Jonathan de Marte

De Marte grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York, where he starred as a pitcher and hitter at Lakeland High School.[2] His performances on the mound were exceptional: he posted a 1.22 ERA with 59 strikeouts and just five walks across 40 innings, while also contributing at the plate with a .492 batting average and 20 runs batted in.[2] That combination of dominance earned him the Gatorade New York State High School Player of the Year award in both 2010 and 2011 — consecutive honors that marked him as one of the top young players in the state.[2]

De Marte attended Hebrew school from around first or second grade through his bar mitzvah and observed Jewish traditions including Hanukkah and Passover.[2] He later reflected that his appreciation for those roots deepened as an adult. "I always identified. I just wish that there was more effort put in on my end, more effort to understanding why I'm in Hebrew school, and what it means to me, instead of waiting till you're 25 years old to shape that meaning for yourself," he told the Jerusalem Post.[2]

After high school, de Marte attended the University of Richmond.[2] His path through professional baseball proved difficult. He played in multiple independent leagues — including the Frontier League, the Atlantic League, and the Canadian-American Association — and also competed in the Australian Baseball League.[2] Throughout that journey, injuries took a significant toll: he underwent five surgeries addressing problems with his arm, elbow, rotator cuff, and a double hernia, all of which limited his playing time over the years.[2]

In October 2018, de Marte was among ten Jewish-American baseball players who obtained Israeli citizenship at the Bureau of Population and Immigration Authority office in Jaffa.[4] Because Olympic participants were required to hold citizenship in the country they represented, gaining Israeli citizenship was a necessary step toward competing for the national team.[4]

De Marte went on to participate in Israel's 2019 Olympic-qualifying campaigns.[2] In a September 2019 game against Italy, the score was tied 2–2 heading into the eighth inning. De Marte pitched the final two innings and held Italy scoreless as Israel pulled away for an 8–2 victory.[5]

De Marte was included on Israel's baseball roster for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held July 23 through August 8, 2021, after being postponed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.[1] Israel's appearance marked the country's Olympic baseball debut. The team had ranked 41st in the world in 2017 before completing its successful Olympic qualification campaign in 2019.[2][3]

For de Marte, the Olympics combined a career milestone with his Jewish and Israeli identity. He described wearing the Israeli uniform as especially meaningful because it placed on his chest an identity to which he already felt connected.[2]