Nate Fish, heading to the 2020 Olympics with Team Israel, filmed their journey. Now CEO of Israel Baseball Americas, he continues to support Israel baseball, fostering talent and resources.
When Nate Fish was about to head off to Japan with Team Israel for the 2020 Olympics (played in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic), Jeremy Newberger, CEO of Ironbound Films, handed him six camcorders and asked him to give them out to players to film their experiences in the Olympic Village and at the Games. Fish was instructed to send the memory cards back when they returned from Tokyo.
‘Israel Swings for Gold’
“I had no idea if we got enough footage or even if the cards were received,” said Fish, who has worn many hats for Israel baseball. Fish has served as the Olympic team’s third-base coach, a member of Team Israel for three World Baseball Classics, and head coach of the Israel National Team.
He is currently CEO of the newly created Israel Baseball Americas, a non-profit organization that aims to create a pipeline of talent for the Israel National Team program, and provide human and financial resources to the Israel Association of Baseball.
“18 months later, I was invited to the premiere of the ‘Israel Swings for Gold’ film in Atlanta. It was awesome!”
Israel baseball swag is on display during last week’s New York premiere of ‘Israel Swings for Gold’ (credit: HOWARD BLAS)
Daniel A. Miller, along with Newberger and Seth Kramer, also co-directed and produced “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel,” the 2018 documentary about the underdog Israel National Team competing for the first time in the World Baseball Classic. Miller recalls the camera hand-off story and the ongoing collaboration differently.
Miller emphasizes the confidence he and his team had in Fish to deliver under unique circumstances.
Capturing the moment
“It was COVID at the time and the Olympic Village was secure and there was no media allowed, and we were thinking of how we could follow the team. We knew that Nate was a big social media type and was media savvy. He got exactly the right things from the team. They captured everything!”
Fans of Team Israel and those who love a good Israel and Jewish story packed the Carole Zabar Center for Film at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan last Tuesday to view the recently released 77-minute film of the footage.
Through their skilled camera work, viewers witness the players flying to Japan – on the same flight as rival Teams USA and Dominican Republic. The film shows team members giving each other haircuts, eating in the Olympic Village dining room, and waiting in a long line for much needed pre-Opening Ceremonies alterations to their uniforms.
The players film themselves jumping on the carefully constructed Japanese cardboard beds to see how many players it would take to break the bed.
The film takes the audience through each game, sharing footage of exciting wins, and disappointing losses. Players try to maintain a sense of normalcy on and off the field, though it quickly becomes clear that their experience as Israelis is anything but normal.
Munich olympics 1976
Footage of Munich’s 1976 Olympics incorporated into the movie helps viewers appreciate the significance of the Israeli flag display in the Olympic Village for the first time since 1976. In addition, the 2020 Olympics paid tribute to the murdered Israeli athletes at the Opening Ceremony for the first time since 1976.
Viewers learn the painstaking process of how players are kept safe throughout their stay in Japan. They wear tracking devices at all times, they pass through facial recognition machines, and their bus is searched regularly by dogs and security officials.
The film shows the audience firsthand how Israeli athletes were regularly rebuffed by athletes from other countries. When athletes regularly exchange pins from other countries, most refuse pins from Israel. Israeli players frequently encountered Palestinian flags and chants of “Free, Free Palestine” in their travels.
“We love baseball, and we love Israel. What better way to spend time than cheering on Jewish sports,” Jeff Goldstein of Toronto, who went to see the players with his whole family, told JNS.
Much ink has spilled on the players and officials who make up Israel’s baseball team, which finished 1-3 at the World Baseball Classic in Miami. Israel competed often in front of crowds that were overwhelmingly rooting for—and drumming and trumpeting vuvuzelas on behalf of—Israel’s rivals. But those who made the trek to Florida to cheer Team Israel on are as die-hard fans as they come.
When Jewish baseball fans heard Team Israel would play in the World Baseball Classic, many rearranged their schedules to make the pilgrimage from Chicago, Toronto, Hartford, San Antonio and Atlanta. Some came from relatively “nearby” Jacksonville—five or six hours south down I-95 or I-75, depending on traffic.
Some brought their kids, others their parents. Some ditched their wives and kids to continue a 30-year tradition that predated their marriage. One clergy member bought tickets for any congregant willing to meet him in Miami and join him for dinner at Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant & Caterers.
Brian Yancelson, a recent college graduate, and his mother Melody came to Miami from San Antonio, Alamo City, to create different sorts of memories.
The baseball-obsessed pair—who have visited all 30 MLB stadiums and 29 minor league stadiums, and have been to a 2017 World Baseball Classic game in San Diego, Field of Dreams and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown—is already planning a baseball trip to the Dominican Republic.
Brian Yancelson and his mother, Melody, from San Antonio. Photo by Howard Blas.
Originally from Mexico City, the Yancelson mother-and-son duo felt like it fit in with both the Jewish and Latino fans. Israel was in a pool with Venezuela (4-0), Dominican Republic (2-1), Puerto Rico (2-1) and Nicaragua (0-4).
“It is really cool for Israel and Jewish people to see you don’t have to be in a little lane; you do everything at the highest level and represent the Jewish people, even if you are not so religious,” Brian, a play-by-play broadcaster and reporter, told JNS. “Being Jewish can be a lot of things for a lot of people.”
Brother-and-sister Andrew and Jennifer Small hail from Connecticut. He now lives in Manchester and she in Hamden. They have both followed Team Israel from the start. Although both of their parents are Jewish, they joke about coming from a “mixed” marriage between a Yankees fan and a Mets fan.
Andrew, who proudly sported an orange shirt with “Tigers” written in Hebrew, allowed that it could be confused for the Detroit Tigers, though he intended it to boost 44-year-old Shlomo Lipetz, who pitched for the Netanya Tigers in the 2007 season.
“I’ve been rooting for Team Israel since the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in 2017 when they captured my imagination and interest,” he said.
He went to a pre-Olympics exhibition game in Hartford and recounted, “I can’t describe how emotional it is just hearing ‘Hatikvah’ every time.”
When Israel played in the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, Andrew stayed up late every night to watch them. “Seeing them win the Nicaragua game on Sunday was amazing,” he said.
Jennifer is glad Israel automatically qualifies for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
“It means so much as American Jews to see us on the international stage and to see legit Jews like [Jacob] Steinmetz,” Andrew said of the Orthodox pitcher.
Brother and sister Andrew and Jennifer Small of Connecticut. Photo by Howard Blas.
‘We are all Zionists’
Jared Green and a half-dozen friends have a 30-year tradition of visiting ballparks that dates back to when they were fellow staffers at Camp Ramah in Canada.
The lead organizer is Mark “Liebs” Lieberman. “Please be advised that I will be out of the office participating in the 30th Annual Baseball Road Trip commencing on Friday, March 10, 2023, until Wednesday, March 15, 2023,” the Toronto law partner’s out-of-office message reads.
“Our trip is ultimately about friendships,” he told JNS. “For this year, our 30th annual baseball road, seeing Israel play made it extra-special.”
“While there wasn’t much to cheer about during the game itself, just being there together to witness Israel participating in the event itself was a great way to culminate our annual trip,” added Lieberman. “It will certainly be an experience we will all remember.”
Green, a Toronto native who lives with his family in Chicago, told JNS that the group goes to a different city each year. “We have been to every city with an MLB team,” he said. “We went to Oakland last year and went to Buffalo the COVID summer when the Blue Jays didn’t play in Toronto.”
Jeff Goldstein of Toronto come to Miami with his wife and three sons: Michael, 11; Alex, 8; and Brayden, 4. Photo by Howard Blas.
Coming to Miami made sense since one member of the crew—hailing from Toronto, Hamilton (Canada), Chicago and Jacksonville—has a daughter who celebrated her bat mitzvah in Jacksonville. The group got to attend those festivities and catch Team Israel.
“We are all Zionists. We thought it would be fun to cheer on Team Israel,” said Green.
Not only did Jeff Goldstein of Toronto come to Miami with his wife and three sons (Michael, 11; Alex, 8; and Brayden, 4), he brought his parents as well.
A kidney specialist, Goldstein took a break from his medical practice, figuring that it would be an important part of his children’s education, even though they missed a few days of school.
“We love baseball, and we love Israel. What better way to spend time than cheering on Jewish sports,” he told JNS.
Draped in Israeli flags and singing ‘Hatikvah’
Jesse Holzer, a cantor in Jacksonville, recalls staying up late to check Team Israel’s scores when it competed in Asia. He was pretty sure he was the only person in the 29,000-seat stadium wearing a Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp kippah. That may sound like an unkosher oxymoron, but the Jumbo Shrimp are a Jacksonville Minor League team. (Team Israel catcher Ryan Lavarnway played for the Shrimp in 2022.)
Holzer also donned a blue-and-white Israel soccer jersey with “Hazzan” (“cantor”) emblazoned on the back. He had hoped to wear a Team Israel jersey, but it didn’t arrive on time for the World Baseball Classic, so he had to improvise. The team has become so popular that he can no longer find game-worn Team Israel jerseys on eBay, as he used to be able to.
Cantor Jesse Holzer of Jacksonville, Fla. Photo by Howard Blas.
“They are nowhere to be found,” he stated.
Watching batting practice before the March 13 game against Puerto Rico on the field, Holzer could hardly contain his excitement. “To be here, to experience the moment of Jews draped in Israeli flags and singing ‘Hatikvah’ in this country, post-COVID,” he said. “To be here to support Team Israel is bashert” (the Yiddish word for “soulmate”).
At the synagogue where Holzer works, they joke that the rabbi, a Yankees fan, stands on one side of the bimah while Holzer, a Red Sox fan, is on the other. He also brings sports, which he calls “my second love,” into his work. For example, if people ask him whether it is a day to receive tachanun—a sobering prayer that is skipped on certain festive days—Holzer answers that depends on whether the day’s sports news is good or bad.
Team Israel being in town—just a five- or six-hour drive from Jacksonville—brought out the cantor’s generosity. He bought 18 tickets (a lucky Jewish number and a chai in Hebrew, meaning “life”) and offered to subsidize any congregant willing to come to Miami.
“It is mostly retirees—people who love baseball and kosher food,” he said. Holzer enjoyed dining with fellow congregants at Ben’s Deli, and, in line with stadium policy, was able to bring one deli sandwich into the game.
A Jewish cardinal (fan)
Robyn Faintich of Atlanta is a lifelong fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. An education consultant, she uses baseball and Judaism in her work, and thinks that Jewish educators can find teaching fodder in Israel’s participation in the World Baseball Classic.
When Israel played Puerto Rico, she had a dilemma, as the latter’s manager is former Cardinals legend Yadier Molina. Her love of Israel prevailed, she told JNS.
Having watched two films about Team Israel’s World Baseball Classic and Olympics runs, Faintich was drawn to the way players were connecting for the first time with their Jewish identities.
“They guys had to trace their lineage, which they had never considered. They were discovering and figuring out their heritage and relationship to Israel—and all of a sudden were making aliyah,” she said.
“This part of the story is a major piece for kids without a major connection. They can see all of these players on MLB teams as a case in point,” she added.
When Kevin Youkilis, a Team Israel coach, took off his cap during the Israeli national anthem to reveal a Team Israel kippah, Faintich saw a teachable moment.
“It tells the story of taking Jewish heritage and turning it into an expression of Jewish identity,” she said. “These players are good role models for Jews who may be disconnected.”
There was no “mercy rule” needed in this game though.
Despite an extreme lack of hitting the past couple of days, Team Israel forwent batting practice on Wednesday, ahead of its game against Venezuela. The players looked sufficiently rested after playing three games in three days—two of them shortened “massacres” due to the so-called mercy rule.
The day with no batting practice helped Israel outhit and outscore its prior two games but its nine hits came up one short—and more important, four runs short—of Venezuela, which won 5-1. The daytime crowd in Miami was small at 18,277.
Ian Kinsler, Team Israel’s manager, reflected after the loss on the team’s experience as it exited the World Baseball Classic.
“We competed. We had a good time,” Kinsler, a four-time All-Star second baseman, two-time Gold Glove winner, and a member of the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox, said. “That first game was obviously a good way to start the tournament. Then it was pretty tough for us, but we played hard as long as we could.”
Whether Kinsler’s future includes another World Baseball Classic with Israel remains to be seen. His family and his day job—working with the Texas Rangers—are his priorities. “We’ll see where that leads,” he said.
Compared to the previous games, Wednesday’s ended unceremoniously after nine innings. Israel sent up six pitchers, with Robert Stock, who gave up three runs on three hits (and a wild pitch) in the first, getting the loss.
Venezuela, which came from behind to beat Nicaragua 4-1 on Tuesday, has a lineup with some big league standouts: second baseman José Altuve (Houston Astros), outfielder Ronald Acuña (Atlanta Braves) and pitcher Edwin Escobar (Yokohama DeNA BayStars). Yet Stock settled down, retiring all three in order in the second and giving up a hit in the third.
The mini, two-out rally Israel strung together in the second, on back-to-back singles by left fielder Alex Dickerson and third baseman Danny Valencia, was more hits than it recorded in its 15 prior innings.
For 24-year-old, Minor League pitcher Daniel Federman, the trip via Uber and airplane from the Baltimore Orioles spring training camp in Sarasota, Fla., to Team Israel’s facility in Jupiter three hours east across the state provided much more than just a chance to play baseball in another Florida city. It affords him the opportunity to reconnect with his Jewish roots and with fond memories of his paternal Jewish grandparents.
Federman, who grew up in the backdrop of Chanukah, Passover and Christmas, had two paternal Jewish grandparents and his mother Amy’s father is Jewish.
“My father’s Jewish side was not extremely religious, but holidays were family times. We got together as part of our heritage,” he told JNS.
The family’s Jewish connection “died out” largely when Federman’s grandparents died. “My father wishes he could but didn’t know how to do it, so it’s been a while,” the pitcher said of his father’s connection to Jewish ritual.
Federman’s father was kicked out of Hebrew school, so he opted not to subject his son to it, and Federman did not celebrate his bar mitzvah. His parents let him decide about his own religious affiliation and supported his decisions.
He played baseball and basketball at his local JCC in Davie, Fla., and almost played Maccabiah basketball before baseball took priority.
Federman said that he first learned about Israel’s World Baseball Classic team as a student at the University of Miami. His fellow baseball teammate at the university, Ben Wanger, pushed him to go on Birthright and to live a more Jewish life, and told him about the Israeli team. Federman has not been able to visit Israel yet, as he has been busy with college, the baseball draft and then his signing.
“I spoke to my mother, and she has been dying to go,” he said of an Israel trip. Ironically, they had decided to go before he got involved with Team Israel. He anticipates that they will make the trip after the baseball season.
Federman, No. 99. Credit: Team Israel.
‘Oh man, you are actually doing it!’
Peter Kurz, general manager of the Israeli team, told JNS that Federman is “definitely a pitcher with potential.”
Wanger’s recommendation of Federman to the team is the sort of thing that has been happening more after the team’s success at the last World Baseball Classic and at the 2020 Olympics.
“Many players came to us upon recommendations of others,” said Kurz. “That’s a major source of our players—simply word of mouth and recruitment by ex-players.”
Federman found out on Feb. 7 that Team Israel invited him to join the 30-member roster for the World Baseball Classic. The team’s first game is on March 11.
“It hit me: Oh man, you are actually doing it!” he said.
He has already had a chance to reaffirm his Jewish identity. The day after arriving at the team’s training center, Federman joined teammates to hear the Megillah on Purim.
With the blessing of the Orioles, he will spend two weeks with Team Israel before joining his Baltimore teammates for spring training.
“There are lots of great guys out there, and I am excited to meet them,” he said of his Team Israel colleagues. The teammates had communicated via group chat, which is par for the course in baseball. When Federman joined the Orioles organization, he also didn’t know anyone.
“The good thing about the baseball community is that there are a lot of mutual connections. You will always know guys you grew up with, and we are all there to play baseball,” he said.
He obviously hopes that he will make it to the major leagues someday, but even if he doesn’t, he thinks what he is experiencing with coreligionists is more than enough.
“Millions would trade with me. It will be unbelievable!” he practically gushed, adding that the World Baseball Classic is “the highest level of competition most will play in front of.”
