Baseball

To those of us who love the game, baseball is more than just a sport. It’s a lens through which we view the world and a training ground for learning valuable life lessons.

NEW YORK (JTA) -- Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun won his appeal of his earlier positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

The decision, announced on Thursday, means that Braun -- the reigning National League most valuable player and the first Jew to earn that distinction in nearly five decades -- will avoid a 50-game suspension.

Braun's suspension was overturned by an an arbitrator in what is believed to be the first time a baseball player has successfully challenged a drug-related grievance. No reasoning for the ruling was given.

Ryan Braun, the slugging outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, became the first Jewish Most Valuable Player in nearly five decades.

Braun, the son of an Israeli-born Jewish father and a Catholic mother, was named the National League MVP on Tuesday. He received 20 of 32 first-place votes and 388 points in voting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Los Angeles center fielder Matt Kemp was second with 10 first-place votes and 332 points.

It is a little surprising to look back on Shawn Green’s career in major-league baseball and realize that he played in all or parts of 15 seasons. It is almost as surprising to realize that he retired from the game at 34, only four home runs from surpassing Hank Greenberg as the most prolific Jewish slugger in baseball history. His lifetime batting average of .283 and 1,070 RBIs are also impressive achievements.

John Thorn had a busy month in March. His latest book, “Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game” (Simon and Schuster) was published, and he was named official historian of Major League Baseball. Which is not bad for a nice Jewish boy who was born in a displaced persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany. Thorn, who will turn 64 shortly after this week’s Opening Day, offered some insights into baseball and the Jewish-American experience in a telephone interview last week.

Q - With baseball’s spring training underway, I’m reminded of an incident from last season. Derek Jeter, one of the few superstars from the past decade not implicated in baseball’s steroid sample, was caught on video pretending to be hit by a pitch.

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