arts&life
celebrity jews
NATE BLOOM
COLUMNIST
MAJOR LEAGUE HEBREWS
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The following Jewish players were on a
major league roster as of opening day,
2018: Richard Bleier, 30, Baltimore,
relief pitcher. He appeared in 23 games
with the Yankees in 2016 and pitched
well, but was in the minors last year;
Ryan Braun, 34, Milwaukee, outfielder/
first base. This six-time All-Star and
National League MVP (2011) had a
decent 2017 season, during which he
hit his 300th home run; Alex Bregman,
24, Houston, shortstop. Bregman had a
very good 2017 season, hitting especially
well in the second half. He turned in a
stellar performance in the World Series,
which the Astros won; Ian Kinsler, 35,
Los Angeles Angels, second base. Kinsler,
a four-time All-Star, had a weak bat in
2017 and was traded from Detroit to the
Angels in the off-season; Joc Pederson,
25, Los Angeles Dodgers, outfielder.
Always a streak hitter, Pederson saved
his major league career with a great
performance in the playoffs and World
Series; Kevin Pillar, 29, outfielder,
Toronto. Pillar had a very good hitting
season in 2017, with a career high
16 home runs; Danny Valencia, 33,
Baltimore, first base/outfield. The much-
traveled Valencia had an OK 2017 season
with Seattle. A free agent, he was signed
by Baltimore and earned a spot with
the club in spring training; Zack Weiss,
25, Cincinnati, relief pitcher. This rookie
came back from surgery on his elbow
late in 2016.
All these players have at least one
Jewish parent and identify as Jewish or
secular. I know the following players had
a bar mitzvah: Bregman, Pillar, Valencia
and Weiss. The others did not, with the
exception of Bleier, whom I am unsure
about. Pederson did play for Israel in the
World Baseball Classic. Weiss often posts
memes wishing happy Jewish holidays
on his Twitter account. Worthy of note:
Former major leaguer Gabe Kapler, 42,
who was a Tiger (player) rookie in 1998,
is now a rookie MLB manager. He just
began helming the Philadelphia Phillies.
Kapler managed the Israeli team in the
2013 World Baseball Classic.
CASTING NOTES
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54
April 12 • 2018
jn
Scarlett Johansson, 33, has reportedly
signed to co-star in the film Jo-Jo Rabbit,
playing a non-Jewish German woman
who is hiding a Jewish girl in her home.
Things turn dicey when her 10-year-old
son, a Hitler Youth member, discovers
her secret. The film is directed by New
Zealander Taika Waititi, 42, who also
plays the part of Hitler. Waititi, the son
of a Jewish mother and a Maori (native
Polynesian) father, has the “juice” now
Alex Bregman
Zack Weiss
Scarlett Johansson
Taika Waititi
to make any film he wants. He’s made
several films in New Zealand (comedies
and dramas) that made money and were
critical hits. He was tapped to direct Thor
Ragnarok (2017), a big-budget Hollywood
flick, a monster box-office and critical hit.
The plot is weird, but Waititi has
made weird work before. The young
boy invents an imaginary friend, Hitler
(Waikiki), a combination of his missing
father and Hitler, his idea of whom is
informed by Nazi propaganda: He is gen-
tle and semi-comic. The official film syn-
opsis says, “Waititi blends his signature
humor, pathos and deeply compelling
characters in a WWII satire about a boy
who, ridiculed by his friends and mis-
understood by his mother, struggles to
understand his place in fascist Germany,
resorting to an imaginary friend.” •