Israel is set to play its first-ever Olympic baseball game on Thursday, against the defending champion, South Korea.
The outcome of the game (11 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday) might seem foretold. Israel is ranked last among the six teams playing in the Tokyo Games, and in Beijing in 2008 — the last time baseball was played in the Olympics — South Korea beat Cuba, 3-2, for a gold medal.
This year, South Korea is fielding a young team seen as likely to medal.
On Friday in Tokyo, Israel faces the U.S., whose team is unable to field major league players because they are in midseason.