Israel’s Baseball Team: Now Starring Actual Israelis Over the past year, more than a dozen Jewish-American professional ballplayers have obtained Israeli citizenship under the nation’s Law of Return By Jared Diamond
https://www.wsj.com/articles/israels-baseball-team-now-starring-actual-israelis-11568119037
The underdog Israeli team that emerged as a sensation at the 2017 World Baseball Classic came with an asterisk. Despite the name of the country splashed across their uniforms, almost none of the players who helped upset powerhouses like South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Cuba were actually Israeli. Instead, the roster featured a collection of Americans participating under the tournament’s heritage rule, which granted eligibility to anybody with a Jewish grandparent or spouse.
Buoyed by that unexpected success, Israel now hopes to earn a spot in the Tokyo Olympics next year, with baseball returning to the program for the first time since 2008. Unlike the WBC, the Olympic Charter requires all athletes to be a national of the country they represent—a problem, since only about 1,000 people play baseball in Israel.
So Israel found a solution: Over the past year, more than a dozen Jewish-American professional ballplayers have obtained Israeli citizenship under the nation’s Law of Return, a process known as making aliyah—Hebrew for “ascent.” With their help, Israel is one of 12 teams currently playing in the European championship, with the top five advancing to the Olympic qualifiers in Italy.
“Playing for us was the impetus for this,” said Peter Kurz, the president of the Israel Association of Baseball. “But they all feel something toward Israel. There’s a feeling among them that we’re doing something different, doing something more. The WBC experience was incredible. This could be even bigger.”
Athletes often switch nationalities to qualify for the Olympics, a controversial practice known as “passport swapping.” At the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, an estimated 6% of the participants competed for a country other than the one of their birth. San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon, a basketball player from South Dakota, played for Russia in 2008 and 2012, prompting U.S. coach Anne Donovan to publicly question her patriotism.
But the freshly minted Israeli baseball players believe their decision to make aliyah warrants a more nuanced calculation, given Israel’s role as not just a geographic destination, but a spiritual homeland. Beyond simply enabling them to play for Israel’s baseball team, the citizenship process fulfilled one of the greatest honors for diaspora Jews.
“It might not be the country we were born in, but it represents so much,” said pitcher Joey Wagman, a former minor-leaguer currently in the independent leagues. “We’re representing the entire Jewish people.”
Israel’s road to the Olympics is challenging. Only six countries will compete in the tournament, with Japan, the host nation, already claiming one of the spots. Israel’s best chance of getting another would be to advance from Germany to the six-team Olympic qualifier in Italy later this month and win there.
Israel won its first three games in the European tournament, defeating the Czech Republic, Sweden and Germany. Still, the team’s road to Tokyo almost certainly means going through the Netherlands and Italy, which have won the last 24 European championships, dating back to 1969. Israel currently ranks No. 19 in the world, behind the Netherlands (8), Italy (16) and the Czech Republic (18). Japan is at the top, followed by the U.S.
Ty Kelly is a former major leaguer. Photo: Margo Sugarman
Even if Israel does make it, things get even tougher: Japan’s professional baseball league plans to suspend its season to allow its top players to participate in the Olympics. MLB will not do the same, though in the past, minor-leaguers have been allowed to play.
Before the WBC, the players’ connection to their religious roots varied. A few, like pitchers Jeremy Bleich and Corey Baker, considered their Judaism an integral part of their identity. Others, like former New York Mets utility man Ty Kelly, grew up in mixed households that celebrated elements of multiple faiths. When Kelly started playing Catholic Youth Organization basketball in middle school, he said, the Jewish side started to fade out.
Meanwhile, some players held only a tenuous connection to Judaism before baseball. Blake Gailen, a Triple-A outfielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, barely thought of himself as Jewish, despite his family ties. Nonetheless, he was so inspired by his experience playing for Team Israel two years ago that he traveled to Tel Aviv last October to finalize his citizenship.
“When we started playing, I realized, ‘Wow, this is slowly beginning to mean more to me,’” Gailen said. “I completely identify now. I used to say, ‘Yeah, I have Jewish bloodlines.’ Now it’s, ‘Yeah, I’m Jewish.’”
Israel’s miraculous run to the WBC quarterfinals solidified the players’ feelings. Several players, including those who reached the major leagues, called the tournament the most significant baseball event of their lives.
They all knew the stereotypes about Jewish athletes—in the movie “Airplane!” when a character asks for some light reading, the flight attendant gives her a leaflet entitled, “Famous Jewish Sports Legends.” Now all the players on a winning baseball team had just one thing in common: They all possessed Jewish heritage, a fact that conjured up emotions and feelings they didn’t realize existed within them.
“I’ve played on other baseball teams and none had been that close, so it wasn’t the baseball player aspect,” Baker said. “It’s that we were all Jews representing Israel. That common bond is why we felt that connection, and it obviously means something.”
Israel’s Blake Gailen looks on during the national anthem prior to the World Baseball Classic in 2017. Photo: kazuhiro nogi/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The players who gained Israeli citizenship will not need to relinquish their American passports. They have also aged out of Israel’s conscription rules, a fact that multiple players admitted played a significant role to make aliyah. Pitcher Zack Weiss said that when he told his family he intended to become an Israeli citizen, “My mother had to make sure I didn’t owe them any military service” before offering her blessing.
One player, former Mets prospect Jeremy Wolf, did offer to serve in the military if Israel agreed to pay off his student debt. Israel declined. Wolf, however, recently signed a lease for an apartment in Tel Aviv and will spend at least the next year living in Israel full-time. He doesn’t speak Hebrew, but, “Now is the time to do something crazy,” the 25-year-old Wolf said.
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