Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel is out in South Florida theaters. It’s a documentary about 2017’s Team Israel, as it competes for the first time in the World Baseball Classic. Its roster includes many Jewish-American major leaguers, and their odyssey takes them from the Holy Land to the tournament in South Korea. One of the stars of the team is Cody Decker, who’s played for several organizations, most notably the Padres. He visited the David Posnak JCC in Davie to promote the film. And he was moved by his visit to Israel.
"Actually, believe it or not, going to the Western Wall was something that hit me a lot harder then I was expecting... Baseball is something that needs to be grown and developed overtime, but I think we took a good first step into helping it grow there, we need some more fields over there. But, you know, big things have small beginnings." said Decker.
The team turns some heads in the tournament and plays far better than expected. Thanks in part to Cody’s bat, and to the luck of their mascot “The Mensch on the Bench.” Although the running joke in the film and, apparently in this interview, is that nobody acknowledges him.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I literally have no idea what you're talking about." said Decker about the "Mench on the Bench".
Cody does like to talk about hitting. And he has some great advice for all the young ballplayers in South Florida.
"Keep it as simple as possible, if you can keep it as simple as you can, it makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun. If you can go up to the plate and think 'See ball, hit ball', as archaic as that seems, it makes life a lot easier." said Decker.
For showtimes to see Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, go to ironboundfilms.com/headinghome
