Horwitz joins list of Jewish major leaguers who hit safely in their first at-bat

When Toronto Blue Jays rookie Spencer Horwitz singled to right field in the second inning of Sunday’s game against the Texas Rangers, he became at least the 33rd Jewish player to get a hit in his first major-league at-bat.

We say “at least” because individual game play-by-play is not available for 19th Century and some early 20th Century games. Israel Pike and Sam Fishburn both hit safely in their first games, but we don’t know if those hits came in their initial at-bats.

Horwitz became the first Jewish player to get a hit in his first at-bat since Garrett Stubbs of the Houston Astros doubled against the Chicago Cubs on May 28, 2019.

Phil Weintraub of the New York Giants is the only player to hit a home run in his debut. He did it on Sept. 7, 1933 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. His first official at-bat actually occurred in his second game with New York. He walked as a pinch hitter the previous day.

In addition to Stubbs, the first hits for Fred Graf (1913), Lefty Weinert (1919), Alan Koch (1963), Brian Kowitz (1995), Dave Newhan (1999) and Rowdy Tellez (2018) were doubles.

Weinert, Koch, Moe Savransky, Izzy Goldstein and Sherwin Swartz were all pitchers who began their careers 1-for-1.

Norm Sherry of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit a two-run single in his first official at-bat, a day after being hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance.

On April 15, 1931, Alta Cohen of the Brooklyn Robins entered his first game against the Boston Braves in the sixth inning. While batting out of turn, he hit a single, but the Braves did not notice the mistake. Batting in his correct spot an inning  later, Cohen hit another single.

The other Jewish players who began with a 1.000 batting average after their first at-bat are Andy Cohen, Mike Schemer, Jim Levey, Eddie Turchin, Moe Berg, Jeff Newman, Al Silvera, Milt Galatzer, Ike Davis, Jimmie Reese, Ryan Kalish, Brad Ausmus, Eddie Zosky, Josh Satin, Mickey Rutner, Morrie Arnovich, Norm Miller, Danny Valencia and Fred Sington.