User:Galatz/Israel at the 2013 World Baseball Classic

Israel competed at the World Baseball Classic in 2013. This was the first time Israel competed at the World Baseball Classic. In the September 2012 qualifier for the 2013 World Baseball Classic – Qualifier 1, the preliminary round of the tournament, Israel competed in Jupiter, Florida against Spain, France, and South Africa.

Roster eligibility
Under WBC rules, any player eligible for citizenship of a country, even if they do not have it, may play for that team. Therefore, this entitles Israel to have non-Israeli citizens of Jewish heritage play for the team. Based on the Law of Return anyone with one Jewish grandparent or people married to a Jew, is eligible for citizenship. The players who qualified to play on the Israeli team included major leaguers catcher Ryan Lavarnway, first baseman Ike Davis, second basemen Ian Kinsler and Josh Satin, third basemen Kevin Youkilis and Danny Valencia, outfielders Ryan Braun (whose father is Israeli), Sam Fuld, Ryan Kalish, and Gabe Kapler, and pitchers Jason Marquis, Scott Feldman, Craig Breslow, and John Grabow, as well as what were then recent major leaguers catcher Brad Ausmus and pitcher Scott Schoeneweis. Kinsler said: "'Wow, I would be happy to play for Team Israel.... The truth is that if a proposal comes from Team USA to play for them, I will have a very difficult decision to make. Yuk [Kevin Youkilis], Braun [Ryan Braun], and I could make a fantastic team. I am sure that I'll talk it over with Yuk – we always laugh about things like this.'" Outfielder Shawn Green, who retired in 2007, was also eligible inasmuch as he is Jewish, and said in early June 2011 that assuming it works out, it "would be an honor" and he "would love to" play for Israel in the Classic.

The qualifying round was held in September, while the Major League Baseball season still in progress, therefore during Qualifiers 1 and 2 it could not feature major league players such as the above ones who qualified to play for Team Israel. The lack of Major League players affected Israel far more than its opponents, none of which had players in the Major Leagues at the time. Kevin Youkilis announced that he would play for the team if they made it past the qualifying round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

The highest-level players involved in Qualifiers 1 and 2 were minor-league prospects. Team Israel included minor league pitchers Eric Berger (1–0) and Brett Lorin, first baseman Nate Freiman (.417; 4 HR in 12 AB), second baseman Josh Satin (.273), shortstops Jake Lemmerman and Ben Orloff, and outfielders Cody Decker, Adam Greenberg, Ben Guez, Joc Pederson (.308), and Robbie Widlansky. Also, retired former major league All Star Shawn Green played for Israel (.333).

In addition to Brad Ausmus as manager, the team's coaches included Shawn Green, Gabe Kapler, and Mark Loretta.

Qualifier results
Israel competed in their first qualifying match for the 2013 tournament on 19 September 2012. In this game they defeated South Africa by a score of 7-3. Nate Freiman had two home runs in the victory.

Israel's second qualifying match was against Spain on 21 September 2012. Israel won the game by a score of 4-2. Nate Freiman once again homered twice for Israel in the victory.

Israel's third qualifying match was once again against Spain on 23 September 2012. Israel lost this game by a score of 9-7 in 10 innings. With the victory Israel was eliminated from the tournament and Spain moved on to the next round. Although Israel had won their first two games they were eliminated due to the tournaments modified double-elimination format. This meant that the final game was winner-take-all.