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FIVE MORE AMERICAN JEWISH BASEBALL PLAYERS TO MAKE ALIYAH
Former major leaguers and minor league players will be added to the Team Israel Olympic Games 2020 Roster
TEL AVIV, Israel—The Israel Association Baseball (IAB) has announced that five Jewish American players are arriving in Israel to make Aliyah. The players, who played for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, will be added to the roster of the 2020 Olympic Games team to play in Tokyo. Team Israel earned a spot in the baseball tournament of next year’s Olympics by winning the Europe/Africa Qualifier in Italy in September.
The players are: • Ryan Lavarnway, catcher, played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds. He was the MVP of Pool A of the World Baseball Classic in 2017. Ryan played in the World Series for Boston. • Josh Zeid, pitcher, played for the Houston Astros of MLB. • Jared Lakind, pitcher, plays for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. • Scott Burcham, short stop, plays for the Hartford Yard Goats (AA) of the Colorado Rockies organization • Jake Fishman, pitcher, plays for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA) of the Toronto Blue Jays organization.
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While they are in Israel, the players will be coaching the local baseball players, including a special practice of Baseball Plus for players from ages 9-15 at the Baptist Village on November 20, and they will be working with the players in the Israel Baseball Academy.
The players will be holding a press conference on Sunday November 24 at 10:30 at the Israel Olympic Committee offices in Tel Aviv.
“We are very excited to welcome back into Team Israel some of the most exciting players who played for Israel at the World Baseball Classic in 2017, as Israeli citizens now” says Peter Kurz, Team Israel General Manager. “It’s an incredible achievement to have reached the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, but now we are working on putting together the highest quality roster that will give us the best chance of coming home with an Olympic medal.”
The IAB promotes and teaches the game of baseball in Israel. Nearly 1,000 players play in the IAB’s leagues from ages six to adults. The IAB brings together Israelis of various ethnicities who play on teams both within the country and represent Israel in national teams abroad. For more information about Israel Baseball, please visit baseball.org.il.