Gabriel Isaac Cramer (born November 1, 1994) is an Israeli-

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who is currently a free agent."Gabe Cramer - 2013 Baseball Roster,"
GoStanford.com. He throws a 99 mph

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

. He plays for the

Israel National Baseball Team The Israel National Baseball Team () represents Israel in international competitions. It is managed by Ian Kinsler. At the 2017 WBC, Team Israel came in 6th. In 2022, Israel was ranked 20th in the world. The Israel national baseball team compete ...

. As a high school player Cramer was Rawlings First Team All-California in 2012. He pitched for

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, and after his junior year in 2015 was signed by the Royals. Cramer pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. In October 2018, he became an Israeli citizen. He pitched for Israel at the

2019 European Baseball Championship The 2019 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by the Confederation of European Baseball. The 2019 Championship was held September 7–15, 2019, in Bonn and Solingen, Germany. The tournament contribu ...

. He also pitched for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, which Israel won to qualify to play

baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republ ...

in Tokyo.

Early and personal life

Cramer was born in Santa Rosa,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, to Corky Cramer and Paige Sobel."Gabe Cramer Stats, Highlights, Bio,"
MiLB.com. His parents had moved from

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, to Santa Rosa in 1992."Legacy News: Meet Paige Sobel and Corky Cramer"
''The Voice'', p. 8, October 2016. He is Jewish, and his family is a member of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa, where he and his brother Jake attended Hebrew school and had their

bar mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

s. In October 2018 he became an Israeli citizen, partly to help Israel’s baseball team make the

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. As of December 2019 he was working in New York City mentoring students at a college application consulting firm, as he trained for the Olympics.

High school

He attended Santa Rosa High School (2012). There, Cramer was a four-year varsity starter, 2011 Underclass All-America third team, 2011 All- North Bay League pitcher, led the North Bay League in strikeouts in 2011, was 2012 Santa Rosa High Scholar Athlete of the Year, 2012 North Bay League Rotary Scholar-Athlete, and was named Rawlings first team all-California region in 2012. In his senior season, Cramer suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament, or UCL, and had "

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

" (ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction) in which the torn ligament was replaced and reinforced by another ligament from his body.Spenser Linney (February 2, 2015)
"Concern with early youth specialization grows as 'Tommy John surgeries' increase",
''Peninsula Press'' Cramer didn't pitch competitively for over a year, as he rehabilitated his arm.

College

Cramer then attended

, where he majored in Science, Technology and Society."Cramer Signs With KC,"
GoStanford.com, June 8, 2015. He didn't play at all his freshman year for the Stanford Cardinal baseball team, due to his Tommy John surgery, and in 2014 he made only two appearances."High School Baseball Recruiting - Gabriel Cramer - Player Profile"
ESPN. In 2015 in 21 appearances Cramer tied for second on the team with three saves, as he kept opponents to a .257 batting average. He was named to the 2015

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

Baseball All-Academic First Team. He mainly threw a low-90s

, a changeup, and a curveball. During the summer of 2014 he pitched for the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast League, and during the summer of 2015 he pitched for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League. In the offseason of the Fall of 2016, he completed his degree.

Minor leagues

Cramer was signed by the Royals in 2015, following his junior year at Stanford University, as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He began his professional career in 2015, in the middle of the season with the Arizona Royals of the Rookie

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it fo ...

and the

Burlington Royals The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington ...

of the Rookie

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...

. In 2016, Cramer pitched for the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

, and in June of that year he was the team's Pitcher of the Month. For the season, he was 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA, and in 43.2 innings he gave up 38 hits and had 57 strikeouts, averaging 11.75 strikeouts per 9 innings."Gabe Cramer Baseball Statistics [2013-2017]"
/ref> He throws a 97 mph

.Ron Gloster
"North Bay pitcher to throw chai heat for Team Israel Baseball,"
''J'', February 2, 2017. In 2017, Cramer pitched for the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Class A+ Carolina League.Gabe Cramer Minor Leagues Statistics & History , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> He was 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA, and had 2 walks and 27 strikeouts in 13.2 innings, averaging 17.78 strikeouts per 9 innings. He spent 2018 on the disabled list with a torn

rotator cuff The rotator cuff (SITS muscles) is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles a ...

, and was released on November 1.

Team Israel

Cramer pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in March 2017."MLB players Ty Kelly, Sam Fuld commit to World Baseball Classic roster; Team Israel stated that it is finalizing its roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic in March in South Korea,"
''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'', January 20, 2017 In one relief appearance he pitched one scoreless inning. Cramer competed on the

Israel national baseball team The Israel National Baseball Team () represents Israel in international competitions. It is managed by Ian Kinsler. At the 2017 WBC, Team Israel came in 6th. In 2022, Israel was ranked 20th in the world. The Israel national baseball team compete ...

for qualification for the

."Four U.S. baseball players immigrating to Israel to join Olympics bid,"
''Haaretz'', April 7, 2019. He started one game and pitched in relief a second game as the team played in the 2019 European Baseball Championship - B-Pool in early July 2019 in

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultura ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, winning all of its games and advancing to the playoffs against Team Lithuania in the 2019 Playoff Series at the end of July 2019 for the last qualifying spot for the

.Scott Barancik (July 8, 2019)
">"For Israel, sweet victory; Long road to Olympic berth begins with triumph in Bulgaria,"
''Jewish Baseball News''. He was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, as in 6 innings he gave up one hit, two walks, and struck out 7 batters. He pitched for Israel at the

, starting one game and pitching two innings in which he gave up two earned runs. He also pitched for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, which Israel won to qualify to play

in Tokyo. In the tournament he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 3.2 innings."Pitching,"
olympicbaseball.wbsc.org.

References

External links

*Gabe Cramer
"Will the Real Brad Keller Please Stand Up?"
Fangraphs, June 12, 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cramer, Gabe 1994 births Living people Arizona League Royals players Burlington Royals players Jewish American baseball players Lexington Legends players Baseball players from Santa Rosa, California Stanford Cardinal baseball players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players 2017 World Baseball Classic players Israeli baseball players Canadian baseball players 2019 European Baseball Championship players 21st-century American Jews Jews from California