Baseball

From Little League to Team Israel: Baseball takes root across the Holy Land

The number of teams and players gathered in Tel Aviv on that sunny Friday was a testament to just how far baseball has come in Israel. It was not always this way.

|ByHOWARD BLAS
Young Israeli baseball players take part in a practice session as the sport continues to grow, with youth programs expanding into communities across the country.
Demonstrators gather near a barricade they created during a protest against a U.S.-backed Ebola quarantine plan on the establishment of a 50-bed facility at a Kenyan air force base that was intended to host Americans exposed to Ebola, in Nanyuki town, in Laikipia County, Kenya June 1, 2026.

Kenyan police fire tear gas during protest against US Ebola quarantine facility

Two people were killed in protests last week in Nanyuki, and the US continues its activities defying Kenyan court orders.

|ByREUTERS
Mar 28, 2019; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels players line up before the game at Oakland Coliseum

Your Investments: Opening day, leaving Egyptian exodus with great wealth, and financial optimism

When the Israelites left Egypt, they carried more than gold and silver. They carried a new financial reality. After generations of limitations, they stepped into a future where growth was possible.

|ByAARON KATSMAN
Israeli pitcher-catcher duo, Ben Simons and C.J. Stubbs.

Israel closes out WBC campaign with statement victory over Netherlands

With the victory, Israel improved its record to a very respectable 2–2 and took sole possession ahead of the Dutch of third place in Pool D.

|ByDANNY GROSSMAN

How Israel built its most talented baseball roster ever for the 2023 World Baseball Classic

Pulling the team together took a combination of personal cajoling, a widely respected manager and Jewish geography

MARCH 15, 2023ByJACOB GURVIS/JTA
MANY OF players who suited up for Team Israel at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 will be back donning the blue-and-white this month at the World Baseball Classic, where Israel will be playing in Pool D in Miami.

Team Israel loses 10-0 to Puerto Rico in World Baseball Classic's first-ever perfect game

Israel’s loss to Puerto Rico could be a harbinger of what’s to come over the next two days.

MARCH 14, 2023ByJACOB GURVIS/JTA
MANY OF players who suited up for Team Israel at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 will be back donning the blue-and-white this month at the World Baseball Classic, where Israel will be playing in Pool D in Miami.

Team Israel beats Nicaragua 3-1 after thrilling comeback in World Baseball Classic opener

After key plays for Team Israel, the Israeli pop song “Mahapecha Shel Simcha” (“A Revolution of Joy”) blasted from the speakers.

MARCH 13, 2023ByJACOB GURVIS/JTA
Israel third baseman Garrett Stubbs (21) hits a two-run double during the eighth inning against Nicaragua at LoanDepot Park, Miami, Florida, Mar 12, 2023.

Former baseball star Darryl Strawberry is now an evangelical preacher focused on promoting Israel

Strawberry, an eight-time MLB All-Star-turned-traveling-preacher, embarked on his first pilgrimage to Israel in 2018.

MARCH 9, 2023ByGABE FRIEDMAN/JTA
Darryl Strawberry bats in a game between the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh in 1986.

Team Israel back for the 2023 World Baseball Classic

Team Israel is arguably the best embodiment of the WBC’s eligibility rules. To play in the WBC, a player does not need to have been born in or be an official citizen of the country he is playing for.

MARCH 6, 2023ByJACOB GURVIS/JTA
MANY OF players who suited up for Team Israel at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 will be back donning the blue-and-white this month at the World Baseball Classic, where Israel will be playing in Pool D in Miami.

Red Sox exec Chaim Bloom says he’s received antisemitism over team’s woes

On top of death threats and slurs, Bloom has been called “an embarrassment to any torah-following Jew.”

FEBRUARY 25, 2023ByJACOB GURVIS/JTA
Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (11) hits an RBI single during the ninth inning to defeat the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.

Washington Nationals baseball team owner Ted Lerner dies at 97

Lerner was born and raised in Washington, DC to Orthodox Jewish parents.

FEBRUARY 17, 2023ByRON KAMPEAS/JTA
Nationals owner Ted Lerner smiles during the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Nationals baseball stadium in southeast Washington, May 4, 2006.

Team Israel baseball players were filmmakers for new documentary about 2020 Olympic run

A documentary had followed Team Israel’s Cinderella run in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and the filmmakers wanted to make a sequel.

FEBRUARY 11, 2023ByJACOB GURVIS/JTA
TEAM ISRAEL won a silver medal this week at the European Baseball Championships in Torino, Italy, after a heartbreaking 9-4 loss to the Netherlands in the final.

Here is Team Israel’s full World Baseball Classic roster

Team Israel will be showing up to Miami with a stacked roster.

FEBRUARY 10, 2023ByJACOB GURVIS/JTA
TEAM ISRAEL won a silver medal at the European Baseball Championships in Torino, Italy, after a heartbreaking 9-4 loss to the Netherlands in the final.

The connection between Tu Bishvat and your portfolio

The New Year of the trees teaches us how to focus on the future, try to be the best we can be - and let the past go.

FEBRUARY 3, 2023ByAARON KATSMAN
‘BULLS MAKE MONEY, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered.’ No investment goes up in a straight line forever. Appreciate how well your portfolio has done over the last few years, and don’t become a pig.