Israel national baseball team

Israel National Baseball Team
Information
Country Israel
ConfederationConfederation of European Baseball
ManagerNate Fish
WBSC ranking
Current 19 Steady (18 December 2023)[1]
Highest18 (2 times; latest in March 2020)
Lowest74 (December 2012)
World Baseball Classic
Appearances2 (first in 2017)
Best result6th (2017)
Olympic Games
Appearances1 (first in 2020)
Best result5th
European Championship
Appearances3 (first in 2019)
Best result2nd 2nd place, silver medalist(s) (2021)

The Israel National Baseball Team (Hebrew: נבחרת ישראל בבייסבול) 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 competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, where it beat Mexico and finished 5th. It also competed in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where it did not progress to the quarterfinal round.

History

In the 1970s American immigrants started playing baseball in Israel. In December 1986, the Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) was formed as a non-profit organization to develop baseball in Israel. Israel has baseball teams in all age groups from 10 to 30.

In 2015, Israel senior national team pitcher Dean Kremer became the first Israeli to be selected in the Major League Baseball draft.[2] He was picked by the San Diego Padres in the 38th round. Kremer opted to fulfill his college commitment, and play for the UNLV Rebels baseball team.[3] After playing for the Rebels for the 2016 season, Kremer was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 14th round of the 2016 draft.[4] In 2019, Kremer reached Class AAA for the first time, pitching for the Norfolk Tides of the International League. In 2020, Kremer made his debut for the Baltimore Orioles, becoming the first Israeli citizen to pitch in the major leagues.[5]

Prior to the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), Israel was the 41st-ranked national baseball team in the world (and ranked 16th in Europe).[6][7] After its performance in the 2017 WBC, in which Team Israel came in 6th, the team was ranked 19th in the world (and 4th in Europe).[8] The most recent ranking was released in 2022, with Israel ranked 20th in the world.[1] The Israel national baseball team that competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics was composed mostly of Israeli-American Jews, with four Israeli-born players.[9]

From left to right, former team manager Brad Ausmus, Shimon Peres, and Daniel B. Shapiro.

In 2019 Israel won the European Baseball B-Pool competition, with a 5–0 record. It then won the best-of-three 2019 European Qualification Playoff Series, with a 2–0 record. Consequently, it qualified for the 2019 European Baseball Championship 12-team tournament in Germany, where it came in fourth. As one of the top five teams in the Championship, it thereby moved on to compete in the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament. It won that tournament, and thus qualified to be one of six national teams that competed in 2021 in baseball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

At the Olympics in 2021 the team faced Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republic. Israel beat Mexico but finished 5th, after losing to the Dominican Republic 7-6 in the Round 2 repechage.

The team also competed in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where it defeated Nicaragua but lost to Venezuela and did not progress to the quarterfinal round. However, its win guaranteed it a spot in the following Classic. Among the players who played for the team were All Star outfielder Joc Pederson and starting pitcher Dean Kremer.

The senior national team manager is Israeli-American former Major League Baseball World Series champion, World Baseball Classic champion, four-time All Star, and Olympian Ian Kinsler.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of professional baseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.[10]

Legend

  Win   Lose   Void or postponed   Fixture

2019

Euro Championship Q July 1 Greece  7–14  Israel Blagoevgrad Field, Bulgaria
10:00 EET Boxscore Attendance: 75
Euro Championship Q July 2 Israel  11–1 (F/8)  Serbia Blagoevgrad Field, Bulgaria
10:00 EET Boxscore Attendance: 85
Euro Championship Q July 3 Israel  8–0  Bulgaria Blagoevgrad Field, Bulgaria
17:30 EET Boxscore Attendance: 50
Euro Championship Q July 4 Israel  13–12 (F/10)  Russia Blagoevgrad Field, Bulgaria
13:30 EET Boxscore Attendance: 60
Euro Championship Q July 5 Ireland  3–10 (F/7)  Israel Blagoevgrad Field, Bulgaria
10:00 EET Boxscore Attendance: 42
Euro Championship Q July 6 Israel  5–3  Russia Blagoevgrad Field, Bulgaria
10:00 EET Boxscore Attendance: 126
Euro Championship Q July 26 Lithuania  2–12  Israel Utena Hippodrome, Lithuania
14:00 EET Boxscore Attendance: 354
Euro Championship Q July 27 Israel  15–0 (F/5)  Lithuania Utena Hippodrome, Lithuania
14:00 EET Boxscore Attendance: 402
Euro Championship GS September 7 Czech Republic  1–6  Israel Weyersberg Park, Germany
12:30 CET Boxscore Attendance: 150
Euro Championship GS September 8 Israel  4–3  Sweden Weyersberg Park, Germany
12:30 CET Boxscore Attendance: 150
Euro Championship GS September 9 Germany  2–4 (F/10)  Israel Bonn 1, Germany
19:00 CET Boxscore Attendance: 500
Euro Championship GS September 10 Great Britain  4–7  Israel Weyersberg Park, Germany
12:30 CET Boxscore Attendance: 150
Euro Championship GS September 11 Israel  4–13  Netherlands Bonn 1, Germany
15:00 CET Boxscore Attendance: 250
Euro Championship QF September 13 Israel  8–2  France Bonn 1, Germany
11:00 CET Boxscore Attendance: 200
Euro Championship SF September 14 Israel  6–7  Italy Bonn 1, Germany
19:00 CET Boxscore Attendance: 1,000
Euro Championship 3rd September 15 Spain  16–11  Israel Bonn 1, Germany
15:00 CET Boxscore Attendance: 1,200

2021

Summer Olympics GS July 29 Israel  5–6 (F/10)  South Korea Yokohama Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT LP: Jeremy Bleich
HR: Ian Kinsler (1), Ryan Lavarnway (2) 		Boxscore WP: Oh Seung-hwan
HR: Oh Ji-hwan (1), Lee Jung-hoo (1), Hyun-soo Kim (1) 		Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics GS July 30 United States  8–1  Israel Yokohama Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT WP: Joe Ryan
HR: Tyler Austin (1) 		Boxscore LP: Joey Wagman
HR: Danny Valencia (1) 		Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics R1 August 1 Israel  12–5  Mexico Yokohama Stadium, Japan
12:00 JT WP: Zack Weiss
HR: Danny Valencia (2) 		Boxscore LP: Manny Barreda
 Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics R2 August 2 Israel  1–11 (F/7)  South Korea Yokohama Stadium, Japan
12:00 JT LP: Joey Wagman
 Boxscore WP: Cho Sang-woo
HR: Oh Ji-hwan (2), Hyun-soo Kim (2) 		Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics R2R August 3 Israel  6–7  Dominican Republic Yokohama Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT LP: Zack Weiss
HR: Danny Valencia (3) 		Boxscore WP: Luis Felipe Castillo
HR: Jeison Guzman (1), Johan Mieses (1) 		Attendance: 0
Euro Championship GS September 12 Russia  1–2 (F/10)  Israel Paschetto Stadium, Italy
20:30 CET Boxscore Attendance: 75
Euro Championship GS September 13 Israel  10–0  France Paolo II Palace, Italy
16:00 CET Boxscore Attendance: 50
Euro Championship GS September 14 Great Britain  4–11  Israel Aluffi Stadium, Italy
10:00 CET Boxscore Attendance: 40
Euro Championship QF September 16 Israel  3–2  Czech Republic Paolo II Palace, Italy
20:30 CET Boxscore Attendance: 80
Euro Championship QF September 17 Israel  11–5  Italy Paolo II Palace, Italy
20:30 CET Boxscore Attendance: 585
Euro Championship F September 19 Israel  4–9  Netherlands Paschetto Stadium, Italy
20:30 CET Boxscore Attendance: 570

2023

World Baseball Classic GS March 12 Nicaragua  1–3  Israel loanDepot Park, United States
12:00 ET LP: Jonathan Loáisiga (0–1)
 Boxscore WP: Richard Bleier (1–0)
Sv: Robert Stock (1)
 Attendance: 19,955
Umpires: HP – Maikol Tibabijo, 1B – Ron Kulpa, 2B – Tim Meyer, 3B – Andy Fletcher
World Baseball Classic GS March 13 Israel  0–10 (F/8)  Puerto Rico loanDepot Park, United States
19:00 ET LP: Colton Gordon (0–1)
 Boxscore WP: José De León (1–0)
 Attendance: 27,813
Umpires: HP – Ron Kulpa, 1B – Alejandro Pecero, 2B – Chris Guccione, 3B – Tim Meyer
World Baseball Classic GS March 14 Israel  0–10 (F/7)  Dominican Republic loanDepot Park, United States
19:00 ET LP: Jacob Steinmetz (0–1)
 Boxscore WP: Roansy Contreras (1–0)
HR: Manny Machado (2) 		Attendance: 33,307
Umpires: HP – Mike Estabrook, 1B – Andy Fletcher, 2B – Chris Graham, 3B – Maikol Tibabijo
World Baseball Classic GS March 15 Venezuela  5–1  Israel loanDepot Park, United States
12:00 ET WP: Jesús Luzardo (1–0)
HR: Eduardo Escobar (1), Eugenio Suárez (1) 		Boxscore LP: Robert Stock (0–1)
 Attendance: 18,277
Umpires: HP: Andy Fletcher. 1B: Ángel Hernández. 2B: Maikol Tibabijo. 3B: Alejandro Pecero

Current roster

2023 World Baseball Classic

Israel roster - 2023 World Baseball Classic
Players Coaches
Pitchers
 Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

 Manager

Coaches


[11]

Competitions

World Baseball Classic

Main article: Israel at the World Baseball Classic

2013 World Baseball Classic

Main article: Israel at the 2013 World Baseball Classic

Team Israel competed in the September 2012 Qualifier Round 1, in Jupiter, Florida, against Spain, France, and South Africa. Israel won easily in their first game. Israel then beat Spain in the winner's bracket. Spain then eliminated South Africa to earn a rematch with Israel, in the final game. Spain won the winner-take-all final game, 9–7 in 10 innings, to advance to the main tournament.

2017 World Baseball Classic

Main article: Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic
Team Israel wearing their kippot during Hatikvah before the game against Great Britain on September 22, 2016.

In September 2016, Team Israel competed in the 2017 Qualifier 4 round. Colorado Rockies coach Jerry Weinstein served as the manager.[12] Israel's roster included 20 MLB-affiliated minor leaguers, making up 86% of the team, more than any other team in the qualifiers even before including recent Major Leaguers.[13]

Israel won all three of their games in the qualifier, beating Great Britain twice and Brazil once.[14][15][16] With the win, Israel advanced to play in Pool A in South Korea in March 2017, against South Korea, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.[17]

Prior to the start of the 2017 tournament, ESPN considered Israel, ranked 41st in the world, to be the biggest underdog in the tournament, referring to them as the "Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC".[18][19] Israel began the round robin tournament with wins against world # 3 Korea and world # 4 Chinese Taipei,[20] and world # 9 Netherlands.[21] Team Israel's first round performance afforded it a spot in the second round, in Pool E in Japan, and ensured its participation in the 2021 World Baseball Classic tournament.[22] Ryan Lavarnway was named Pool A MVP.[23]

In the first game of the second round, Team Israel beat Team Cuba (world # 5) by a score of 4−1.[24] Israel lost the next two games, to the Netherlands and world # 1 Japan, and came in third in Pool E.

In 2018 a documentary was released entitled Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, which covered the experience of Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[25][26]

2023 World Baseball Classic

Team Israel will compete in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March 11-15, 2023.[27] It will play in Miami, Florida.[27] Israel will face Team Puerto Rico, Team Dominican Republic, Team Venezuela, and Team Nicaragua.[28]

American-Israeli Ian Kinsler, a former Major League All Star and two-time Gold Glove winner, and Israeli Olympian, will manage the team.[27] Among the players who have committed to play for the team are All Star outfielder Joc Pederson, outfielder Alex Dickerson, catcher Garrett Stubbs, and American-Israelis catcher Ryan Lavarnway, infielder Danny Valencia, and infielder Ty Kelly, along with prospects Matt Mervis (who in 2022 he led Minor League Baseball in RBIs and was third with 36 home runs), Zack Gelof, and Spencer Horwitz.[28][29] Pitchers who will be on the team include Israeli-American Dean Kremer, Richard Bleier, Robert Stock, Jake Bird, and American-Israelis Jake Fishman, Zack Weiss, and Bubby Rossman, while Scott Effross was slated to be on the team but injured his arm.[28][30][31][32]

Others who may possibly join Team Israel include All Star pitcher Max Fried, pitcher Noah Davis, pitcher Kenny Rosenberg, and outfielder Mike Moustakas.[28] Third baseman All Star Alex Bregman has chosen not to play in the WBC, first baseman Rowdy Tellez has chosen to play for Team Mexico, and Adam Ottavino has chosen to play for Team Italy.[28][33] Gold Glove outfielder Harrison Bader, outfielder Kevin Pillar, and pitcher Eli Morgan originally intended to play for the team, but at the end of the day will not play.

Brad Ausmus will be one of the team's coaches.[34] He is a former Team Israel manager, has managed in the major leagues for five years, and during his 18-year playing career won three Gold Glove Awards for his defense.[34] Kevin Youkilis will be the team's hitting coach.[34] In his 10-year major league career, he won two World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox, was a three-time All Star, and won a Gold Glove Award.[34] Jerry Narron, who in his 30 year career has been as a manager or coach with eight different major league teams and been the third base coach for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier, will also serve as a coach for the team.[34]

European Baseball Championship

Main article: Israel at the European Baseball Championship

2019 European Baseball Championship

Team Israel won the 2019 European Baseball Championship - B-Pool in early July 2019 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, winning all five of its games. It thus advanced to the playoffs against Team Lithuania in the 2019 Playoff Series at the end of July 2019 for the last qualifying spot for the 2019 European Baseball Championship.[35] Israel won the best-of-three playoff series 2–0, and thereby qualified for the 2019 European Baseball Championship.

In preparation for possible qualification by Israel to play baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 10 American baseball players made aliyah in 2018 in order to qualify under the citizenship requirement for the 2019 European Baseball Championships and the Olympics. The players were Corey Baker, Eric Brodkowitz, Gabe Cramer, Blake Gailen, Alex Katz, Jonathan de Marte, Jon Moscot, Joey Wagman, Zack Weiss, and Jeremy Wolf (who lives in Tel Aviv).[36][37][38] They were followed in 2019 by Jeremy Bleich, Ty Kelly, Nick Rickles, Danny Valencia, and Ben Wanger.[38][39]

In Round 1 of the 2019 European Baseball Championship, Israel went 4–1 (defeating world # 18 the Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, and Great Britain while losing to the Netherlands). The team thereby advanced to the Championship's eight-team playoffs, with Mitch Glasser leading all Championship batters in runs with 7, and Blake Gailen tied with Germany's Marco Cardoso for the lead in hits, with 8.[40] In the Championship playoffs, Israel defeated Team France in the quarterfinals, lost to Team Italy in the semi-finals, and came in fourth.[41] In the Championship, Joey Wagman led all pitchers with a 0.00 ERA over 10.2 innings.[42][43]

2021 European Baseball Championship; silver medal

At the 2021 European Baseball Championship held September 12–19, 2021, in Turin, Italy, Israel won the silver medal.[44] Third baseman Assaf Lowengart led the Championship with 13 RBIs and tied for the lead in home runs with four, second baseman Mitch Glasser was 5th with an on base percentage of .615, and shortstop Ty Kelly was 5th with seven walks.[45] Joey Wagman led the Championship with 18 strikeouts and tied for the lead with 16 innings pitched, and Ben Wanger tied for the lead with two wins.[45]

Olympics

Summer Olympics record Qualification
Year Round Position W L RS RA Event Position W L RS RA
Spain 1992 did not qualify did not qualify
United States 1996
Australia 2000
Greece 2004
China 2008
Japan 2020 Preliminary 5th 1 4 25 37 Africa/Europe qualifying Gold 4 1 34 11
Total 1/6 1 4 25 37

2020 Olympics

Main article: Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics § Baseball

Because Team Israel finished in the top five in the 2019 European Baseball Championship, it earned the right to participate in the 2020 Olympics qualifiers. That round robin tournament took place in Italy between September 18 and 22, 2019.[46][47] As the winner of that tournament it qualified to be one of the six national teams that competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The Israeli team started strong at the September 2019 Africa/Europe Qualifying Event, by defeating all three 2019 European Baseball Championship medalists - world # 8 Netherlands, world # 16 Italy, and Spain, before losing to the Czech Republic. In its final game, Israel beat South Africa 11–1 in a game that was stopped in the 7th inning due to the mercy rule. Team Israel won the tournament with a 4–1 record. It thereby qualified to be one of six national baseball teams that competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. First baseman/DH Danny Valencia batted .375 and led the tournament in runs (7), home runs (3), RBIs (9), walks (5), and slugging percentage (1.000), and starting pitcher Joey Wagman tied for the tournament lead with two wins, and led in complete games (1) and strikeouts (14) as he had an 0.56 ERA in 16 innings.[48]

Every member of the 24-member Team Israel that competed to qualify in the Olympics was Israeli, with four of the players native-born.[49] The others made aliyah to Israel, under Israel's Law of Return, which gives anyone with a Jewish parent, grandparent, or spouse the right to return to Israel and be granted Israeli citizenship.[49] Native-born Israeli team member Shlomo Lipetz observed:

"There is no other country like Israel that carries an identity as it does with Jews around the world. We’re not the only team here with citizens that don't live in the country. There were other teams like Spain that had 22 Venezuelans and two Spaniards. But they didn't have that connection. This wasn't just a group of people, All-Stars who came together. It was people who all had a Bar Mitzvah. We were joking around that everyone will post their Bar Mitzvah photo."[49]

Pos Team
 Pld W L RF RA RD GB Qualification
1  Israel 5 4 1 34 11 +23 — Qualification to 2020 Summer Olympics
2  Netherlands 5 4 1 26 15 +11 — Qualification to Final Qualifying Tournament
3  Czech Republic 5 3 2 26 17 +9 1
4  Spain 5 2 3 16 19 −3 2
5  Italy 5 2 3 23 25 −2 2
6  South Africa 5 0 5 8 46 −38 4
Source: WBSC

At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2021, Israel beat Mexico and finished fifth after going 1-4 and losing to the Dominican Republic 7-6 in the Round 2 Repechage.[50] The Israel national baseball team that competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics was composed mostly of American Jews who were dual American-Israeli citizens, in addition to four Israeli-born players.[9] Danny Valencia tied for the lead in the Olympics with three home runs, tied for second with six runs and seven RBIs, and had the fourth-best slugging percentage (.778), Ryan Lavarnway had the 5th-best slugging percentage (.700), and Mitch Glasser's .474 on base percentage was 5th-best at the Games.[51]

Past rosters

2020 Olympics

Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Israel roster
Players Coaches
Pitchers
 Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

 Manager

Coaches


2017 World Baseball Classic

Israel roster - 2017 World Baseball Classic
Players Coaches
Pitchers
 Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

 Manager

Coaches


International tournament results

World Baseball Classic

This section is transcluded from Israel at the World Baseball Classic#Record by year. (edit | history)
World Baseball Classic record Qualification record
Year Round Position W L RS RA W L RS RA
2006 did not enter No qualifiers held
2009 did not enter No qualifiers held
2013 did not qualify 2 1 18 14
South Korea Japan 2017 Round 2 6th 4 2 30 31 3 0 15 3
United States 2023 Round 1 16th 1 3 4 26 Automatically qualified
Total Round 2 2/5 5 5 34 57 5 1 33 17

European Baseball Championship

Main article: Israel at the European Baseball Championship
 European Baseball Championship record Qualification record
Year Host(s) Round Position W L RS RA Host W L RS RA
2010 Did not qualify Croatia 2 2 22 27
2012 Did not qualify Israel 3 2 39 16
2014 Did not enter Did not enter
2016 Did not qualify Slovenia, Austria 8 2 97 29
2019 Germany Semifinals 4th 5 3 50 48 Serbia, Bulgaria, Lithuania 11 3 129 48
2021 Italy Final 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 1 41 21 Automatic qualifier per 2019 European Baseball Championship position

Other competitions

European Under-21 Baseball Championship
Main article: European Under-21 Baseball Championship
  • 2006 : 9th
  • 2016 : 4th (host nation)[52]
European Juveniles Baseball Championship
Main article: European Juveniles Baseball Championship
European Junior Baseball Championship
Main article: European Junior Baseball Championship
  • 2019 :

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Israel national baseball team.

References

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