After coming up short in a nail-biter of a game with extra innings, Israel will face the US team on Friday

Shlomo Lipetz is living the dream twice over with one foot in professional sports and one in showbusiness - with celebrities from both fields in his fan club

Kazumasa Kibe brought decades of experience with him when he moved to the Jewish state, then a bush-league underdog. Now, with his help, the team has become a global contender

The 24-man team will see its debut in Tokyo on Thursday with a game against South Korea, a day before it faces the US

The baseball squad has four native-born Israelis and a diverse group of Jews from around the US with varying backgrounds, but a shared history makes this team closer than most

Major League Baseball refuses to allow players on 40-man rosters to participate in the six-nation tournament in Japan, in which Israel is participating

Gwen Goldman, 70, also throws out first pitch; still has 1961 letter from then-general manager Roy Hamey explaining that as a girl, she would feel 'out of place' in dugout

Host Japan will kick off the tournament with match against the Dominican Republic at Fukushima on July 28

As the Jewish state qualifies for its 1st Olympic baseball competition since 1976, Jeremy Bleich, a grandson of Holocaust survivors, gets Israeli citizenship to join the squad

Elie Kligman has emerged as one of the top college recruits in the West, and he's sure that the sport's schedule for players won't pose a religious problem