When it comes to baseball, I’m a Kansas City Royals fan (because of my husband and Paul Rudd), but I am now also a Toronto Blue Jays enthusiast.
That’s thanks to first and second baseman Spencer Horwitz (the team’s first Jewish baseman!) and to 97-year-old Holocaust survivor Irene Kurtz, who threw the ceremonial first pitch at a recent Blue Jays home game, a pitch that Horwitz, who was raised Jewish in Maryland, graciously caught.
Kurtz, a Holocaust educator who has written a memoir about how she survived called “The Sound of a Whistle,” was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1928. Her family was sent to the Warsaw Ghetto when she was 11, and her mother and sister were taken away during the selection. On the day of the Warsaw Uprising, Kurtz’s father hid her in a bunker as he left for work. She never saw him again. She survived two months in Majdanek before being sent to labor camps, where she was finally liberated in 1945. After the war, Irene made it to Palestine and then immigrated to Canada in 1953, where she met her husband, Jack, and had three children, and eventually six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Irene looked fierce as she threw that ceremonial first pitch, her hair and makeup impeccable and adorned with lovely jewelry. She wore a Blue Jays jersey on top of her very stylish red top, her last name and the number 18 — a number that stands for chai, the Hebrew word for life — printed on the back. When the time came, she angled her arm back and gave the throw her all, which Horwitz caught before rushing over to give her a big, powerful hug. Horwitz, 26, asked her if she wanted the ball signed, and of course she did. Once he was done, she went in for one more powerful hug from the Jewish player, who also played for Team Israel this past season (his jersey number for the Blue Jays happens to be 48, the year Israel was established). They then paused for some pictures with Ace, the Blue Jays mascot, who was incredibly enthusiastic throughout this moving moment, which I have been watching on repeat since last Monday.
Holocaust survivor Irene Kurtz threw the first pitch at the Toronto Blue Jays game.
But it's the 97-year-old's sweet moment with the Jays' Jewish first baseman Spencer Horwitz that captured my heart. He wants so many pics with her!
And no. Irene and I are not related.
But all… pic.twitter.com/ZaztOkbZ0g
— dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ (@DahliaKurtz) September 12, 2024
The Blue Jays were playing the Mets that night, and won by four points. The Media Relations Director of the New York team, Jay Horwitz, got especially close to Horwitz when he played on Team Israel, whose PR Jay is also in charge of. The two often joked about being related (they are not). Jay confused quite a few people when he continued that joke on X, previously known as Twitter, when he shared his congratulations to his “grandson” when Horwitz was promoted to the major leagues back in June of 2023.
Congrats to my grandson Spencer Horwitz on his promotion to the Blue Jays. A proud grandpa Jay. pic.twitter.com/0YnbGvTCrM
— Jay Horwitz (@Jay_HorwitzPR) June 16, 2023
Horwitz’s family has been instrumental in his baseball career. In 2018, when he had a panic attack while playing at the Cape Cod League, his mother, a nurse, helped him recover.
“My mom is my number one fan, and I love her so much and I would not be here without her,” he said in an interview. “She drove up to the cape that next day, came and picked me up and said, ‘Everything’s gonna be OK, we’re gonna get this figured out.’ [She] got me to the right people, right doctors, and I’m so grateful for her and love her so much.”
ICYMI Spencer Horwitz’s story goes beyond the field. After a panic attack in a game in Cape Cod League in 2018, Horwitz has been open about his mental health struggles. With his mom’s help, he’s thriving in MLB. His advice to those suffering? “You’re not alone” #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/OGoR5G2w64
— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) September 6, 2023
What a mensch! Congratulations to Irene and to Spencer, and thank you for giving us an unforgettable Jewish baseball moment.
