They say that in the spring a young man’s fancy turns to baseball. I guess if you’re a Jewish man, your fancy might turn to Jewish ballplayers.
Mine sometimes does, which is why I felt an update on Brian Horwitz would be in order.
Horwitz, you might remember, got called up to the San Francisco Giants last May and made quite a splash, hitting two homers in his first 14 major league at-bats and batting .429 through eight games.
Not only did j. do a big feature story on him – playing up the nickname his teammates had foisted upon him, “The Rabbi” – but so did the San Francisco Chronicle. Then several other Jewish newspapers around the country picked up my j. article about him -- holy moly, were we seeing the rise of a new Jewish star?
Uh, no. A shaky-at-best defensive outfielder to start with, Horwitz then went into a slump at the plate and eventually got sent back down to the minors in Fresno in July, where he stayed the rest of the season. In September, his career took an even bigger hit when the Giants removed him from their 40-man roster.
This year in spring training, Horwitz, who turned 26 in November, played in a few games for the Giants, but basically his ticket was written: He is back with the Fresno Grizzlies in Triple-A.
Through the middle of this week, he was hitting.250 with one home run and four RBIs in 10 games for the Grizzlies. That’s pretty paltry compared to what he did with Fresno in the early part of last season: he was hitting .294 when the Giants called him up at the end of May. (Click on Horwitz here to see his updated 2009 stats).
He’s experiencing the same woe that afflicted him last year when he was with the Giants: He’s struggling to hit right-handed pitching, batting a mere .125 against righties compared to .313 against lefties. Read an article from late last season that summed up his 2008 campaign (click here).
Horwitz played in 21 games for the Giants last year, which might well end up being his full major league career. During spring training, a Giants beat writer told me that Horwitz is a nice kid, but his day in the sun has come and gone. He also said that Horwitz tried to get him to invest in a "pyramid scheme" that Brian is running. I'm not saying it is or isn't - I don't know anything about it - but you can check out Brian and his wife's (pictured) business endeavor if you really want to (click here). Disclaimer: You're on your own after you click! Make sure you read the bottom part.
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He also said that Horwitz tried to get him to invest in a "pyramid scheme" that Brian is running. I'm not saying it is or isn't - I don't know anything about it - but you can check out Brian and his wife's (pictured) business endeavor if you really want to