Bob Melvin, Forgotten Man

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Brad Ausmus, who managed the Israeli national team’s bid for the World Baseball Classic, was named the manager of the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers announced the hiring of Ausmus, 44, on Sunday, making him the only Jewish manager in Major League Baseball. Ausmus was a catcher for four teams in his playing days.

And poor Bob Melvin wakes up today, with a cup of herring and his daily copy of the Jerusalem Post, and has to call his agent to find out if the A’s have fired him in the night. Because, according to Wikipedia, Bob Melvin is also Jewish. (More confirmation here.)

Which means that 2 out of 30 — almost 7% — of major league managers are Jewish, making us an overrepresented minority, and surely leading to a new line of MLB Bagel Bat Weight giveaways coming to a stadium near you.

Ausmus managed Israel’s World Baseball Classic team in 2012, and once wore tefillin.

Lynn Henning of the Detroit News writes:

[Ausmus is] Jewish, which will stoke a sense of kinship between Ausmus and the Tigers’ deep Jewish audience. In that context, there has been something of a void in the Tigers’ profile dating to the end of Hank Greenberg’s hallowed years in Detroit.

Because that’s why I root for a team: shared religion with team’s manager. Excuse me while I go check out the latest news about the 2010-11 Texas Legends of the NBA D-League.