Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel directed by Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger; Ironbound Films; 2018, 87 minutes, to be shown at the San Diego International Jewish Film Festival at 1 p.m., Sunday, February 10, at Edwards San Marcos Stadium 18, 1180 W. San Marcos Boulevard, San Marcos, and at 6 p.m. for teens and at 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 12 for general audiences at Clairemont Reading Cinemas 14, 4655 Clairemont Drive, San Diego.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – In 2017, the call went out to professional baseball players asking if any of them had a Jewish grandparent. If they did, they were told, under Israel’s law of return, they were eligible for Israeli citizenship, and under the rules of the World Baseball Classic, anyone who was eligible for citizenship could play for that country’s national team in international competition. In response, a number of former and present professional baseball players decided to volunteer.
Former Major Leaguers included Ike Davis, who had seen action with the Mets, Pirates, and A’s before injuries sent him down to the minors; Cody Decker, who played briefly for the Padres; Nate Freiman of the A’s; Sam Fuld, who had played for the Cubs, Rays, A’s, and Twins; Ryan Lavarway of the Red Sox and the Orioles; Jason Marquis, who up to that point had played for eight major league teams, including the Padres; and Josh Zeid, formerly of the Houston Astros. Joining these six were 22 other players, most of whom had been in the minor leagues. Some of them had grown up as Jews; others, from mixed marriages, had been raised as Christians. But having at least one Jewish grandparent, all were eligible for Israeli citizenship.
Sixteen teams, divided into four pools, competed for an opportunity to go on to the First Round of the competition. Team Israel was given little chance of succeeding; in fact, bookies at one point quoted 200-1 odds against the Israeli baseballers, with critics sneering that the team was made up of “has beens and wannabees.”
Whether it won or lost, the team would represent Israel on the international sports world stage, and that, in itself, was something special, both for the Israeli public and for the players.
To acclimate the players to the country that they would represent, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson flew the 28-player team and members of their family to Israel, where they made media appearances, toured the country, soaked up Jewish history, and signed baseballs for young fans. The documentary follows them to such venues as Petah Tikvah, Raanana, Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea, and Masada, as well as to such “must-visit” sites in Jerusalem as the Kotel an the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Decker brought with him a life-size bearded, hatted, and tallit-wearing “Mensch on the Bench,” which became the team’s mascot and got as much media attention as any of the players, more than some.
Then came the Pool A competition in Seoul, South Korea, in which Israel’s first game was against the host team. When team members took off their baseball caps for the playing of Hatikvah, Israel’s National Anthem, fans were thrilled to see that they wore kippot under the caps as part of their uniform. Through the ninth inning the score was tied at 1, but in the 10th, Israel scored a second run, to beat South Korea.
The second game in the series was against Taiwan, usually considered a powerhouse. But again Israel prevailed, 15-7. Up next was the Netherlands, and fans in Israel and in the United States were going crazy. Israel was the “David” against the Dutch “Goliath.” Israeli players were called “The Oys of Summer.” Fans in the stands wore t-shirts bearing the legend “Jew Crew.” And Israel won again, 4-2.
That sent the team to the next round of the double-elimination World Baseball Classic, played in Tokyo, Japan. On Purim, Israel won, beating Cuba, 4-1. A bitter Spanish-speaking questioner asked at a post-game press conference whether the players really could be considered an Israeli team, given that most of them were American. Hadn’t Cuba really lost to USA-2? Team members rejected that they were the American Junior Varsity, explaining the international rules of eligibility.
Next came the Netherlands team, which the Israelis already had beaten once. But Netherlands took revenge on the Israeli team, walloping them 12-2.
Still, the Israel team had another game to play in the double-elimination tournament, and that was against host Japan. If Israel was again to be a David against a Goliath, it should be remembered that the biblical David had a very good arm. But another victory was not to be. On the Ides of March, Japan triumphed over Israel, 8-3, ending the 2017 Israel team’s storied run for the gold. In the semi finals, Puerto Rico played Netherlands, and Japan played the United States. In the final, the United States defeated Puerto Rico, winning the championship.
For Israel, there was a silver lining. Having made it through the Seoul games to compete in Tokyo, the team automatically qualified to compete in the 2021 games, when the fun will start all over again!
Besides the former major league players named above, those who competed on Team Israel were: Dylan Axelrod, Zach Borenstein, Danny Burawa, Scott Burcham, Gabe Cramer, Blake Gailen, Brad Goldberg, Tyler Herron, Alex Katz, Jake Kalish, Tyler Kelly, Dean Kremer, Tyler Krieger, Mike Meyers, Jared Lakind, Shlomo Lipetz, Troy Neiman, R.C. Orlan, Nick Rickles, Zach Thornton, and Joey Wagman.
In addition to showing game highlights, the documentary explores the reaction of the players to Israel, the reaction of Israelis to them, and the pride that many Jews and their friends took in the upstart team that ignored the cynics.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com