Steinmetz and Kligman blazing a new path for Orthodox Jews in baseball
Jacob Steinmetz made history this week after becoming the first known Orthodox Jew to be selected in the Major League Baseball draft, when the Long Island native went in the third round, 77th overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
And then on Tuesday, it became a doubly historic draft for Orthodox Jews as the Washington Nationals selected Elie Kligman with their final and 20th round pick.
“I’m very excited to get to work and looking forward to the future,” the 17-yearold Steinmetz told The Jerusalem Post after being drafted.
The right-handed flamethrower from Woodmere attended the Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) and while he is slated to head to Fordham College following high school he still may sign with the Diamondbacks and begin his professional career. This past year also saw Steinmetz hone his trade at the Elev8 Baseball Academy in Delray Beach, Florida, where he was able to sharpen his skills while also raising his draft stock.
Steinmetz still has a long way to go until joining the likes of Max Fried, Alex Bregman and Joc Pederson, but being drafted moves him one step closer to his ultimate goal of one day taking to the mound of a MLB park.
Having been ranked at No. 121 by MLB. com, Steinmetz is said to have high quality pitches in his fastball and curve while throwing the former between 90-94 mph. The belief is that as he continues to grow the velocity will increase as well. Scouts are impressed with his delivery and think that he will be able to consistently find the strike zone with more reps and instruction.
At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Steinmetz is an imposing presence for any batter to face and heading to a Division I college will continue to allow him to develop his pitching skills. It was when he had his growth spurt, and the realization that the goal of being a Division I athlete was a possibility, that his confidence grew.
“I had a pretty good growth spurt in between ninth and 10th grades,” explained Steinmetz. “As 10th grade progressed I was pretty confident in myself and just growing and getting stronger naturally definitely
gave me a good boost. Once I had that it pushed myself to start working harder.”
Steinmetz played during the summer on travel teams, which allowed him to get the attention of colleges along the way and that’s exactly how he ended up in the Bronx-based school.
“The Fordham coach came to see me a bunch of times and then he gave me an offer for a scholarship after I went to another one of the camps and then I accepted it. I wanted to stay close to home, it’s an hour away from my house and that was definitely helpful. It seemed like it’s a great academic school, good athletic program, good baseball program that just won a conference here before. I love the coaches, the facilities. You’re able to get a campus feel there, even though it’s still in the city.”
Being an Orthodox Jew brings along a number of challenges and for athletes, those challenges perhaps will be even greater than for the average person.
Tamir Goodman, with the “Jewish Jordan” moniker, was one of the most famous observant Jews to play at a Division I basketball program when he plied his trade at Towson University back in 2000.
Goodman was originally headed to Maryland University, but the opportunity fell through due to his faith with games being played on the Sabbath, which falls out on Friday nights and Saturdays.
While keeping kosher, praying three times a day and following the many rituals and customs are in themselves something out of the ordinary, observing the Sabbath takes Judaism to an entirely different level of responsibility where one can’t drive or even use electricity.
“I don’t know if it’s a personal responsibility as much as it is a cool experience. I know for myself now that I’m one of, if not the only Orthodox Jew to be at this stage in baseball, or at the stage in a baseball career where there are D1 offers while also talking to MLB scouts. So it’s just cool for me that I’m able to realize I’m one of, if not the only one, and hopefully leading a path for other people.”
Steinmetz is still figuring out the details of how to make it all work.
“As for the Sabbath, that’s something that I talk to my parents about a lot. For Fordham that was one of the other things that went into it. They obviously weren’t able to guarantee it, but they told me that they would do everything that they could for me to be able to work it out. I’d maybe have to stay in a hotel on Friday and then walk to the fields if it’s not too far then bike to the fields. With kosher food, they said they’d figure out getting it for me which was great, so that definitely helped out with that choice.”
According to MLB.com, Kligman, 18, has moved towards becoming a catcher but has also played shortstop and thrown the ball 90 miles an hour as a pitcher. Kligman switch-hits as well, meaning he can bat righty or lefty, a skill that boosts his future value.
The Las Vegas native is also more observant than Steinmetz. While Steinmetz plays on the Jewish Sabbath – albeit in walking distance of his hotels on the road, so he does not have to use transportation – Kligman does not.
“That day of Shabbos is for God. I’m not going to change that,” he told the New York Times in March.
His father Marc is a lawyer and licensed baseball agent, and he represents his son. On Tuesday, Marc Kligman was traveling with Israel’s baseball team, currently on a pre-Olympics road trip full of exhibition games across the Northeast, when he heard the news. He shared it with the players on one of their buses.
The Times reported that Kligman’s recent switch to playing catcher could be in service of his professional goals. Even the best at the sport’s most physically demanding position are often given at least one day a week off – opening up the possibility that Kligman could line up his days off to be during Shabbat, from Friday night through Saturday evening.
Despite the excitement of being drafted, Kligman will likely look to first play at a Division I college program before a professional career, his father told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Here’s a kid who won’t put God second,” Marc Kligman told the Times. “But he believes that the two can coexist. He’s got six days of the week to do everything he can to be a baseball player, and if colleges and Major League Baseball aren’t inclined to make any changes, then we’ll take what we can get.”