It wasn't easy, but the State of Israel finally has its baseball team. For the first time in history, Israel will be able to play for a spot in the World Baseball Classic, The international tournament started in 2005, and has been wildly successful. For 2013, the WBC will be expanding from the original 16 team tournament. This year, the top 12 teams will automatically qualify, with 16 additional countries competing to decide who gets the final 4 spots. Each one of these 4 spots is determined by a "mini-tournament" of 4 teams each. The 4 winners of each group join the 12 big dogs of baseball, which include USA, Japan, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

While Israel is no doubt coming in as an underdog for the WBC as a whole, this cinderella story is expected to begin with big wins in the qualifying tournament. Beginning on Wednesday, Israel will kick off its WBC bid against South Africa. If Israel wins, they play the winner of Spain and France for a spot in the final 16!

So who are these Israeli baseball players? While they are comprised mostly of minor league players, Israel's roster includes two ex-big leaguers in Shawn Green and Gabe Kapler. And the team's captain is former all star Brad Ausmus. According to the rules of the WBC, players are allowed to play for countries which they are not citizens if they would qualify to be citizens (i.e. someone of Jewish heritage who could become an Israeli citizen automatically is eligible to play for Team Israel). All-star Kevin Youkillis, who switched Sox from Red to White last year, has said he will play for Israel in the WBC after the qualifying stage.

To check out the full roster, with a great breakdown and analysis of Israel's starting position players, head on over to Baseball America: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/2012/09/israel-spain-among-final-wbc-rosters-released/

And remember, WBC qualifying starts next Wednesday, September 19th when Israel takes on South Africa. Stay tuned for latest updates and go Team Israel!!!