As Israel readies for its first game in this year’s World Baseball Classic, players took turns Thursday in expressing their pride to wear the blue and white.
“This is year 12 for me wearing that jersey,” pitcher Dean Kremer, of the Baltimore Orioles, said at Team Israel’s opening press conference in Miami.
Kremer’s parents are from Israel. “Third time in this tournament, and every time I get to put it on, I’m more than happy and proud,” he said. “I know all my family back home back there is proud as well. Just want to do right by them.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a part of this,” said Gold Glove centerfielder Harrison Bader, of the San Francisco Giants. “It’s special. I’m thrilled to be here. I’m excited.”
The players and their manager, Brad Ausmus, didn’t talk specifically about the war with Iran, which has Israelis running to bomb shelters to flee incoming missiles.
But Ausmus alluded to it, remembering what baseball meant to the United States when games resumed following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“Baseball has often brought kind of joy to people in difficult times,” he told reporters. “To put it mildly, it’s interesting times right now.”
“I hope there is that kind of unifying joy that all these players, coaches—they’re representing their heritage, but they all have one thing in common, and that’s baseball,” he said. “I hope the fans enjoy it.”
Bader bemoaned missing the 2023 classic because of injury. Israel won one of its four games to automatically qualify for this year’s tournament, even as it fell short of its magical 2017 run into the second round.
“I’m very happy to be here representing Team Israel,” he told reporters. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. It’s a long time coming, so I’m excited to go out there and give a lot of good energy, play hard and see how it all shakes out.”
It’s not just Team Israel. Some of Major League Baseball’s biggest stars such as Shohei Otani of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Japan), Juan Soto of the New York Mets (Dominican Republic), Tarek Strubal (Detroit Tigers) and Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) are taking a break from spring training to suit up for their countries.
“I think the crux of this is they want to represent their heritage,” Ausmus said at the press conference in Miami, two days before the team begins its World Baseball Classic schedule.
Ausmus said that more and more players want to be part of the tournament as it’s gotten more attention and more fans tune in.
“Truthfully, because it’s gotten a lot more attention, players want to be part of it,” he said. “When they were a kid they’re like, ‘Wow, that would be cool to represent my country.’ Now they have the opportunity.”
“I think that’s part of the reason some people who weren’t selected are maybe like, ‘Oh, this stinks. I want to play for the USA, or I want to play for the Dominican or I want to play for Israel,’” he said.
The World Baseball Classic also has attracted more fans and more attention over the years.
“It means a lot to people who represent the country and the culture and everything, the same way that we do,” Bader said. “For all of the young kids out there that in many ways look up to athletes and baseball players, I just hope I can be a fantastic example and representation of something much larger than any individual person or baseball player.”
Team Israel (ranked 13 of 20) is in a pool with the Dominican Republic (ranked second), Venezuela (4), the Netherlands (12) and Nicaragua (18). The top two teams advance to the next round.
The Israeli team begins play on Saturday against Venezuela.
