It has been said that baseball is religion, and this belief might be especially true after what occurred at MCU Park in Brooklyn this past weekend.
Team Israel clinched its first berth in the World Baseball Classic by sweeping three games at a qualifying tournament, beating out Great Britain, Brazil and Pakistan to earn the last spot in the 16-team tournament for 2017.
Of the 28 players on Israel’s roster, 21 are currently affiliated with major league organizations, eight have MLB experience, and all are Jewish by heritage, if not also by faith. Former MLB pitcher Jason Marquis, who qualifies for Team Israel based on his ancestry, described his motivation to join even though he’s a native New Yorker.
Read the story by Thomas Neumann at ESPN.