By Scott Barancik, Editor

Nearly 148 seasons after Lip Pike hit the first Jewish home run, a new milestone was set last night.

Ryan Braun’s 428-foot, 1st-inning bomb tied the record established in 2016, when six Jewish players combined for a total of 115 home runs.

Later Friday evening, rookie Rowdy Tellez’s 396-foot moonshot set a new benchmark with #116.

Braun wasn’t done, however. His 8th-inning jack proved to be the game-winner for the playoff-bound Milwaukee Brewers and brought the Jewish total to 117, with 1-2 games left in the regular season.

It’s been a team effort. Eight Jewish players have homered in 2018, with five reaching double-digits and a sixth, Danny Valencia, stroking nine before being released by Baltimore in mid-August.

Until recently, Alex Bregman — who leads all Jewish players with 31 HRs — seemed the player most likely to hit the record-breaker. But when his bat went cold several weeks ago, veteran Braun took over, hitting five longballs in his last four games.

Mazel tov, gentlemen.

Jewish HRs by season

(* Through games played 9/28/2018)

Year AB HR 1990 0 0 1989 0 0 1988 0 0 1987 0 0 1986 0 0 1899 4 0 1887 4 0 1902 9 0 1881 18 0 1985 22 0 1901 26 0 1903 27 0 1920 31 0 1882 41 0 1919 47 0 1991 51 0 1910 56 0 1908 58 0 1927 74 0 1895 74 0 1916 76 0 1918 81 0 1909 91 0 1911 92 0 1907 95 0 1906 99 0 1905 111 0 1904 118 0 1964 164 0 1976 238 0 1875 312 0 1917 433 0 1900 0 0 1898 0 0 1897 0 0 1896 0 0 1894 0 0 1893 0 0 1892 0 0 1891 0 0 1890 0 0 1889 0 0 1888 0 0 1886 0 0 1885 0 0 1884 0 0 1883 0 0 1880 0 0 1879 0 0 1984 63 1 1957 204 1 1874 234 1 1913 249 1 1876 282 1 1878 419 1 1965 237 2 1925 286 2 1983 132 3 1981 223 3 1959 302 3 1936 490 3 1921 637 3 1871 134 4 1958 225 4 1877 266 4 1873 285 4 1963 315 4 1924 355 4 1930 598 4 1942 680 4 1914 422 5 1926 614 5 1929 701 5 1923 949 5 1962 257 6 1982 263 6 1993 311 6 1912 524 6 1872 285 7 1915 436 7 1961 481 7 1922 576 7 1992 424 8 1931 898 8 1960 378 9 1977 395 9 1943 535 9 1975 714 9 1928 757 9 1932 1,160 9 1994 471 10 1941 809 11 1944 699 13 1967 752 13 1956 695 16 1978 875 18 1933 1,261 18 1980 851 19 1995 965 21 1974 1,221 21 1966 506 22 1979 793 23 1949 557 26 1996 1,322 26 1934 1,189 27 1948 579 30 1968 1,122 31 1973 1,705 34 1955 1,060 35 1971 1,335 36 1945 1,348 37 1947 897 39 1970 1,485 40 2003 1,805 40 1935 1,287 41 2005 1,641 41 1997 1,718 45 2013 2,006 47 1969 1,437 50 1998 1,527 50 1946 1,304 54 1940 1,471 54 1972 1,907 54 2006 2,414 55 1954 1,614 56 2014 2,295 56 1939 1,874 57 2000 1,991 60 1952 1,879 62 2004 2,045 63 1937 1,957 64 1950 1,194 65 2002 1,868 66 1951 1,902 69 2001 1,709 73 1953 1,710 77 2010 2,309 78 1938 2,456 81 2015 2,827 81 2007 2,444 84 2011 2,162 94 2008 2,223 100 2009 2,277 101 1999 2,089 102 2012 2,598 113 2016 2,783 115 2017 2,938 102 2018* 2,704 117

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