Team Israel Plays Exhibition Game in Aberdeen Before Heading to Tokyo Olympics

Team Israel pitcher Benny Wanger signs autographs before an exhibition game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)

Harford County’s largest city, Aberdeen (pop. 15, 848), has never been known as a hotbed of Jewish life and culture. Finding a decent knish there would be no easy feat.

But on Monday afternoon, July 19, hundreds of area Jews made the trek to the small town located 26 miles northeast of Baltimore — and best known as birthplace of the legendary Ripken family and home to the Aberdeen Proving Ground military installation — to watch Israel’s national baseball team compete in an exhibition game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League All-Stars.

Team Israel is currently touring the northeastern United States before traveling to Tokyo for the 2021 Summer Olympic Games. Other cities and towns in which Team Israel was scheduled to play exhibition games are Rockville, Maryland, Pomona, New York, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, New York, Hartford, Connecticut, Central Islip, New York, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The Aberdeen game was played at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium, home of the Aberdeen IronBirds, the High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. (Prior to the game, Team Israel stopped off at Mikey & Mel’s Famous Deli in Howard County’s Fulton community for a lunchtime nosh.)

Among the local groups that attended the game were the Baltimore Jewish Council, The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Pikesville Jewish Congregation, Harford Chabad, Congregation Kneseth Israel in Annapolis, Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, Temple Adas Shalom-The Harford Jewish Center, Chabad of Anne Arundel County and Pikesville’s Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation. (The singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Hatikvah” was performed by the Temple Adas Shalom Choir.)

Nearly 2,100 people attended the game, including Adi Ratzon, the Baltimore Zionist District’s shlicha, or Israel emissary, who enjoyed taking in her first baseball game.

Despite the strong support from the stands, Team Israel lost to the Ripken All-Stars, 9-3.

“Even though Team Israel lost, it was a moment of community-wide celebration, the likes of which I haven’t seen since COVID hit,” said Mount Washington resident Ira Gewanter, manager of corporate partnerships for The Associated. “It was a really nice way to emerge from Tisha B’Av [the major day of communal mourning on the Jewish calendar, which was observed July 17-18].”

  • Team Israel pitcher Matt Soren signs autographs before an exhibition game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • From left, Philippe Lerner, of Baltimore, and his sons, James, 7, and Jacky, 14, attend an exhibition baseball game between Team Israel and the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • Ora Goldman, who was visiting from Los Angeles, supports Team Israel during an exhibition baseball game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • Team Israel catcher Ryan Lavarnway, right, who played Major League Baseball, including earlier this season for the Cleveland Indians, makes a tag at home plate during an exhibition against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • Team Israel's Zach Penprase dives safely back to second base under a tag from Keith Torres of the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars during an exhibtion baseball game in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • Team Israel head coach Eric Holtz (#13) talks to Nick Rickles (#9) during an exhibition game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • Fans cheer after Team Israel's Zach Penprase (#6) scores a run in an exhibition game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • Team Israel's Assaf Lowengart (#24) fist bumps third base coach Nate Fish during an exhibition game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • A supporter of Team Israel holds a baseball glove signed by many members of the team. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • Team Israel pitcher Alon Leichman delivers during an exhibition game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)
  • Eli Berkovich, 9, and his sister, Rena, 12, of Pikesville, support Team Israel during an exhibition game against the Cal Ripken Collegiate All-Stars in Aberdeen. (Photo by Steve Ruark)

Said Tyler Weigandt, the IronBirds’ senior manager of community and media relations: “The entire staff of the Aberdeen IronBirds could not be more excited to host such a storied and prestigious event. We are honored to have Team Israel utilize our facility as a part of their preparation for the Olympics as they tour the Northeastern United States this summer. We have worked exceptionally hard during this very long offseason to ensure a fun and safe environment for all of our guests.”

The Tokyo Olympics will be held July 23 to Aug. 8. The six-team Olympic Baseball Tournament will run from July 28 through Aug. 7.

Among those traveling with the 28-member Team Israel on the northeastern pre-Olympics tour are Jordan Gladstone and Spencer Rapkin, a pair of students from Pikesville’s Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School. Both 12, Jordan and Spencer are helping out with the team’s workout camps and serving as ball boys and batboys.

“We are very appreciative of the opportunity to bring Team Israel to Aberdeen, Maryland, and provide an opportunity for fans from Baltimore to Delaware to see us play before heading to Japan,” said Mount Washington resident Adam Gladstone, Team Israel’s assistant general manager and director of baseball operations (and Jordan’s dad). “For those of us from this region, it’s a homecoming, and to partner with the IronBirds and the Ripken Family will make this event even more special.”

This year, Israel is sending its largest delegation of athletes ever to the Olympics — 90, compared to its previous high of 47 at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

On its list of predicted medalists for each event in Tokyo published on July 19, the Associated Press stated it believes Team Israel will win a bronze medal in baseball (with the gold going to Japan and silver to the United States). The AP also predicted that Israeli athletes and teams will win medals in six other sports.

The Jewish state has won nine medals in its entire Olympics history.

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