Phillies catcher, clubhouse DJ and now Israel sports sensation: Garrett Stubbs had fun, as usual, in the WBC

LAKELAND, Fla. — First things first: Garrett Stubbs isn’t worried about his injured right knee.

Stubbs did rejoin the Phillies this week after playing in the World Baseball Classic. And he did undergo an MRI that revealed a sprained ligament. But the popular backup catcher insists that it isn’t serious enough to keep him out for more than a few days or jeopardize his ability to be ready by opening day, two weeks from Thursday in Texas.

“If this was regular season, I’d be out there playing. No question about it,” Stubbs said Thursday. “It feels like something that will not impact opening day. That we can cross off the list.”

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OK, with that out of the way, we can get to the really important stuff, like how it feels to be a sports sensation in Israel.

Seriously. If you thought Stubbs gained a cult following last year for his clubhouse DJ skills during the Phillies’ spirited run to the World Series, that was nothing compared to the explosion on social media after he delivered a bases-loaded double to propel Israel past Nicaragua, 3-1, in an opening-game victory in pool play last Sunday.

Stubbs, 29, hasn’t been to Israel. He doesn’t speak Hebrew. His mother, Marti, is Jewish, and raised him and his brother in San Diego in the Jewish traditions, including a bar mitzvah when they were each 13.

And because Israel allows any Jewish person — or the child or grandchild of a Jewish person — to become a citizen, Stubbs and other major leaguers, including Giants outfielder Joc Pederson, were eligible to compete for the country in the WBC.

“It was a lot of fun,” Stubbs said. “It felt kind of like Little League baseball again, where people just kind of write off all the business parts of baseball. It’s like the Olympics. It’s our Olympics for baseball. It really felt like everyone was playing for a little bit more than just themselves or the guys next to them. They felt like they were playing for a whole country, which gives you a whole different brand of baseball.”

Phillies general manager Sam Fuld strongly encouraged Stubbs to play. And after Fuld’s experience for Team Israel in 2017, how could anyone not heed his advice?

Fuld batted leadoff and started in center field for Israel six years ago in the WBC before retiring from playing. Israel went 4-2, third place in its pool and sixth overall in the tournament. The team had a 5-foot-tall mascot named “Mensch on the Bench” (“mensch” is Yiddish for a person of integrity and honor). It also inspired a 2018 documentary, “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel,” that this year’s club watched together before the tournament.

“Sam is like the face of that,” Stubbs said. “Talking to him, he said it was something I should absolutely do.”

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Israel didn’t fare as well this time around. It finished 1-3 and got outscored 21-3. But the victory over Nicaragua forestalled a last-place finish in Pool D and enabled Israel to automatically qualify for the next WBC in three years.

And it was fueled by Stubbs’ ground-rule double against Yankees reliever Jonathan Loáisiga, Nicaragua’s best pitcher.

Stubbs played third base in the WBC in deference to Israel’s 2017 catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who has played 165 major-league games since 2011. Stubbs tweaked his knee on a swing early in that first game and opted not to play thereafter as a precaution.

He returned from the tournament a few days early to be checked out by the Phillies. He will be sidelined for a few more days, “just to make sure that it’s 100%,” before getting back behind the plate.

But his big hit made the rounds on social media, even in Israel. Stubbs said he heard from Israeli fans who were caught up in the excitement.

“I got to see a watch party that they had in Israel with a bunch of kids and parents watching the game and their reaction to us winning,” Stubbs said. “In countries like that where baseball isn’t as big as it is here, it kind of hits a little bit different.

“I will definitely do it again three years from now — if they’ll have me.”

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Stubbs said Israel’s success in 2017 and continued presence in the WBC is turning on more fans to the sport. He was told that three baseball fields have been built in Israel since 2017, with another under construction.

Right-handed pitcher Dean Kremer, an Israeli citizen, became the first Israeli-American drafted by a major league team in 2015. He made his debut for the Orioles in 2020 and had a 3.23 ERA in 21 starts last season.

“That’s basically what Team Israel’s presence in the WBC is about, trying to create a community of baseball players over in Israel just because it really hasn’t existed,” Stubbs said. “Sports isn’t necessarily at the forefront of what’s going on over there. There’s a lot of other things that are more important.”

Eventually, Stubbs said he would like to visit Israel. He considered a trip through Birthright Israel, but baseball season has always gotten in the way.

“I think [the program] ends at 26,” Stubbs said, smiling. “But I’ve got a feeling, after that hit, they might be able to send me over there for it.”