{"id":67262,"date":"2022-04-29T09:50:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T14:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=67262"},"modified":"2022-04-29T09:50:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T14:50:48","slug":"orthodox-mlb-draft-pick-elie-kligman-has-a-younger-brother-who-could-follow-him-to-the-big-leagues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/orthodox-mlb-draft-pick-elie-kligman-has-a-younger-brother-who-could-follow-him-to-the-big-leagues\/","title":{"rendered":"Orthodox MLB draft pick Elie Kligman has a younger brother who could follow him to the big leagues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ROB CHARRY<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Some Jewish baseball fans know the name Elie Kligman, even though he\u2019s just a freshman in college. That\u2019s because last year he became one of the first two Orthodox Jewish players ever picked in a Major League Baseball draft.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_67263\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67263\" class=\"wp-image-67263 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-300x186.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-1024x634.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-768x475.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-1536x951.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-2048x1268.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/186;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67263\" class=\"wp-image-67263 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-300x186.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-1024x634.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-768x475.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-1536x951.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligman-2048x1268.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-67263\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ari Kligman hopes to follow his older brother in being drafted into the MLB. (Courtesy of Marc Kligman)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>But virtually no one knows about Kligman\u2019s younger brother \u2014 who has the potential to be as good or better than his sibling.<\/p>\n<p>Ari Kligman is now a high school senior, and while it doesn\u2019t appear he will be drafted this year, he is beginning to attract attention from a number of Division I colleges. (His brother Elie chose to refine his skills at Wake Forest University, after being drafted No. 593 overall by the Washington Nationals.)<\/p>\n<p>While Elie is primarily a catcher, Ari, who doesn\u2019t turn 18 until the fall, is sizing up to be a pitching prospect. He can currently hit up to 89 miles an hour on the radar gun, and by next year, he\u2019s hoping to top 90, to go along with a devastating curveball that could turn the heads of major league scouts. He joined his brother at the advanced Wake Forest pitching lab in the fall, to analyze his mechanics and make them more efficient.<\/p>\n<p>A main takeaway: gain some muscle weight. Most MLB pitchers these days are over six feet tall. Ari is now 6-foot-2, 190 pounds \u2014 after gaining 20 pounds over the past year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey say mass is gas. The more you weigh, the harder you throw generally,\u201d Ari told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.<br \/>\nAri and Elie are very close, born just 20 months apart. Their sibling rivalry is less hierarchical than some families.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very much a picking on each other kind of relationship,\u201d Ari said. \u201cThat\u2019s how I think we motivate each other. We make fun of each other. [But] we hope each other does really well.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In their offseasons, Ari pitches to Elie, and they dream of becoming only the second major league Jewish sibling pitcher-catcher battery \u2014 in 1960, the Dodgers\u2019 Larry Sherry pitched to Norm Sherry. (Since 1900, there have been four other sets of Jewish brothers in the majors besides the Sherrys, most in the earlier part of the 20th century: Sydney and Andy Cohen; Erskine and Sam Mayer; Lou and Harry Rosenberg; and Ike and Harry Danning.)<\/p>\n<p>But that won\u2019t happen on Shabbat. \u201cIt\u2019s not the way me and Elie do it. We\u2019re not going to play on Shabbos,\u201d Ari said.<\/p>\n<p>While the other Orthodox MLB draftee Jacob Steinmetz says he would play on Shabbat \u2014 after walking to a stadium and not using electricity \u2014 the Kligmans are firm in their decisions not to play from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_67264\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-scaled.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67264\" class=\"wp-image-67264 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67264\" class=\"wp-image-67264 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-26-22-kligmans-family-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-67264\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Kligman family, from left to right: Elie, Marc and Ari. (Courtesy of Marc Kligman)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Elie dresses for games on Shabbat and cheers on his teammates without playing. Ironically, his first at-bat this season came as a pinch hitter, just before sundown, on Friday March 4. His father Marc Kligman \u2014 a former college player in his own right, now a lawyer and sports agent who has represented a number of baseball players, most famously the former All-Star catcher Carlos Ruiz \u2014 happened to be there.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople thought he actually got his at-bat on Shabbos. It was close. I already put my phone away. I walked back in and they\u2019re like, \u2018look who\u2019s at bat.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018oh gosh,\u2019 but, it\u2019s still not officially Shabbos, it\u2019s in that 18 minute window,\u201d Marc Kligman told JTA. \u201cThey were ready if he got on base to have a pinch runner.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Elie has a support system at Wake Forest. A local Rabbi held a very late seder for him on the first night of Passover.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had a 7 o\u2019clock game against Clemson. He was at the game, and then Elie and one of his Jewish teammates walked back to the rabbi\u2019s house and basically made a seder at like 10 o\u2019clock,\u201d Marc Kligman said.<\/p>\n<p>While Elie has seen very little playing time as a freshman \u2014 Wake\u2019s senior starting catcher plays the vast majority of the games \u2014 his time to start could come as early as next season.<\/p>\n<p>Some day though, maybe by 2027, Ari says he believes that both he and his brother will be playing major league baseball.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you have a doubt, then it\u2019s just not going to happen at all. It\u2019s already a slim chance. You can\u2019t have a doubt,\u201d Ari said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Orthodox%20MLB%20draft%20pick%20Elie%20Kligman%20has%20a%20younger%20brother%20who%20could%20follow%20him%20to%20the%20big%20leagues\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":67263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1491],"tags":[12227,11504,8790,8795,3005,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67265,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67262\/revisions\/67265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}