Israel national baseball team
 Israel national baseball team | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Country | Israel |
| Confederation | Confederation of European Baseball |
| Manager | Eric Holtz |
| WBSC ranking | |
| Current | 19 |
| World Baseball Classic | |
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2017) |
| Best result | 6th (2017) |
| European Championship | |
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2019) |
| Best result | TBA |
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Israel national baseball team (Template:Lang-he) represents Israel in international competitions. Prior to the 2017 World Baseball Classic Israel was the 41st-ranked baseball team in the world and 16th in Europe.[1][2] They advanced due to their performance, ranking 19th in the world and 4th in Europe after.[3]
Israel was the final team to qualify for the 2019 European Baseball Championship. The top 5 finishers in the European Championship 12-team tournament in Germany from September 7-15, 2019, of which Team Israel is one, will move on to the Olympic qualifiers, taking place in Italy beginning September 18.
History
Israel has baseball teams in all ages from 10 to 30. The current manager is Eric Holtz.[4]
In June 2015, Israel senior national team player Dean Kremer became the first Israeli to be selected in the Major League Baseball draft.[5] He was picked by the San Diego Padres in the 38th round. On 22 July it was announced that Kremer would fulfill his commitment and play for the UNLV Rebels baseball team.[6] After playing for the Rebels for the 2016 season, Dean Kremer was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and assigned to the Ogden Raptors.[7]
On the basis of its performance in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Israel automatically qualified for the 2021 World Baseball Classic.
World Baseball Classic
2013 World Baseball Classic
The team competed in the September 2012 Qualifier 1 round, 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
In September 2016, Team Israel competed in the 2017 Qualifier 4 round. Colorado Rockies coach Jerry Weinstein served as the manager.[8] 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.[9]
Israel won all three of their games in the qualifier, beating Great Britain twice and Brazil once.[10][11][12] With the win, Israel advanced to play in Pool A in South Korea in March 2017, against South Korea, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.[13]
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".[14][15] Israel began the round robin tournament with wins against world # 3 Korea and world # 4 Chinese Taipei,[16] and world # 9 Netherlands.[17] 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 tournament.[18] Ryan Lavarnway was named Pool A MVP.[19]
In the first game of the second round, Team Israel beat Team Cuba (world # 5) by a score of 4−1.[20] 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.[21][22]
European Baseball Championship
2019 European Baseball Championship
The team played in the 2019 European Baseball Championship - B-Pool in early July 2019 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, 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 2019 European Baseball Championship.[23] Israel won the best-of-three playoff series 2-0, and thus qualified for the 2019 European Baseball Championship.
In preparation for 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, Gabe Cramer, Blake Gailen, Joey Wagman, Alex Katz, Eric Brodkowitz, Jonathan de Marte, Jon Moscot, Jeremy Wolf (who lives in Tel Aviv), and Zack Weiss.[24][25][26] They were followed in 2019 by Danny Valencia, Ty Kelly, Nick Rickles, Ben Wanger, and Jeremy Bleich.[26][27]
In Round 1 of the 2019 European Baseball Championship, Israel went 4-1 (defeating 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.[28] In the Championship playoffs, Israel defeated Team France in the quarterfinals.
Olympics
Because Israel finished in the top 5 in the 2019 European Baseball Championship they will move on to the 2020 Olympics qualifiers, taking place in Italy beginning September 18.[29][30]
Other Competitions
European Juveniles Baseball Championship
European Junior Baseball Championship
