Israel reaches second round of WBC with Mensch power
toKYo
With a little help from “The Mensch on the Bench” mascot, Team Israel is into the second round of the World Baseball Classic.
Just 41st in the world rankings, Israel shocked thirdranked South Korea 2-1 in its opening game and then beat fourth-ranked Taiwan 15-7 on Tuesday. On Thursday, Israel beat the Netherlands 4-2 to finish in first place in Pool A with a 3-0 record.
Next up for Team Israel is the second round in Tokyo with a chance to advance to the semifinals.
South Korea won the bronze medal in the 2006 WBC and silver in the 2009 edition and was one of the pre-tournament favourites to win a medal again. Beating them on home soil was a huge upset.
But Israel’s 73-year-old manager Jerry Weinstein says he’s not surprised by the early success.
“The only unknown was the calibre of the competition,” Weinstein said. “We never doubted our ability. Our strengths are that we are a wellbalanced team. We can pitch and have pitching depth; we have team speed, team power and can catch the ball. We’re a very close-knit group.”
The team is getting some inspiration from its popular mascot. Infielder Cody Decker brought The Mensch with him from home and he’s been a big hit in South Korea.
Mensch means a person of integrity or honour. The Mensch
on the Bench started during Israel’s qualifying round in New York.
“He’s on the team,” Weinstein said. “Everybody brings something to the team and certainly The Mensch is a unifying factor for the ball club.”
Israel’s roster is made up almost entirely of Jewish-American players with major or minor league experience. Some of the familiar names include pitcher Jason Marquis, formerly of the Cincinnati Reds, and catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who has MLB experience with Boston, Baltimore and Atlanta.
Then there is pitcher and Israel citizen Shlomo Lipetz, the only player on the roster with no MLB affiliation.
For some of the players – Josh Zeid, Nate Freiman, Nick Rickles and Ike Davis – the 2017 WBC will be their third appearance with Team Israel. They
were all part of the team that narrowly missed qualifying for the 2013 WBC, and all played in the qualifiers in September.
The WBC’s “heritage rule” states that players eligible for citizenship of a country may play on that country’s team. This will be the first time that American Jewish baseball players will represent Israel in a world championship.
In January, eight members of the team visited Israel for a week to learn about the country and meet Israeli fans. They toured Tel Aviv, Jerusalem’s holy sites, the Dead Sea and met local Israeli baseball players.
Israel was the final country to qualify for the 2017 WBC and is making its first appearance in the tournament.
According to the Israel Association of Baseball, there are about 1,000 active baseball players in the country.