Baseball, redemption, and one of the most charged symbols in human history — all wrapped into the story of a 21-year-old shortstop from Canada who found himself in the middle of a national conversation he never imagined he’d be a part of. Yankees rookie Core Jackson isn’t a household name, not yet, anyway, but after what happened in October 2021, he’s carrying a story that stretches way beyond the diamond.
A Swastika, a Dorm Room, and a Life-Changing Mistake
Imagine being a 17-year-old college freshman, blackout drunk, and waking up the next morning to discover you’d drawn a swastika — yeah, that swastika — on the door of a Jewish student you didn’t even know. That’s not a bad dream. That was Core Jackson’s reality in October of 2021, during his short-lived time at the University of Nebraska. Fast forward to 2025, and the New York Yankees — yes, the New York Yankees, a team loaded with Jewish coaches, executives, and one of the most loyal Jewish fanbases in sports — drafted this very same guy in the fifth round of the MLB Draft.
Now, before the pitchforks come out, here’s what you need to know: the Yankees knew. They knew before they picked him. And you know how? Because Jackson told them. He told every team.
Jackson, now 21, had transferred twice since Nebraska — first to a community college, then to Utah, where he started hitting his stride. Literally. He batted .363, showing off the kind of on-field talent that gets scouts paying attention. But when he sat down with the Boston Red Sox last year before the draft, he dropped the bombshell himself: the swastika story.
And like a domino, every team found out.
An Unlikely Mentor and a Brutally Honest Education
Jackson’s agent, Blake Corosky, admitted he almost dropped him right then and there. But something shifted when Corosky remembered another one of his clients — Jacob Steinmetz, an Orthodox Jewish pitcher. That connection would prove pivotal.
Enter Elliot Steinmetz, Jacob’s father and the basketball coach at Yeshiva University in New York — a school as Jewish as it gets. Rather than turning his back, Steinmetz saw an opportunity: educate the kid. Provide him with the historical context, the emotional weight, and the human side of what that symbol truly means. And according to everyone involved? Jackson took it seriously.
We’re talking about a five-week curriculum, video modules, weekly hour-long sessions with a graduate student, and regular check-ins. Even Steinmetz himself — the guy you’d expect to be the most skeptical — admitted Jackson wasn’t some closet bigot. Just, in his words, “dumb as rocks” when it came to this kind of stuff.
A Deep Dive by the Yankees and a Second Chance Earned
But it didn’t stop there. The Yankees didn’t just take someone’s word for it. They launched what Damon Oppenheimer, the scouting director, called the most thorough background check of his career. And yes, that’s including multiple conversations with Jewish voices inside and outside the organization.
And let’s be clear — Jackson paid a price. He went undrafted in 2024. His 2025 signing bonus was slashed by more than half. He’s not out there living like a golden boy. He’s working, playing in the minors, and trying to improve.
It’s not about excusing what he did. It’s about the hard, messy business of owning up to something awful, facing it head-on, and putting in the work — real, uncomfortable, sustained work — to be better.
Now, some fans won’t forgive him. Some will say the Yankees made a mistake. And those feelings are valid.
But if Jackson proves anything, it’s that sometimes people really can change. Whether baseball fans believe it is a whole other story.
