Appearances 1 (First in 2017) Location Israel | ||
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Confederation Confederation of European Baseball | ||
The Israel national baseball team (Hebrew: נבחרת ישראל בבייסבול) represents Israel in international competitions. They are currently the 41st-ranked baseball team in the world, and 16th in Europe.
Contents
- 2013 World Baseball Classic
- 2017 World Baseball Classic
- European Senior National Team Championship
- References
Israel has baseball teams in all ages from 10 to 30. Their current manager is Jerry Weinstein.
In June 2015, Israel senior national team player Dean Kremer became the first Israeli to ever be selected in the Major League Baseball draft. 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. After playing for the Rebels for the 2016 season, Dean Kremer was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and assigned to the Ogden Raptors.
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. 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.
Israel won all three of their games in the qualifier, beating Great Britain twice and Brazil once.
With the win, Israel advanced to play in Pool A in South Korea in March 2017, against South Korea, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.
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". Israel began the round robin tournament with wins against world # 3 Korea and world # 4 Chinese Taipei, and Netherlands. 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.