January 28, 2025

ISRAEL BASEBALL LAUNCHES NEW MEDIA PLATFORM

Israel Baseball News to Feature Israel Baseball Content from the Game’s Top Writers

by Aaron Cheris

New York, NY – With the growth of the Jewish baseball community and mounting attention for Team Israel ahead of the upcoming 2025 European Championship and 2026 World Baseball Classic, Israel Baseball unveiled its official online media platform, Israel Baseball News.

“We wanted to have our own platform to bring fans closer to Team Israel, publish interesting stories about our players and coaches, and give the Jewish baseball community a place to gather and learn about what we’re doing,” said Nate Fish, CEO of Israel Baseball Americas. 

Israel Baseball News will feature original content on Jewish Baseball and Team Israel from some of the top baseball writers in the country. One of the first stories to be published will be a feature on the ongoing partnership between Team Israel and the Dominican Republic, with insights on how Israeli baseball players are currently training in the Dominican. 

In the coming weeks, more stories will include an article on Jewish Baseball Cards, a feature on Israel Baseball in Chicago, the launch of Israel Baseball’s exciting new partnership with Wilson, and a tribute to the late, great pitcher Ken Holtzman, among much more content. 

Leading the way for this platform will be: 

• Editor Marty Appel: Former New York Yankees Public Relations Director, Emmy Award winner, and author of 24 books including Pinstripe Empire on the history of the Yankees. 
• Editor Mike Wilner: Toronto Star baseball columnist who has covered the Toronto Blue Jays for 37 seasons. Host of the Deep Left Field podcast and broadcaster for Team Israel in 2021. 
• Editor Alex Rosenwald: Senior Director of Communications at The Hill. 

Contributing to this new platform will be some of the best writers in the game including: 

• Jay Horwitz: Director of Media Relations, New York Mets; Media Advisor, Israel Baseball
• Frankie Sachs: Aka Mr. EuroLeague, Secretary General of the Israel Association of Baseball.
• Jonathan Mayo: MLB.com Senior Writer, producer of Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, and author of Smart, Wrong, and Lucky: The Origin Stories of Baseball’s Unexpected Stars. 
• Noah Berger: English producer for El Extrabase, a Spanish language platform that primarily covers MLB and the Venezuelan professional league, as well as other Caribbean baseball leagues. 
• Jacob Gurvis: Writer/editor, Jewish Sport Report newsletter, Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Content Producer, Major League Baseball. 
• Bill Simons: SUNY Oneonta Professor Emeritus and co-director of The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball. 
• William Ressler: Communications professor at Ithaca college.
• Jeremy Fine: Aka The Great Rabbino, Rabbi at Congregation B’nai Tikvah in Deerfield, Illinois.
• Chase Levitt: Data professional and Columbia University graduate, currently a member of SABR. 

More contributors to Israel Baseball News will be announced in the future.

Israel Baseball is currently ranked as the number 19 team in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. 

Team Israel has gone on three improbable runs in the past decade. 

First, after winning a qualifying tournament to make the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Team Israel swept group play with wins over South Korea, Taiwan, and the Netherlands before ultimately falling to powerhouse Japan in the knockout rounds for a sixth-place finish.

Israel later qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by winning another qualifying tournament in 2019, ultimately finishing fifth in the pandemic-delayed Olympic games. Israel’s win over Mexico in the Olympics marked the first Israeli team sport victory at the Olympics since 1968. 

With their strong performance in the 2017 WBC, Team Israel qualified for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, finishing fourth in the “group of death” to automatically qualify for the 2026 tournament. 

For more information on Israel Baseball or to learn how you can get involved, please visit israelbaseball.org.