Swatting away war, Team Israel fans in Jerusalem find nine innings of refuge in baseball

For a few hours on a Monday night in Jerusalem, news about Israel’s war with Iran was replaced by carefree sports banter as many of the city’s “baseball families” gathered to watch Team Israel play in the World Baseball Classic.

For the Israeli team’s game against the Dominican Republic — at 6 p.m., the only competition of the series scheduled during normal waking hours in Israel — several dozen Jerusalem little league players and their parents got together at the Anglican International School to watch the game on a big screen, eat popcorn and pizza, and remember that sometimes, rivalry between nations is just a game.

“This is really nice, watching the game with a group of people I consider my friends,” said Sarah Weller, whose oldest son is playing on the Jerusalem Lions high school baseball team. “It feels like a little bit of normal, a slice of normalcy.”

Israel lost Monday’s game 10-1 to a dominant team loaded with Major League stars and future Hall of Famers, eliminating it from the next round of the global baseball tournament.

Despite Israel’s baseball team becoming a mainstay of top-flight international competition, America’s pastime still hasn’t caught on with most Israelis.

The Israel Association of Baseball (IAB), which oversees the sport’s development in Israel, counts only about 500 players of different ages around the country, spread across teams in 11 cities.

Jerusalem has just 75 players aged 4-18, divided into six age divisions. Nearly all are from families of American immigrants, said Callie Mitchell, IAB’s regional director for Jerusalem.

That’s what’s made this tournament, where players with “Israel” emblazoned on their uniforms face off against the best players in the world, so exciting for the young players.

“It’s really interesting to watch these games,” said 17-year-old Rafael Nayowitz, who recently started playing baseball again. “Usually, the only games are in America, and it’s harder to connect because we don’t live there. But watching Team Israel feels much closer to us, and gives us some pride in rooting for our country.”

A day earlier, Israel beat Nicaragua 5-0 in a game that started at 1 a.m. in Israel, way past bedtime for most of the people gathered at this event.

Most players on Team Israel aren’t actually Israeli, but since WBC rules allow anyone who could theoretically be a citizen of a country to play for that country, virtually any player with Jewish heritage can join the team. This year’s roster is led by San Francisco Giants center fielder Harrison Bader, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer, and Philadelphia Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs.

“It’s really inspiring for them to see a team that’s made up of all Jewish players representing their nation,” Mitchell said. “All the kids have players that they’ve been pulling for, even some who currently play at the minor league level. This gives them the opportunity to see what baseball looks like at a higher level, which doesn’t always come so easily here.”

When Assaf Lowengart, the team’s sole Israel-born player, came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, the hardy fans who remained perked up with a cheer for someone proving that Israelis can play ball on a world stage too.

“I really hope that one day we’ll watch the WBC and see guys who came through the program here in Jerusalem,” Mitchell said. “That’s my dream.”

Attendance at the Jerusalem event was capped to ensure compliance with Home Front Command guidelines, and attendees were told how to get to a shelter should Iran attack.

In the end, though, the war stayed away for the duration of the game, with the only bombs coming off of the players’ bats, like a Fernando Tatis Jr. grand slam in the second inning that seemed to seal Israel’s fate.

For many, there was disappointment in Israel’s loss, even though the team was widely seen as the underdog.

But for most of them, just getting out of the house to watch a game with friends was a big win during wartime.

“My parents have been very stressed about me leaving the house in the last week and a half,” Nayowitz said. “It feels very strange to be getting bombed and then watching a baseball game, but it’s definitely a cool experience being here with everyone in the community and having a good time.”