Israel hit three home runs, Jason Marquis pitched four perfect innings and the Israeli baseball team clobbered Great Britain 9-1 to advance to pool play in the World Baseball Classic in Seoul next March. Israel will be matched up with the hosts South Korea, the Netherlands and Chinese Taipei.
Israel left no doubt in the qualifying final. The game was tight until the bottom of the fourth inning. Blake Gailen and former Red Sox catcher Ryan Lavarnway both hit two-run homers to put Israel up 4-0, and they were off and running.
Cody Decker also homered in the sixth and the Israelis tacked on additional runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth. The bullpen continued Marquis’ perfect game until Jasrado Chisolm walked with one out the seventh. Albert Cartwright ended the no-hitter with two outs in the eighth. He scored GB’s only run when Chavez Young singled him home one batter later.
Israel finished off a perfect 3-0 run to win the qualifier. They avenged a heartbreaking 9-7 loss to Spain in 10 innings in the qualifier championship game in 2012. Israel had two tight games to open the Brooklyn qualifier. White Sox prospect Brad Goldberg closed out the first games, 5-2 over Great Britain and 1-0 over Brazil.
The home runs were the only ones Israel hit in three games. Lavarnway and Decker led the team with three RBI each, and Gailen went 1-for-2 in his only game to lead in batting average.
The pitch count necessitated an effort by the entire pitching staff for Israel to advance. The staff was led by Marquis, Cardinals prospect Corey Baker – who started against Brazil – and Goldberg. Seven pitchers appeared for Israel. Marquis and Josh Zeid were the only two to give up runs.
The team that qualified might look very different than the one that plays in March. If they had qualified in 2013, there were rumblings that Ryan Braun, Ian Kinsler and Kevin Youkilis were considering playing. Braun played on the 2013 U.S. team and he and Kinsler will both be candidates for the 2017 U.S. team.
Kinsler’s father is Jewish and his mother Catholic. Braun also has a gentile mother, but his father is not only Jewish, he’s Israeli. When asked by the Israeli website Walla! in 2011 if he would play for Israel, he said:
"“Wow, I would be happy to play for Team Israel… There is no determining factor, I would just do it. If the United States did not ask me to play on their team, I would like to join another team, if asked. The truth is that if a proposal comes from team USA to play for them, I will have a very difficult decision to make. Yuk [Boston’s Kevin Youkilis], Braun [Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun] and I could make a fantastic team. I am sure that I’ll talk it over with Yuk – we always laugh about things like this.”"
Major league players who could play for Israel are:
- Richard Bleier (P), New York Yankees
- Ryan Braun (RF/LF), Milwaukee Brewers
- Alex Bregman (SS), Houston Astros – hamstring
- Scott Feldman (P), Toronto Blue Jays
- Sam Fuld (CF/LF), Oakland Athletics – Out all of 2016
- Ian Kinsler (2B), Detroit Tigers – concussion
- Joc Pederson (CF), Los Angeles Dodgers
- Kevin Pillar (CF), Toronto Blue Jays
- Danny Valencia (3B/LF), Oakland Athletics
Next: World Baseball Classic: 15 Year Old Pitches for Brazil
If Israel can get even a few players off the above list to commit to playing for them in March, they will have a good chance to advance against the Netherlands, South Korea and Chinese Taipei. They have good power hitters on the team that played in Brooklyn, and it might come down to getting starting pitchers that can help them compete.