Jewish-American Ballplayers Fuel Team Israel in The World Baseball Classic. Again.

Someday, when there’s a World Gaga Classic, maybe Israeli gaga players with a parent or grandparent born in the United States will qualify to play for Team USA. It would only be fair.

Gaga is the quintessential Israeli game that was popularized in the U.S. by Jewish summer camps. Baseball is the quintessential American sport that was popularized in Israel by Jewish-American ballplayers. But baseball’s not quite popular enough in Israel—yet—to yield a competitive baseball roster stacked with Israeli athletes.

That’s why 35 out of 37 players on Team Israel’s roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic are American-born.

Unlike the Olympics, which requires athletes to be citizens of the country they play for, the World Baseball Classic permits players to play for a country if the player qualifies for citizenship under the laws of that team’s country, even if the player has not yet obtained citizenship. Israel’s Law of Return provides that any Jewish person, any person with a Jewish parent or grandparent, and any person married to a Jewish person may freely emigrate to Israel and qualifies for Israeli citizenship. 

Filling the roster with Americans was a recipe for success for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. With allusions to David and Goliath, Team Israel shocked the baseball world, first by qualifying for the 2017 tournament, and then by going undefeated in the first round by beating the Netherlands, South Korea, and Chinese Taipei—three baseball-crazy countries. Although Israel was eliminated in the quarterfinals, its success guaranteed it a spot in the next tournament. You can watch an interesting and moving documentary about Team Israel’s 2017 WBC run here.

With its ragtag team of current and retired major leaguers, major league prospects, and players who never played beyond the college level, Israel came from behind yesterday to defeat Nicaragua 3-1 in its first game in this year’s tournament. Garrett Stubbs, the backup catcher on the Philadelphia Phillies, came through with the big hit for Israel: a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the 8th inning.

Israel had tied the game at 1-1 earlier in the inning on a Spencer Horwitz single with runners on first and second. Horwitz is a prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays’ farm system.

Pitching and solid defense dominated most of the game on both sides. Israel relied on a combination of Dean Kremer, Josh Wolf, Zach Weiss, Richard Bleier, and Robert Stock for nine innings of one-run ball. Kremer is a starter with Baltimore; last season, he was arguably the most valuable starter for the Orioles, accumulating 1.8 fWAR in just 21 starts.

Zach Weiss and Richard Bleier are major league relievers. Weiss pitches out of the bullpen for the Los Angeles Angels. Last season, Weiss saw action in 12 games and posted a 3.38 ERA. Bleier will toe the slab for the Boston Red Sox this season after an offseason trade by the Florida Marlins. Bleier toiled in the minors for years before pitching in his first major-league at 29 with the New York Yankees. He posted a 3.55 ERA in 55 appearances last season with the Marlins. Josh Wolf is a prospect in the Cleveland Guardians’ farm system. Robert Stock has bounced around the majors and pitched in Korea last year. He’s in camp with the Milwaukee Brewers this spring on a minor-league contract.

After the win over Nicaragua, Israel will next take on baseball powerhouse Puerto Rico on Monday at 7:00 pm EDT. The other two teams in Pool D are Venezuela and Dominican Republic which, like Puerto Rico, feature a who’s who of MLB All-Stars. Israel faces a daunting task in making it to the quarterfinals in this tournament.

Of the 35 American-born players on Israel's 2023 WBC roster, 34 are either Jewish, have a Jewish parent, or have a Jewish grandparent. Outfielder Alex Dickerson married a Jewish woman, which made him eligible. One player—pitcher Jake Steinmetz—was the first Orthodox Jew to be drafted by an MLB team (the Arizona Diamondbacks). We know that at least Richard Bleier, Garrett Stubbs, Jake Fishman, Colton Gordon, and Dean Kremer became bar mitzvah. Kremer is a dual American-Israeli citizen.

But not every player with Jewish heritage considers himself Jewish, attends Jewish religious services, or observes Jewish holidays. It’s been a long time since Sandy Koufax refused to pitch in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The two Israeli-born players on the roster are Tal Erel, a 26-year-old catcher who played college baseball in the U.S. at Palm Beach State College and Lynn University, and Shlomo Lipetz, a 44-year-old pitcher with virtually no college or professional baseball experience, but who is considered the heart and soul of Team Israel. 

Joc Pederson leads Team Israel in star power and raw power, particularly when facing a right-handed pitcher. Pederson, now an outfielder with the San Francisco Giants, has 171 career home runs in nine major league seasons. After Pederson, there’s a big drop-off in offensive firepower; the only other position player currently on an MLB roster is Stubbs. In four seasons in the majors, Stubbs has played only 97 games and amassed a meager slash line of .230/.304/.372. Several Jewish MLB position players opted not to play for Team Israel in this year’s tournament; Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros is the biggest name on that list. 

Like Bregman, Atlanta Braves star pitcher Max Fried, who finished second in National League Cy Young voting in 2022, opted not to pitch for Team Israel. That leaves Kremer as the only MLB starter on Israel’s roster. Astros pitching prospect Colton Gordon may very well get the start for Israel in the matchup with Puerto Rico on Monday.

The full roster for Team Israel is here.

While Team Israel’s roster doesn’t light up with marquee names, the coaching staff is a different story. Manager Ian Kinsler is a four-time All Star second baseman who ended his career with 257 home runs and 243 stolen bases. Bench coach Brad Ausmus enjoyed an 18-year major league career and then went on to manage the Detroit Tigers for four seasons and the Angels for one. And Kevin Youkilis, a key cog in the Red Sox World Series Championship teams in 2004 and 2007 is the hitting coach.

Team Israel isn’t alone in having a roster with many American-born players. Team Italy—which has already advanced out of Pool A to the quarterfinals—features 27 American players and is led by manager Mike Piazza. 

Anti-semitism is on the rise, in the U.S. and around the world. I grew up in the 1960’s and 1970’s, when the horror of the Holocaust was still fresh. At Hebrew School and at home, I was taught that supporting Israel should be a top priority, as it provided a bulwark against any future genocide against Jews.

But, as an American Jew who believes in the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it’s not easy to root for Israel the country right now, even in a sports competition. Over the last fifteen years, the elected Israeli government has moved further and further to the right politically, fully embraced ultra-religious Israelis who bulldoze Palestinian homes to build Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and imposed a devastating blockade on Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has proposed an overhaul of Israel’s judicial system that echos moves by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The proposal has led to mass protests in Israel.

At Shabbat services on Friday night, I was reminded that the Torah uses the term “the people Israel” to describe Jews, wherever they may be. For me, Team Israel is Team Jewish Baseball Players—a group of elite athletes who share my religion, my culture, and my heritage. I can root for that.

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of Jews in baseball, check out the Jewish Baseball Museum and pick my friend Howard Megdal’s book The Baseball Talmud.