The way Jewish DMV residents took to Team Israel, it is hard to believe that it did not advance to the second round in the World Baseball Classic and finished 12th out of 20 teams overall.
Way more important to Jesse Mendelson of Potomac was watching the team with his father and sons as the Israeli players “lined up on the foul line with kippahs on as ‘Hatikvah’ was played.” Experiencing the game “with my dad and their zayde made it really a special day,” he said.
Mendelson, a volunteer leader on Israel Baseball’s Greater Washington Council, went to Miami with other members of Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah in Potomac and “had the time of my life.” All three generations of the Mendelson family are huge baseball fans, mostly rooting for different Major League Baseball teams, but all standing strong for Israel.
Mendelson also attended the games three years ago “when the team was not very good at the time.” Still, he stood strong as the Puerto Rican team threw a no-hitter against Israel and during the first round, when Israel had one hit and only two base runners. “We keep describing the first one as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Israel’s team improved this time around, and the three generations of male Mendelson family members were joined by Jesse Mendelson’s wife. “This time, Israel was a noticeably better team.”
He already plans to attend the next World Baseball Classic, and he is sure Israel’s team will continue to improve. “I plan to go as long as I can,” he said.
“Israel will never be one of the top teams” whose rosters are filled with major league players and Hall of Famers, he said.
However, he added, “There’s no reason Israel can’t get better” and become a top-10 team.
The stadium was filled with people of goodwill from many countries, he said. Fans of the Dominican Republic team around him congratulated his family when Israel hit a home run. He experienced no antisemitism at all, he said.
Aviva Krauthammer and her daughter, Maya Freedman, had a similar upbeat experience. “I was a little bit concerned about security,” she admitted, adding she felt only positive vibes. “It was 100% the opposite,” she said, noting that there were no antisemitic comments or incidents. “Everyone was so respectful. There was just a warmth.”
Krauthammer only started hearing about Team Israel and the World Baseball Classic a few months before the actual games. She attended a parent event at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School and noticed another parent donning a Team Israel baseball hat.
Already a big baseball fan, she decided to attend a Feb. 10 event at Woodmont Country Club in Bethesda when the athletes and coaches who would represent Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic were revealed.
The next thing she knew, she had joined Israel Baseball’s Greater Washington Council and decided to travel to Miami for the games.
“Baseball already was in my DNA,” she said, pointing to her youth in Los Angeles rooting for the Dodgers.
Right before one of Team Israel’s games, she attended an Erev Shabbat gathering. “It was like a little mishpacha (family) — a Team Israel mishpacha. It was very sweet. It had a very strong sense of tying baseball with Judaism and Israel.”
The Silver Spring resident is very glad she went. “I felt like especially in the world that we are in right now, there’s a lot going on. It is a challenging time, and I felt it was especially important to show our support.”
While not attending all of Team Israel’s games, Krauthammer enjoyed WBC watch parties at Stella Point Grille in Kensington, Duke’s Grocery in Foggy Bottom and Duke’s Grocery in Potomac.
Adam Basciano and Jason Pressberg co-chair Israel Baseball’s Greater Washington Council. “The goal is to grow Jewish baseball in the area, locally and worldwide, on and off the field,” Basciano said.
The council hopes it can set up a pipeline that convinces young Jewish baseball players to get involved with Team Israel, and one day make the World Baseball Classic games, he said.
The idea also is to “allow people to celebrate Jewish identity and Jewish roots,” Basciano said. The council members are working to forge partnerships with area synagogues and Israel-based organizations so that the team has “a robust future” and locals can feel pride.
It is one thing for Jewish leaders to talk about how bad antisemitism is, but his council is striving to have Jews “come together, cheer and build community.”
Basciano attended Team Israel’s game against Venezuela, which went on to win the WBC. He was thrilled to see how many fans were there.
He hears “Hatikvah” often, “but doing it in a baseball stadium filled with fans from around the world” is a totally different experience, Basciano said.
Rooting for Team Israel “is good for Jewish identity. It is a way to normalize Jewish identity in the world,” he said.
Due to its performance, Team Israel automatically qualified for the next World Baseball Classic, which will be held in 2030.
Meanwhile, Basciano said that people are invited to check out the private “Israel Baseball in the DMV” Facebook page and “join us in the home dugout for Greater Washington’s Israel baseball community, where Team Israel fans come together to celebrate the game and stay connected.”
Suzanne Pollak is a freelance writer.
