Nate Fish to manage Israel in European Baseball Championship

Nate Fish to manage Israel in European Baseball Championship
18/08/2021
He served as the third-base coach under manager Eric Holtz at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. His staff will include Alex Jacobs, Richard Kania and Ophir Katz.

Following the resignation of Eric Holtz, the Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) has announced that Nate Fish will be the new manager of their National Team. His first assignment will be the upcoming European Baseball Championship, scheduled to begin on 12 September in Torino, Italy.

"We are very excited to have Nate Fish leading our coaching staff," IAB president Jordy Alter said. "Nate has a long relationship with the IAB and is a perfect fit for this position. He is a great guy and has a great baseball resume."

Fish, 41, was the third-base coach under manager Eric Holtz during the 2019 Europe/Africa Qualifier and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He has also played for the Israeli National Team, spent three years as the IAB national director and coached first base for the 2017 World Baseball Classic team. Previously he coached in the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) Farm System, the Cape Code League and the MLB Elite Camp.

"There have been a lot of great coaches and great people on this team," Fish said. "From Pat Doyle back in the day to Brad Ausmus and Gabe Kapler in 2012 to Jerry Weinstein, Jerry Narron and Tom Gamboa in 2017, [Eric Holtz] Holtzy in the Olympics and Andrew Lorraine in all of that time. I have learned so much from them. I am honoured to be included on that list."

Fish's staff will include Alex Jacobs, Richard Kania and Ophir Katz.

Jacobs was Israel's bench coach at the Olympics and will also serve as the pitching coach. He has worked for five different MLB organizations and is currently a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kania, a native of the Czech Republic, is a former head coach of both the Czech Republic and Israel. He has had a relationship with IAB since 2008 and has worked as a European scout for the Chicago Cubs of MLB.

Katz is the head coach of the Israel Baseball Academy and led Israel to seventh place at the European U-18 Championship. A former player in Israel, he runs the Tel Aviv Reds baseball and softball club.