Qualifier 1 of the Qualifying Round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic was held at Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter, Florida, United States from September 19 to 23, 2012.
Qualifier 1 was a modified double-elimination tournament. The winners for the first games matched up in the second game, while the losers faced each other in an elimination game. The winner of the elimination game then played the loser of the non-elimination game in another elimination game. The remaining two teams then played each other to determine the winner of the Qualifier 1.
Team Israel, under the Classic's rules, was entitled to have non-Israeli citizens of Jewish heritage play for the team. The players who qualified to play on the Israeli team included major leaguers catcher Ryan Lavarnway, first baseman Ike Davis, second basemen Ian Kinsler and Josh Satin, third basemen Kevin Youkilis and Danny Valencia, outfielders Ryan Braun (whose father is Israeli), Sam Fuld, Ryan Kalish, and Gabe Kapler, and pitchers Jason Marquis, Scott Feldman, Craig Breslow, and John Grabow, as well as what were then recent major leaguers catcher Brad Ausmus and pitcher Scott Schoeneweis.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Kinsler said:
"Wow, I would be happy to play for Team Israel.... The truth is that if a proposal comes from Team USA to play for them, I will have a very difficult decision to make. Yuk [Kevin Youkilis], Braun [Ryan Braun], and I could make a fantastic team. I am sure that I'll talk it over with Yuk – we always laugh about things like this."[7]
Outfielder Shawn Green, who retired in 2007, was also eligible inasmuch as he is Jewish, and said in early June 2011 that assuming it works out, it "would be an honor" and he "would love to" play for Israel in the Classic.[8][9]
Because they were held in September, however, with the Major League Baseball season still in progress, Qualifiers 1 and 2 could not feature major league players such as the above ones who qualified to play for Team Israel.[10][11] Kevin Youkilis announced that he would play for the team if they made it past the qualifying round.[12]
The highest-level players involved in Qualifiers 1 and 2 were minor-league prospects ranked among the top 20 in their respective organizations.[13] Team Israel, managed by former major league All Star Brad Ausmus and coached by former major leaguer Gabe Kapler, included minor league pitchers Eric Berger (1–0) and Brett Lorin, first baseman Nate Freiman (.417; 4 HR in 12 AB), second baseman Josh Satin (.273), shortstops Jake Lemmerman and Ben Orloff, and outfielders Adam Greenberg, Ben Guez, Joc Pederson (.308), and Robbie Widlansky.[14][15][16] Also, retired major leaguer Shawn Green played for Israel (.333).[15]
In Qualifier 1, Israel and Spain both won easily in the first round. Israel then beat Spain in the winner's bracket. Spain then eliminated South Africa to earn a rematch with Israel. Spain won the winner-take-all final game, 9–7 in 10 innings, to advance to the main tournament.
Bracket
edit| Preliminaries | Semifinals | Qualifier | |||||||||||
| – |  Israel | 7 | |||||||||||
| – |  South Africa | 3 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Israel | 4 | |||||||||||
| W2 |  Spain | 2 | |||||||||||
| – |  France | 0 | |||||||||||
| – | Spain | 8 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Israel | 7 | |||||||||||
| W5 | Spain | 9 | |||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| W4 | South Africa | 3 | |||||||||||
| L1 | South Africa | 5 | L3 | Spain | 13 | ||||||||
| L2 | France | 2 | |||||||||||
Results
edit- All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00).
Israel 7, South Africa 3
edit| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Israel |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| South Africa |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Eric Berger (1–0) LP: Dylan Unsworth (0–1) Home runs: ISR: Nate Freiman 2 (2) RSA: None Attendance: 1,581 (23.0%) Umpires: HP − Chris Segal, 1B − Sean Barber, 2B − Trevor Grieve, 3B − Jens Waider Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spain 8, France 0
edit| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain |
2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 8 | 16 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Nick Schumacher (1–0) LP: Patrice Briones (0–1) Home runs: FRA: None ESP: Bárbaro Cañizares (1) Attendance: 975 (14.2%) Umpires: HP − Quinn Wolcott, 1B − Jairo Mendoza, 2B − Sean Barber, 3B − Trevor Grieve Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Israel 4, Spain 2
edit| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Israel |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Justin Schumer (1–0) LP: Richard Salazar (0–1) Sv: Josh Zeid (1) Home runs: ISR: Nate Freiman 2 (4) ESP: None Attendance: 814 (11.8%) Umpires: HP − Sean Barber, 1B − Chris Segal, 2B − Jens Waider, 3B − Jairo Mendoza Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Africa 5, France 2
edit| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| France |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Dylan De Meyer (1–0) LP: Pierrick Le Mestre (0–1) Attendance: 922 (13.4%) Umpires: HP − Trevor Grieve, 1B − Jairo Mendoza, 2B − Quinn Wolcott, 3B − Chris Segal Notes: Suspended due to rain after 9 innings and completed on September 22. Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spain 13, South Africa 3
edit| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| South Africa |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Ricardo Hernández (1–0) LP: Kieran Lovegrove (0–1) Attendance: 1,183 (17.2%) Umpires: HP − Quinn Wolcott, 1B − Sean Barber, 2B − Jairo Mendoza, 3B − Jens Waider Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spain 9, Israel 7
edit| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Israel |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Iván Granados (1–0) LP: Josh Zeid (0–1) Attendance: 4,463 (65.0%) Umpires: HP − Chris Segal, 1B − Trevor Grieve, 2B − Jens Waider, 3B − Quinn Wolcott Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ "World Baseball Classic: Israel, managed by Bra". Sporting News. May 21, 2012. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ Belson, Ken (June 1, 2011). "Israel to Participate in 2013 World Baseball Classic". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
- ^ "Israel invited to qualify for World Baseball Classic". JTA. June 2, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
- ^ Jeremy Fine. "The Great Rabbino". Retrieved July 16, 2011.
- ^ Aaron Yellin (June 7, 2011). "Israel to Participate in 2013 World Baseball Classic". The Forward. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
- ^ "Jews to Play in Baseball All-Star Game - Shalom Life". Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
- ^ Ben, Daniel (May 1, 2010). "Baseball / Jewish MLB stars could play for Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
- ^ Leichenger, Alex (June 21, 2011). "Jewish baseball player supports Little League efforts". Jewish Journal. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
- ^ Belson, Ken (June 8, 2011). "Shawn Green Says He'd Play for Israel in World Baseball Classic". The New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
- ^ Neistat, Aimee (August 24, 2012). "Baseball / World Classic / Youkilis says he will play for Israel, if it qualifies for tournament". Haaretz. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ "World Baseball Classic: Israel squad could be dangerous with stars Ryan Braun, Ian Kinsler available". Sporting News. May 21, 2012. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ Neistat, Aimee (August 24, 2012). "Baseball / World Classic / Youkilis says he will play for Israel, if it qualifies for tournament". Haaretz. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
- ^ "World Baseball Classic: There are plenty of prospects to watch in this month's World Baseball Classic qualifiers". worldbaseballclassic.com. September 21, 2012. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ "Gabe Kapler, Who Helmed Team Israel in World Baseball Classic, Named Philadelphia Phillies Manager". Haaretz.
- ^ a b "World Baseball Classic: Team – Israel". worldbaseballclassic.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ "World Baseball Classic: Stats". worldbaseballclassic.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2013.