Jonathan D. Salant | JNS
As Team Israel prepares to take on the world in the next World Baseball Classic, scheduled for March, it does so against the background of a global spike in Jew-hatred in the aftermath of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Two members of the Israel team with strong Baltimore ties are ready for that challenge.
The two veterans of the 2023 team, which did well enough to secure an automatic bid for the 2026 event, told JNS that they are prouder than ever to wear the blue and white.
“That means everything to me, and it gives me even more of a reason to do it and wear the colors and wear the flag with even more pride,” Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer told JNS.
Likewise, Baltimore-area native Spencer Horwitz, an infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, told JNS that the climate “makes me want to play even more.”
“I’m proud of where I come from,” Horwitz said. “If anything, it’s helping me.”
Horwitz said that he enjoyed his time on the 2023 team so much that he wanted a repeat.
“That was an amazing experience, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do it again,” he said.
Horwitz, 28, was born and grew up in Timonium, north of Baltimore. In interviews, he has said he grew up “around the Jewish culture” but made stronger connections with the community once he started gaining notice as a relatively rare Jewish professional baseball player.
“I guess it’s something I never appreciated until recently,” he told the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle after being traded to the Pirates in December 2024. “With what’s going on in the world, playing for Team Israel, that was an amazing experience that connected me with a lot of people. The Jewish people have always amazed me with what they’ve overcome and hopefully I can inspire others to [do the same].”
Horwitz, a left-handed hitting first baseman, played in a career-high 108 games for the Pirates this past season, swatting 11 home runs and batting. 272.
Kremer, the first Israeli-American to play Major League Baseball, told JNS that he feels “more at home with the Israeli people.”
“My parents are from there, and my whole family lives there, and we’ve been going back since I was born [in California],” he said. “That place is home away from home.”
For much of the year, Kremer’s home is Baltimore, for whom he has pitched since coming to the major leagues in 2020. The right-hander, who turns 30 this month, has been part of the Orioles’ starting rotation for the past four years, winning 11 games in 2025 and striking out 142 batters, the second-best mark of his career.
The Israeli national team first burst into the spotlight at the 2017 World Baseball Classic when, then ranked 41st in the world, Israel upset South Korea (No. 3), Chinese Taipei/Taiwan (No. 4) and the Netherlands (No. 9) to advance to the second round. It then beat Cuba (No. 5) before the magic ran out.
In 2023, Team Israel, then ranked 20th, didn’t fare as well. Its 1-3 record was nonetheless good enough to qualify the squad for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
This March, Israel will play in Miami against the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela in the first round. The top two teams will advance to the next round.
JNS talked to Kremer and Horwitz as they appeared at a Chanukah event held at Chizuk Amuno Congregation on Dec. 14. They signed autographs, posed for pictures and participated in a panel discussion.
At the discussion, Kremer said that when he visits Israel regularly to see family, there are constant reminders of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
“It’s very much acknowledged,” he said. “There’s yellow ribbons and yellow flags everywhere. You take care of each other.”
“They may not have tomorrow, and so that’s how they live,” he added, “making sure they take care of their own.”
