The Texas Ranger’s catcher, Jonah Heim, isn’t Jewish but only has a last name that makes people believe he is. The MLB player is more likely to be a Christian.
Heim isn’t one of those players who talks about his beliefs in the media. The baseball player has tried to keep his religious practices away from the public limelight, but he has been seen celebrating Christmas.
The Buffalo native, Heim, has previously shared several sweet photos of him celebrating Christmas with his wife, Mackenzie Heim, and their two kids.
The former Oakland Athletics catcher Jonah Heim has been impressive this season. He was named one of the best catchers, delivering 4.1 WAR over 131 games. Earlier this year, for the first time in his career, Heim was voted the American League starting catcher for the 2023 All-Star game.
Is Jonah Heim Jewish? Texas Ranger Player’s Religion
The MLB player Jonah Heim was speculated to be Jewish, but that was only rumors. Many baseball fans speculated Jonah to be Jewish because his last name had a “Jewish-sounding” ring to it.
But in 2021, the Jewish Baseball News’ X page (formerly Twitter) wrote that the player’s data suggested no links to Jewish roots.
They also confirmed that he was the case of a player with a Jewish-sounding last name. There are also players with “non-Jewish” names who are Jewish, such as Kevin Pillar, Rowdy Tellez & Danny Valencia.
And if he is Jewish, Jonah probably would’ve mentioned his religion and its role in one of his many interviews. But he hasn’t hinted he follows Jewish faith in his interviews.
On his Instagram handle, Jonah can be seen sharing posts celebrating Christmas and Halloween with his cute family. He also hasn’t shared any posts that could indicate he is a Jew or follows Judaism.
His wife, Mackenzie Heim, also looks like someone who doesn’t have Jewish roots, and there is more chance that the husband-wife duo probably practices Christianity than Judaism.
Jonah Heim Family Ethnicity
The Texas Rangers’ star player, Jonah Heim, comes from a White family native to Amherst, New York. The catcher, growing up, was a diehard Yankees fan and idolized players like Jorge Posada and Russell Martin.
In many of his interviews, Jonah has mentioned the strong support he received from his dad, James, from a young age. In 2020, James was expecting to receive a call from his son.
He was getting ready to hear his son say he had been traded for the third time. But that wasn’t the news James received, instead, Jonah delivered the biggest news of their lives.
After years of toiling in minor league, Jonah had been called up to the majors. After hearing the news, James said he couldn’t hold it in and cried. He also ran outside and started screaming, altering his neighbors.
In an interview with The Athletic, the father-son duo remembered the days when they didn’t even have enough money to buy a tee. They would buy a bucket of baseballs and practice at a community park.
There were doubts over Jonah’s career as Buffalo was a hockey town, not a baseball town, and not many kids from Buffalo made it far in baseball. But Jonah did.
To help his son financially, James would finish his day job and deliver pizzas at night to make quick money. Seeing his father’s sacrifice certainly motivated Jonah and helped him excel greatly in his career.
