Its finally happened. An Israeli has been selected by a Major League Baseball team in America in its annual draft. That honor goes to Dean Kremer who was picked by the San Diego Padres.
Kremer, however, elected to forgo a professional career, for now, and will instead attend the University of Nevada. So a different team will have a chance to draft him when Kremer graduates.
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This is unusual since Israelis do not like baseball. Basketball is another story and no one would have been surprised about it if an Israeli player had been signed by an NBA team.
But baseball?
Well Kremer did not actually grow up in Israel. While an Israeli citizen and the son of Israelis, he was born and raised in California.
Kremer told AP, “(I’m) definitely honored. I like to represent my country in any way possible. I’d love to be the person to get Israel baseball on the map.”
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But his family does not feel the same way. As Kremer added, “Half my family, I can tell you that they still don’t know what baseball is. They don’t understand the game. Israeli guys like upbeat tempo things where they can’t get bored … People are aggressive here.”