Team Israel has competed in the World Baseball Classic since the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifier round. In 2017 Israel competed at a World Baseball Classic qualifier for the second time, and for the first time qualified for the main tournament.[1]
Prior to the start of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, ESPN considered Team Israel, ranked 41st in the world, to be the biggest underdog in the tournament, referring to it as the "Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC". Israel's odds to win the WBC were 200-1, before the tournament began. As the team began to win games at the WBC, its performance was described variously as a Cinderella story, a "David and Goliath" tale, and a baseball version of The Mouse That Roared.[2] Israel beat all three opposing teams in the first round to finish atop the pool, defeating South Korea (ranked # 3 in the world), Chinese Taipei (ranked # 4 in the world; Israel's 15 runs were the most Taiwan had ever given up in a game in World Baseball Classic play), and the Netherlands (ranked # 9 in the world). Israel became the first baseball team to go undefeated in the first round of the WBC’s main draw after entering the main draw by winning in a qualifying round. Team Israel's catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, was named Pool A MVP. Team Israel qualified for the second round; Pool E in Tokyo, Japan, to be played later in March 2017. Furthermore, the team qualified for the 2021 World Baseball Classic.
In the first game of the 2017 World Baseball Classic second round, Israel beat Cuba (ranked # 5 in the world). In a rematch of their Pool A game in which Israel prevailed, the Netherlands defeated Israel, giving the team its first loss of the tournament, and then world # 1 Japan beat Israel. Israel finished in third place in Pool E with a 1-2 record, and 4-2 (and sixth) overall in the tournament. Pitcher Josh Zeid was named to the 2017 All-World Baseball Classic team.
Team Israel will compete in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March 12-15, 2023 in Miami, Florida, against Team Puerto Rico, Team Dominican Republic, Team Venezuela, and Team Nicaragua.
^"Israel qualifies for World Baseball Classic for first time," The Daily News, September 26, 2016.
^Chemi Shalev (March 12, 2017). "Why stop at baseball? Israel should also recruit Scarlett Johansson, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Bernie Sanders," Haaretz.
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