1st Israeli in Major League Baseball pitches a victory in debut
US-born Dean Kremer of the Baltimore Orioles throws the team to a 5-1 win over the New Yankees, hails game as ‘dream come true’
Dean Kremer, the first Israeli citizen in American Major League Baseball, marked his first game pitching for the Baltimore Orioles Sunday with a 5-1 victory against the New York Yankees.
The 24-year-old Stockton, California, native struck out seven in six innings pitched in his major league debut at Camden Yards Stadium in Baltimore and called his first major league game a “dream come true.”
Wearing the number 64, Kremer joined the Orioles in 2018 and is hailed as one of the organization’s top pitching prospects.
Orioles coach Brandon Hyde applauded Kremer’s performance. “Only allowing one run shows a lot about his character and composure,” he told the Baltimore Sun.
The Kremer Show. pic.twitter.com/69hfqkaEIb
— Baltimore Orioles ???? (@Orioles) September 6, 2020
Kremer was born to Israeli parents and had his bar mitzvah in Israel. He competed in Team USA during the 2013 Maccabiah games (the so-called Jewish Olympics) and helped the team take home the gold. He previously played for Israel’s national baseball team for three years and was also named the European baseball championship’s most valuable pitcher.
He became the first Israeli citizen to sign with a major league team in 2016 when he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but did not play in the major leagues until Sunday.
As the first Israeli citizen to sign with an MLB team, Kremer hopes his success story will inspire future baseball players in Israel, according to CBS News Baltimore.
Mazel Tov to one of our own, #TeamIsrael pitcher @DJ_KREY6 who will make his @MLB debut today! https://t.co/AjqLEQL87F
— Israel Baseball (@ILBaseball) September 6, 2020
“I was born here in the United States, but I go back and practically live [in Israel] for two months out of the year in the summer, so it’s definitely home,” Kremer told the Las Vegas Review Journal in February.
