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Hello and happy (almost) New Year!
Thanks for reading along this year! We’re so grateful to be part of this Jewish sports community with you.
Before we turn the page to 2025, let’s take one last look at the year that was.
The top 10 Jewish sports moments of 2024
L-R, top row: Jake Retzlaff, Quinn Hughes and Lindsay Gottlieb. Bottom row: Sam Salz, Jessica Fox and Max Fried. (Getty Images; Design by Grace Yagel)
2024 was a banner year for Jews in sports: Jewish athletes won medals and championships, broke records and blazed new paths in sport after sport across the globe.
From the Olympics to the NCAA, from the Super Bowl to MLB, here are some of our top Jewish sports moments of this year:
🥇 Jessica Fox wins two gold medals in canoeing at the Paris Olympics, becoming the only Australian Olympian in history with six individual medals.
⚾ Max Lazar strikes out Joc Pederson with Garrett Stubbs catching, marking the third-ever instance of a Jewish pitcher-catcher-batter combination.
🏈 Sam Salz made his debut for Texas A&M, likely becoming the first-ever Orthodox Jew to appear in a Division I college football game.
🏀 Lindsay Gottlieb reaches 300 career NCAA basketball wins after guiding the University of Southern California to a No. 1 seed in March Madness.
⚽ Yaniv Bazini leads the University of Vermont to its first-ever college soccer championship.
Tap here to see our full list.
Halftime report
TEXAS SLUGFEST. Veteran slugger and Team Israel alum Joc Pederson signed a two-year, $37 million contract with the Texas Rangers. In 2024, the 32-year-old exclusively appeared as a designated hitter with the Arizona Diamondbacks, posting a .275 batting average with 23 home runs and 64 RBIs. The Rangers will be Pederson’s sixth MLB team, and first in the American League.
PITT STOP. Pederson’s Team Israel teammate Spencer Horwitz also has a new club for next season — the 27-year-old was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this month. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo wrote about Horwitz’s arrival in the City of Steel for the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.
PITCHING IN. Believe it or not, a third Team Israel alum is also on the move. Alon Leichman, who in 2022 became the first Israeli to coach in MLB as an assistant pitching coach with the Cincinnati Reds, is moving to the same role with the Miami Marlins, where he will also be assistant pitching director. The Marlins, who lost 100 games in 2024, boast a pitching staff that includes Sandy Alcantara, who unanimously won the 2022 National League Cy Young Award, beating runner-up Max Fried.
SHOMER SHABBOS. Michael Neuman — an Orthodox athlete who forfeited his semifinal spot on NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” because filming conflicted with Shabbat — says he faced the same issue on the new Amazon Prime game show “Beast Games,” which comes with a $5 million purse. Neuman bowed out of “Beast” — in which 2,000 initial contestants competed in challenges that have drawn comparisons to Netflix’s “Squid Game” — this past summer due to Shabbat. Here’s the story.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend (all times ET)
🏒 IN HOCKEY…
Jordan Harris and the Columbus Blue Jackets face Jeremy Swayman Friday and Saturday, both at 7 p.m. Quinn Hughes, Max Sasson and the Vancouver Canucks host the Seattle Kraken Saturday at 4 p.m. Zach Hyman and the Edmonton Oilers face the Anaheim Ducks Sunday at 4 p.m. In the PWHL, Sam Cogan and the Toronto Sceptres host Aerin Frankel and the Boston Fleet Friday at 7 p.m. Abbey Levy, Elle Hartje and the New York Sirens host the Ottawa Charge Sunday at 1 p.m.
⚽ IN SOCCER…
Matt Turner and his Premier League club Crystal Palace host Southampton Sunday at 10 a.m. Turner hasn’t suited up since Oct. 30. Manor Solomon and his Championship squad Leeds United play Derby County Sunday at 12:45 p.m. Solomon scored his third goal of the season last Saturday.
🏈 IN FOOTBALL…
Michael Dunn and the Cleveland Browns host the Miami Dolphins Sunday at 4:05 p.m. Greg Joseph — who missed time last week because of the impending birth of his first child — and the Washington Commanders host the Atlanta Falcons Sunday at 8:20 p.m. Anthony Firkser and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10 on Wednesday. In the NCAA, Sam Salz and Texas A&M face USC in the Las Vegas Bowl tonight at 10:30 pm., while Jake Retzlaff and BYU play Colorado tomorrow at 7:30 p.m in the Alamo Bowl.
🏀 IN BASKETBALL…
Deni Avdija and the Portland Trail Blazers host the Dallas Mavericks Saturday at 10 p.m. Domantas Sabonis, who is converting to Judaism, and the Sacramento Kings face the Los Angeles Lakers Saturday at 10:30 p.m.
HBD, legend!
Sandy Koufax pitches during Game 7 of the 1965 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins, Oct. 14, 1965, at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
We can’t end this newsletter without wishing an early birthday to Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, who turns 89 on Monday. To celebrate the iconic lefty’s big day, we’ll be (re)listening to Vin Scully’s classic call of Koufax’s 1965 perfect game.
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