2017 World Baseball Classic Pool A

Pool A brought together four teams with sharply different pre-tournament rankings. South Korea, the host, was ranked fourth and had previously won a bronze medal in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and a silver medal in 2009.[5] Chinese Taipei was ranked third, while the Netherlands was ninth.[1] Contemporary reports placed Israel either 38th or 41st, but agreed that it was a low-ranked underdog; Walla described it as the tournament's only participant outside the world's top 20.[5][1]

The tournament marked Israel's first appearance in the World Baseball Classic.[5][1] Israel qualified with a 9–1 victory over Great Britain.[2] At the time, baseball was a marginal sport in Israel, with approximately 1,000 active players; American immigrants had begun introducing the game in the 1970s, and the Israel Association of Baseball was established as a nonprofit in December 1986.[5]

The World Baseball Classic's heritage eligibility rule permitted players to represent a country if they were eligible for that country's citizenship under its laws, even without already holding it.[5][2] Israel's roster was therefore composed almost entirely of Jewish-American players with major- or minor-league experience.[3][5] The team did not have a single player on an MLB club's 40-man roster, and all but one player had been born outside Israel.[3] Star infielder Alex Bregman was invited to play for Team Israel but chose Team USA instead.[6]

Israel opened Pool A — and the 2017 World Baseball Classic as a whole — on March 6 against host South Korea in Seoul.[1][2] In a dramatic extra-innings contest, Israel defeated South Korea 2–1 in ten innings.[1] Manager Jerry Weinstein attributed the team's success to its balance, citing pitching depth, speed, power, defense, and the players' close-knit relationship.[5]

Israel defeated Chinese Taipei 15–7 in its second Pool A game.[1] Infielder Nate Freiman hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning, padding Israel's lead and improving the team's record to 2–0.[7]

Israel had already secured advancement before its final Pool A game because the Netherlands had defeated Chinese Taipei earlier in the week.[7] Israel nonetheless completed the sweep by defeating the Netherlands 4–2.[8][1] Israel took a 3–0 lead in the first inning and held the Netherlands to one run, five hits, and five walks over nine innings.[8] The three victories gave Israel an undefeated record and first place in Pool A.[1]

Most of Team Israel's players held American citizenship, and all but one had been born outside Israel.[3][2] The team nevertheless embraced its Israeli and Jewish identity: before each game, most players — described as secular — donned kippot while Hatikvah, Israel's national anthem, was played.[3]

Designated hitter Cody Decker captured the team's shared cultural sensibility in a widely quoted remark: "On this team, I can say the most random Seinfeld reference and everyone laughs and quotes the next line. It's the only baseball team in the world that can do that."[3] Decker also brought the team's unofficial mascot, "The Mensch on the Bench," which became a recurring feature of the team's public image and attracted media attention.[3][1]

Israel's performance generated pride among Jewish baseball fans, many of whom began wearing the team's Magen David cap.[3] Because the games were played in South Korea, some supporters in the United States woke at 4:30 a.m. to watch them live.[3] The Library of Congress later presented Israel's unexpectedly successful run as evidence that baseball had extended beyond its traditional strongholds.[9]

After finishing first in Pool A, Israel advanced to the second round in Tokyo, where it faced Cuba, the Netherlands, and Japan.[1] Israel defeated Cuba to begin that stage, extending its winning streak to four consecutive games.[3][4] It then lost its final two games and finished sixth among the sixteen teams in the tournament.[3]

A contemporary Maariv commentary characterized Israel's advancement among the final eight teams as an unprecedented national achievement and argued that the players' display of the Israeli flag and singing of Hatikvah carried significance beyond sport.[10]

Contemporary coverage repeatedly framed Israel's Pool A sweep as an underdog or Cinderella story. The Israel Forever Foundation described the roster as an enormous underdog that upset established baseball powers, while Walla surveyed American coverage that compared the team to Jamaica's celebrated 1988 Olympic bobsled squad and emphasized the improbability of its run.[3][1]

The roster's composition also prompted discussion in Israel about national representation and diaspora identity. Walla presented both the players' connection to Jewish heritage and criticism that a roster consisting overwhelmingly of American Jews was more Jewish than Israeli. Player Ty Kelly responded that the team was following the tournament's rules, felt connected to Israel, and hoped its success would help make baseball more popular there.[1]

The four-game winning streak gave Israeli baseball visibility beyond its small domestic base. The Jewish Virtual Library highlighted both the victories over South Korea and Cuba and the team's goal of raising awareness of a sport that was not widely played in Israel.[4] The players' use of Israeli symbols, the enthusiasm surrounding the Magen David cap, and their public engagement with Jewish identity also made the run culturally significant for many Jewish baseball fans.[3]