H EADLINES
New Documentary Follows Team Israel’s 2020
Attempt at Olympics After 2017 Success
IS RA EL
VICTORIA BROWN | JE FEATURE
BASEBALL MIGHT NOT be
the fi rst thing that comes to
mind when you think of Israel,
yet a new documentary sets
out to change that, profi ling a
number of skilled ballplayers.

Team Israel’s surprising run
to the semifi nals in the 2017
World Baseball Classic, where
the team beat top-ranked
squads from the Netherlands,
South Korea and Taiwan, was
the subject of the August 2018
documentary Heading Home:
Th e Tale of Team Israel.

Now, as Team Israel gears
up to qualify for the 2020
Olympics, a forthcoming doc-
umentary, Heading Home 2:
Th e Return of the Mensch,
follows both new and old
faces as 10 American-Jewish
baseball players become dual
American-Israeli citizens in
order to compete.

While the World Baseball
Classic only requires that play-
ers be eligible for citizenship
in the country for which they
play, Olympic rules require
that athletes be citizens of the
country they are representing.

Pitcher Alex Katz grew up
in Long Island, N.Y., but is
now a dual citizen. Katz previ-
ously played for the Baltimore
Orioles’ minor league teams.

He’s ecstatic about his new
dual citizenship and doesn’t
feel there are any downsides.

See Documentary, Page 21
Members of Team Israel, which made the 2017 World Baseball Classic semifi nals
Photo courtesy of Team Israel
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JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
MARCH 7, 2019
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