli flag sewn onto his Rawlings glove and wears an Israeli flag headband under his hat. In addition to reining in his long hair, Steinmetz, who is not very active on social media, said the two accessories are his way of making his voice heard.

When people see my headband sometimes theyll be like, Hey, I stand with Israel, or Cool headband, stuff like that, he said. Its just kind of showing who I am and not hiding from it.

Steinmetzs family was in Israel on Oct. 7 to visit his brother, who was on a gap-year program, but baseball obligations kept Jacob from joining them. He returned home to Woodmere, New York, from Arizona on Oct. 6 and spent the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah with family and friends. Like many Orthodox Jews, he heard about the Hamas attack only after the holidays ended.

We obviously heard about it through shul, and nobody really knew what was happening until we all turned our phones on after, Steinmetz recalled. His thoughts immediately went to his family. I saw a text pop up that said they were fine, he said.

In the months since, Steinmetz said the Israel-Hamas war has rarely come up in conversations with his teammates.

No ones said anything outright antisemitic or anti-Zionist or anything like that, he said. Ive only heard words of support and stuff like that. It just isnt talked about as much.

Steinmetzs family watches his starts online and occasionally travels to see him pitch including an early June game in Rancho Cucamonga, California, where Steinmetzs father, grandfather and a handful of family friends made the trip for what proved to be his penultimate start with the Rawhide.

Its fun to watch your kids work hard at something and then succeed in it, Elliot Steinmetz told JTA. Watching him and knowing how hard he works at it, how much it means to him, and to see him out there, obviously enjoying it and getting better at it every day, it means a lot. Its awesome. Im proud of him.

Elliot said he attended two of his sons starts last year, and two so far this season. The Rancho Cucamonga start was the first in-person game of the year for Michael Steinmetz, Jacobs grandfather.

Its very special, Michael Steinmetz told JTA. Hes worked very, very hard for this. Hes always believed that he could do this and keep his faith and keep his observance. And hes working very hard to prove that, I think on both ends. Im very proud of him.

The elder Steinmetz also referenced fellow Orthodox athletes and friends of Jacobs Elie Kligman, who was drafted after Steinmetz in 2021, and Ryan Turell, the former Y.U. basketball star who spent the past two seasons in the NBAs minor league.

I think its great that hes first, that hes blazing a trail, that hes proved to people that we can do it, Michael Steinmetz said. Were regular people, and hes just trying to prove that.

Turell, who played for Elliot Steinmetz at Yeshiva, has also been to a few of Steinmetzs games, and the pair catch up occasionally in L.A., where Turell grew up. Steinmetz said theyve discussed their parallel paths as Orthodox professional athletes.

Ive asked him about it a couple times. It does sound kind of similar to me, Steinmetz said. Hes walking in the middle of nowhere and stuff like that. And obviously, its a little different and more difficult in the G League because theyre playing every day.

Back home on Long Island, Steinmetzs success has turned him into a celebrity of sorts.

When I got home in the offseason, and Id go to synagogue on Saturdays, theres kids coming over, just saying whats up, Steinmetz said. And kind of looking at me like Im some whatever, even though Ive been going to that same synagogue for 17 years.

But he gets why younger kids want to meet the Orthodox pitcher who could one day make the majors. He said, Its definitely cool for them to see that there is someone that does it.

Read the original post:

Jacob Steinmetz is the first Orthodox Jew to draft to MLB - The Jerusalem Post

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