By Donald H. Harrison
(Miller family photo)
SAN DIEGO – Avi Miller, a Baltimore native who investigated other parts of the USA before deciding to move more than a year ago to San Diego, was the clever communicator for Team Israel on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook during the recent World Baseball Classic.
With a background in media relations for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and expertise in marketing, Miller made it his goal to draw attention through social media to Team Israel and to the prospect that baseball someday might become as popular in Israel as soccer and basketball.
A group of American expatriates formed the Israel Association for Baseball in 1986, and later, when Miller heard about it, he felt as if two of the most important aspects of his life – Judaism and baseball – were converging. He decided to become involved as a volunteer, offering his expertise to keep people talking about Team Israel.
His quips and puns during this year’s World Baseball Classic, which ultimately was won by Team Japan, acquainted baseball fans with Israel, while teaching Israelis and their devoted friends something about baseball, a sport that still is unknown to many residents of the Jewish state.
Team Israel was assigned to Pool D with four other teams: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. In its first game, it defeated Nicaragua 3-1, then faced a murderers row of powerhouse ball clubs. It fell 10-0 to Puerto Rico, by way of a perfect game hurled by the PR pitchers, suffered another 10-0 loss to the Dominican Republic, and lost 5-1 to Venezuela. Only the top two teams from the pool – Venezuela and Puerto Rico — could advance to the quarterfinals and thus ended Israel’s 2023 WBC adventure.
During one game, Miller tweeted a picture of two Gator-Aide coolers in Team Israel’s dugout. “Don’t tell the MLB, but the cooler on the right is full of Manishewitz,” he quipped.
When Brandon Gold was pitching for Israel, he asked the Twitter universe: “Does anybody know how Brandon makes his tea?”
The answer: “Hebrews it.”
At another point, he remembered his studies at a Hebrew day school in Baltimore: “And there was evening and there was morning, a third day of the World Baseball classic. And Ian Kinsler said, ‘Let there be a lineup’ and there was a lineup.”
Kinsler, a former infielder who spent most of his career with the Texas Rangers and completed it with the San Diego Padres, was the manager of Team Israel this year.
When San Diego Padre Manny Machado blasted a long home run for his native Dominican Republic, Miller told fans on social media: “Machado may have hit a baseball 440 feet against us, but that’s nothing when you remember we do 613 mitzvot every day.”
When 19-year-old Jacob Steinmetz completed several innings on the mound, having struck out Machado and San Diego teammate Juan Soto in the game against the Dominican Republic, Miller showed his the Israeli team gatheering around Steinmetz to congratulate him on his performance. The team “almost had a full minyan” giving Steinmetz fist bumps.
“Q: Name every single Orthodox Jew to strike out Manny Machado on national TV.”
“A: Jacob Steinmetz”
When Bubby Rossman came in as a pitcher, Miller offered “Bubbie rankings: 1) my bubbie; 2) Bubby Rossman; 3) other bubbies.”
The puns and quips kept social media followers interested in the games, but the long-run objective was to draw the attention of people who might have the wherewithal to help develop baseball in Israel. For years the team had played at the Baptist Village in Petach Tikva, and at makeshift ball fields, but now a dedicated venue is under construction and others are planned before the European Championships of 2025, which will be played in Israel.
“The team right now has a lot of American players [who are Jewish, except for Alex Dickerson whose wife and children are Jewish] but as the sport gains traction, and raises money, you can bring up more programs, more coaches, get better equipment and playing surfaces,” Miller said.
“The goal is that in generations to come there will be more and more players born and grown up in Israel,” he added. “Meanwhile it’s good to have that connection to American players, who can support this program. There are clinics and Little Leagues that need to occur in Israel.”
The next World Baseball Classic will be held in 2026. Miller predicted that some of the Team Israel players who are currently in the minor leagues in the U.S. will become Major League Baseball players within the next couple of years and return to play again for the Israeli team.
The prospects and the baseball organizations with whose minor league teams they are currently affiliated include Zack Gelof with the Oakland A’s; Matt Mervis with the Chicago Cubs; and Spencer Horwitz with the Toronto Blue Jays. Current major leaguers who played on Team Israel included Joc Pederson of the San Francisco Giants; Garrett Stubbs of the Philadelphia Phillies; and Dean Kremer of the Philadelphia Phillies.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harison@sdjewishworld.com