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A Jewish First in the World Series Almost Just Happened

In the 8th inning of Game 5 of the World Series an incredible moment almost occurred. The relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, Ryan Sherriff, almost ended up pitching to the left fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Joc Pederson. In itself it's not impressive, until you realize that both players not only are Jewish, but have played on the Israel National Team. If they do manage to square off against each other, it will almost certainly be the first time ever that a Jewish pitcher and Jewish batter have faced each other in the World Series.



For more on the incredible Jewish backgrounds of both players, click here:


As a tour guide of Israel and a huge baseball fan, this was an incredibly exciting potential moment. It's the next best thing to watching the Israel national baseball team play in the Olympics (Israel has qualified, but of course the Olympics were postponed). For more on that click here: https://www.jpost.com/premium/meet-israels-baseball-team-heading-to-2020-olympics-613646



It's actually been a crazy time for Israelis in baseball and sports in general.


In this shortened season, two Israelis, Ryan Lavarnway and Dean Kremer (both of whom have played for the national team), made it to the major leagues for the first time. Pederson and Sherriff are Jews, but do not have Israeli citizenship (though they are allowed to play for the Israel team). For more on that incredible story, click here: https://www.tourguideofisrael.com/post/2020-the-year-israelis-took-over-major-league-baseball


For the first-time ever an Israeli cyclist competed in the Tour de France. https://www.tourguideofisrael.com/post/first-israeli-cyclist-ever-to-compete-in-the-tour-de-france


Just a few weeks ago, two players with Israeli citizenship - including one who played for the national team - won the WNBA championship with the Seattle Storm. https://www.tourguideofisrael.com/post/two-israeli-players-just-won-the-wnba-championship


Former NBA All-Star Ama're Stoudemire finally officially converted to Judaism. https://www.tourguideofisrael.com/post/mazal-tov-ama-re-stoudemire-officially-converts-to-judaism


And later this month, Deni Avdija is expected to be the first-ever Israeli to be selected in the NBA draft lottery


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