An observant Orthodox Jew may soon be drafted by Major League Baseball, a novelty for the sport.
The New York Post reported that 17-year-old Long Island native Jacob Steinmetz is projected to be picked in the MLB draft on Sunday evening in rounds 3-7. Baseball America ranks him No. 181 in this draft class and he’s already landed a scholarship to Fordham University.
But what most sets the 6-foot-6, 224 pound ace apart from his peers on the mound is openly observing Shabbat and keeping kosher as a practicing Orthodox Jew.Soon, the graduate of Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway could make history as the first MLB player to travel with kosher food in a cooler.
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Balancing religion with baseball hasn’t always come easy for Steinmetz, The Post noted. When he first became passionate about the sport at age 11, he learned quickly that most hotels don’t offer kosher food and that walks to games between sundown on Friday and nightfall on Saturday – when he can’t ride in a car – could be lengthy.
But Steinmetz told The Post that being observant has never been frustrating to him. Rather, he said, it makes him who he is.
