Dateline Jerusalem — Coney Island, the seaside resort, was known for its fabulous amusement park. I haven’t been there since I was a child to see Nathan’s hot dogs, saltwater taffy, cotton candy, and all the other fun things to eat as I strolled the boardwalk. Now they are just memories.
This week Coney Island will be home to over 40 professional Major League Baseball players representing teams from Israel, Brazil, Great Britain, and Pakistan at a qualifying tournament for the World Baseball Classic. Go, Team Israel.
I write this in the middle of the night in Israel as I watch via my computer Team Israel trounce Great Britain in the first game of the qualifier. Baseball has always been my favorite professional sport. My father, may he rest in peace, had season tickets to the Dodgers, and I always enjoyed sitting in his fantastic seats at Dodger games. In college I dated the brother of one of the Dodgers so we sat in the family section behind home plate. What fun. Therefore, I was thrilled to learn that Dodger Dean Kremer would be playing on Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic. Dean Kremer became the first Israeli citizen to sign with a Major League Baseball organization. Although born in the U.S., he speaks Hebrew and both his parents are Israelis. He has automatic Israeli citizenship through them.
World Baseball Classic rules are quite relaxed with respect to who can play on the teams. Anyone who can meet the qualifications of citizenship in a particular country, even if they do not have passports or have never even been there, are eligible. That is why so many U.S. baseball players are playing for these foreign teams. In Israel, the qualifications for citizenship includes The Law of Return which allows all Jews, spouses of Jews, and children and grandchildren of Jews to immigrate to Israel and receive Israeli citizenship even if they are not Jewish according to Jewish religious law. Jewish religious law only allows one to be Jewish through his/her mother, not the father. But under the Law of Return, if a person has one Jewish grandparent or parent, then that person can be an Israeli citizen and play on Israel’s team.
How Good Are They?
Israel has an awesome team. It includes All-Star pitcher Jason Marquis; Dodger Dean Kremer; Mets Ike Davis, Tyler Herron, and Josh Zeid; Padre Josh Satin; Red Sox Craig Breslow, Cody Decker, Nate Freiman, and Michael Meyers; Diamondback Zach Borenstein; White Sox Alex Katz and Bradley Goldberg; Pirate Jared Lakind; Nationals R.C. Orlan, Nick Rickles, and Rhett Wiseman; Blue Jay Ryan Lavarnway; Cardinals Ryan Sherriff and Corey Baker; Rockies Troy Neiman and Scott Burcham; Athletics Joey Wagman. And four years ago Shawn Green and Gabe Kapler played on Israel’s team while Brad Ausmus managed it. Because Major League Baseball is still in season, current Jewish players like Brewer Ryan Braun, Tiger Ian Kinsler, Astro Alex Bregman, Oakland’s Danny Valencia, and now Mets Ty Kelly cannot be in this qualifier. However, if Israel qualifies, then they might play in the actual world tournament in March. Israel is not the only team to have heavyweights. Hall of Famer Barry Larkin is Brazil’s manager and All-Stars Steve Finley and LaTroy Hawkins are Brazil’s coaches. Great Britain has All-Star Trevor Hoffman as one of its coaches. Other than Pakistan, all the teams rosters were made up of mostly major league players.
As of my writing this piece, Israel soundly defeated Great Britain. By the time Israel and Brazil play tomorrow in New York, I will be observing Shabbat in Israel and won’t have the results of that game until Saturday night when Shabbat is over. Such suspense!
L’hitraot. Shachar