It was a dream come true for all of Israel baseball when the 10 MLB players stepped off the plane onto Israeli soil on a rainy January 4 afternoon. Ike Davis, Ty Kelly, Ryan Lavarnway, Sam Fuld, Josh Zeid, Cody Decker, Jon Moscot, Corey Baker and Jeremy Bleich; and Gabe Kapler, Los Angeles Dodgers Director of Player Development, along with a group led by Israel Association of Baseball supporter and friend Jeff Aeder (founder of the virtual Jewish Baseball Museum), arrived with a purpose – to show the players who had not yet visited Israel, what they will be playing for come March. The players are representing Israel at the World Baseball Classic in Seoul, South Korea, where, as part of Team Israel, they will be taking on teams from South Korea, Netherlands and Chinese Taipei.
Joining the group was a camera crew that filmed the group as they discovered Israel and their roots for a documentary called “Heading Home”. Watch this space for more about that when it’s done.
In the 6 days, the group spent in Israel, they packed in a lot of site seeing – Tel Aviv’s Independence Hall, to Jaffa’s port, the main sites of Jerusalem – Yad Vashem, the Kotel, Old City, Machaneh Yehudah; the Dead Sea; Masada, and much more. But it was the event held on January 5 at the Baptist Village that was the highlight of the trip for Israel Baseball. Hundreds of players and their families turned out to see the visitors practicing on the field. They threw side by side with members of the Israel Baseball Academy, and their coaches. They took time to meet with all the young players, answer their questions, sign autographs and smile for selfies. They also unveiled a plaque to be placed at the Ra'anana field that is to be built, in the memory of Ezra Schwartz, who was killed in 2015 in a terror attack. It was a special night for everyone who attended. Not even the chilly weather could put a damper on things.
The next day, the players participated in the groundbreaking for the new Bet Shemesh facility, that will be built in the coming year. Cody Decker addressed the crowd on behalf of the players, and Josh Zeid and Ike Davis symbolically broke ground on the new development. There too, they met with young fans and signed autographs.
“Having the group here was a dream come true for us,” says Peter Kurz, President of the IAB. “They had a great time and now have a really strong connection to the country they will be representing at the WBC in Korea in March.”
Indeed, the players very quickly embraced Israel and were so impressed with everything they saw. They regularly posted on Twitter, making their excitement clear to all. On this first day in Tel Aviv, Decker tweeted very simply: “Tel Aviv. We’re home.” When he got to Jerusalem, he tweeted: “As far as views go, this one is on my top 5 list ever…Jerusalem is beautiful”; on swimming in the Dead Sea: “Remember that one time I dunked my head in the Dead Sea and was blinded for several minutes? That was a good idea…” he joked after swimming in an unusually wavy sea.
While at the Dead Sea, the players took advantage of the mineral rich mud, and had a good time spreading it on one another. Corey Baker tweeted a picture of himself with Zeid, Jon Moscot and Ryan Lavarnway indulging themselves in a full body mud bath, saying: “Just a bunch of guys being dudes and exfoliating.” Sam Fuld summed up his trip saying: “From the Mediterranean to the Dead (Sea), the Western Wall to graffiti wall, Masada to sabbaba, what a trip.” On the last day of the trip, Zeid tweeted: “One of the best weeks ever. Doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, Israel is an incredible, must see experience.”
We all thank these players for taking time out of their schedules and coming to visit Israel.

{gallery}Team Israel WBC Trip to Israel{/gallery}