Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs takes us inside how Team Israel came together and the unique vibes around the team at the World Baseball Classic.
Israel opens play in the loaded Group D on Sunday at noon against Nicaragua. Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer gets the ball for Israel.
This year, he reached out to me a few months ago about playing. I think it was maybe in September of last year. And Sam Fuld, our GM, he played for Team Israel in the last WBC, and so talking to him, he said that it was something that I absolutely should do. Hearing the motivation from him, having played in the WBC for Team Israel, it felt like a no-brainer to come over here and play for Team Israel.Yeah, no doubt, I was following along from a distance.
You know, we have Shlomo Lipitz on the team who was born in Israel and now lives in Brooklyn. Just seeing guys that have been to Israel, grew up in Israel, were born in Israel, it’s something I don’t think I’ve ever felt as connected to until being on this team.I was bar mitzvah-ed. I grew up with a Jewish mother [Marti] who raised me and my brother [C.J] Jewish, and just growing up, going to Hebrew school on Wednesdays, Sunday school on Sundays. We both had bar mitzvahs at age 13.
Watching the Mets build what they’re trying to build as a dynasty and what we’re trying to build over here in Philly as a dynasty, so for that to be in the same division, and throw the Braves in there, too — the NL East is absolutely loading up with the best players in the world. So it’s going to be really fun to watch our division go after each other this year.
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