By Suzanne Pollak and Andrew Guckes
Adam Gladstone has been around dugouts all his life.
He reached the big leagues as a replay coordinator for the Baltimore Orioles under former manager Buck Showalter, but the Charm City native’s current job might be his most unique yet.
Serving as the COO of Israel Baseball Americas means that Gladstone is largely responsible for helping grow the culture of the game in Israel and garnering the support necessary to do so in North America.
Last week, Gladstone was one of many to beam with pride at an event in Bethesda as the 2026 World Baseball Classic Team Israel roster was unveiled. And while that event was closer to D.C., Gladstone said in an interview with the Jewish Times that Israel Baseball Americas has strong Baltimore roots.
“Two years ago, [CEO] Nate Fish came to me and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about creating an entity that helps support baseball in Israel, but [does] it here in the United States,’ and we created Israel Baseball Americas. And that entity was founded here in Maryland, in Baltimore,” Gladstone said.
Jewish pride and a love for Israel and baseball permeated Woodmont County Club in Bethesda Feb. 10 as the athletes and coaches who will represent Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic were revealed.
“Tonight is more than about baseball. It’s about pride,” declared Josh Verstandig, an advisor for Israel Baseball Americas.
Quite a few big-name professional baseball players will be on the team that is scheduled to compete against 19 other teams in a series similar to the World Cup. Pitcher Dean Kremer from the Orioles, Matt Mervis, a former National who attended Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Spencer Horwitz of the Pirates and Harrison Bader of the Giants were named. Matt Bowman, who played for Bethesda Big Train from 2010 to 2011, also made the roster.
The Israel team will play exhibition games with the Florida Marlins on March 3 and New York Mets the following day. Then, the official World Baseball Classic games will take place. The team will face Venezuela, Nicaragua, The Dominican Republic and the Netherlands in Pool D.
Simon Rosenbaum, Team Israel’s general manager, wished he had more left-handed pitchers and that a few players he hoped to sign hadn’t opted out due to either injuries or schedule conflicts.
“I think we just tried to put together the best team,” Rosenbaum said. “The group of very good baseball players in the world is very small. The group of Jews in the world, also very small, and so when you circle them together in a Venn diagram, you don’t want to pull from any smaller group of players. We just wanted to get the best guys we could.”
He added, “I think we are pretty happy how it came together.”
The world baseball classic occurs every three years. Israel was first invited in 2012. All players named to the Israeli team are either Jewish or have close relatives who are.
For Gladstone, the World Baseball Classic — essentially the World Cup of baseball since its inception in 2012 — is just the most outward-facing part of Israel Baseball Americas mission. The organization supports four other Israeli teams: the 23-and-under, 18-and-under, 14-and-under and 12-and-under teams. They get uniforms, equipment, help partner with coaches and guide athletes in training, nutrition and general baseball know-how.
“What we also do is we’re beginning to work with them on helping to bring their umpiring program up a level,” Gladstone said. “There’s a lot of good things that we as an organization here in the United States have been able to accomplish in the last two years to help really help [Israel Baseball] build their program.”
At the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Team Israel shocked the world by winning their group and advancing to the second round, where they managed to beat powerhouse Cuba before losing to the Netherlands and Japan. Gladstone said he will always remember that year, as it was seminal for the team.
“That’s really where the groundswell of support started, and that’s all we’re trying to do, is give our fan base, our players, our coaches, our staff, our donors and our supporters an avenue to support the organization,” he said.
Ultimately, for Gladstone, the opportunity to build a team for Israel and boost baseball culture in the country as a whole is one he relishes. Team Israel feels the same way, as it’s special to be led by an ex-Major League coach.
“I was very lucky to be able to work at the Major League level, and I was very lucky to do it in my hometown of Baltimore with a team that I grew up watching. [Team Israel] is special to me because it gives me an opportunity to give back,” he said. “I felt that this was a way that I could give back to my religion in a way that I could bring some experience to the table.”
