Gabe Kapler
| Gabe Kapler | |||
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Kapler with the Tampa Bay Rays
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| Outfielder | |||
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Born: July 31, 1975 Hollywood, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 20, 1998, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 14, 2010, for the Tampa Bay Rays | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .268 | ||
| Home runs | 82 | ||
| Runs batted in | 386 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Gabriel Stefan "Gabe" Kapler (born July 31, 1975) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder.
He played portions of 13 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Tampa Bay Rays. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weighs 205 lbs.
Kapler is Jewish, and to honor his heritage, has a Star of David tattooed on his left calf, with the inscription "Strong Willed, Strong Minded" in Hebrew, and the post-Holocaust motto "Never Again" with a flame and the dates of the Holocaust on his right calf. He describes his background as "culturally Jewish. ... I was—and am—proud of my heritage, but don't practice religion."
Kapler has been given the nickname Hebrew Hammer due to his frequent longball hits, along with his muscularity and the fact that he is Jewish. It later became the nickname of Ryan Braun, who is also Jewish, and was Kapler's teammate on the Brewers.
On September 27, 1999, the Tigers commemorated the closing of Tiger Stadium by wearing the numbers of greats from the organization's history. Kapler's jersey was blank, an homage to Ty Cobb, who competed before players received numbers. This was ironic, as Cobb was a notorious anti-Semite.
On August 8, 2005, while playing for the Red Sox, Kapler took the field in the 9th inning along with Kevin Youkilis and Adam Stern, setting a "record" for the most Jewish players on the field at one time in American League history and the most in Major League Baseball history since four Jews took the field for the New York Giants in a game in 1941.
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