Ben Wanger (born April 7, 1997) is an

American-Israeli , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

for the

Lancaster Barnstormers The Lancaster Barnstormers (colloquially known as the Stormers) are an American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. He also plays for Team Israel. Playing for the

Yale Bulldogs The Yale Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in m ...

he led the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schoo ...

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

s in 2017 and was First-Team All-Ivy, and led the League in ERA in 2018 and was First-Team All-Ivy as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

. He pitched and played first base for Team Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2021.

Early life

Wanger was born in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

, and is Jewish. His parents are David Wanger (who played baseball at Harvard University) and Gwen Kane-Wanger (who played field hockey and lacrosse at Brown University). Some of his family, including his grandmother, are

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

s. He now lives in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

High school

Belmont Hill School Belmont Hill School is an independent boys school on a campus in Belmont, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The school enrolls approximately 440 students in grades 7-12, separated into the Middle School (grades 7-9) and the Upper School (grade ...

, he played for the baseball team. In his senior season, as a pitcher he had a 0.73 ERA in 48 innings, and pitched the first perfect game in school history. He was All-

Independent School League Independent School League or ISL may refer to: * Independent School League (Illinois), a group of nine Chicago-area preparatory schools * Independent School League (New England), a group of 16 New England preparatory schools * Independent School Le ...

in 2013, 2014, and 2015, and in 2015 was also the Independent School League MVP, ''Prep Baseball Report'' All-Massachusetts first team, and ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' Prep All-Scholastic. He also played football (as a defensive end) and basketball (as a forward) for the school.

College

Wanger first attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

('19), graduating with a degree in economics and

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and ...

. Playing for the

, he was primarily a first baseman and a pitcher. In his sophomore year in 2017 he batted .317/.415/.610(4th in the Ivy League) with 8 home runs (4th) and led the League with 48

s. He was named 2017

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest amateur baseball coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. Now, the ABCA is composed of over 13,000 baseball coach ...

Rawlings Rawlings may refer to: *Rawlings (company), a U.S. sports equipment company *Rawlings, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland *Rawlings (surname), including a list of people with the name See also *Rawlins (disambiguati ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

Northeast All-Region First Team, New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Division I All-New England First Team, a unanimous All-Ivy First Team selection, and a first-team All-American (D-I) by the ''

Jewish Sports Review ''Jewish Sports Review (JSR)'' is a bi-monthly magazine that was established in 1997. Its editors are Ephraim Moxson and Shel Wallman. The magazine identifies which star and professional athletes are Jewish. It also covers and has all-time lists ...

''. In 2018, on the mound, he was 2-0 with six saves (2nd in the league) and an 0.90 ERA (leading the league), as in 30 innings over 16 games he gave up 21 hits and struck out 32 batters. He was named All-Ivy First Team as a relief pitcher, All-Ivy Second Team as a first baseman, and 2018 NEIBA Division I All-New England Third Team. After the 2018 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate ...

for the

Chatham Anglers The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thous ...

. Wanger suffered a serious

hamstring injury Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are ...

in the fourth game of his senior season in 2019, which caused him to have season-ending surgery and

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

. In 2019-20 he attended the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

, where he was a graduate student in the

Marshall School of Business The USC Marshall School of Business is the business school of the University of Southern California. It is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In 1997 the school was renamed following a $35 million donation fr ...

studying for a

Master in Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Entrepreneurship and Innovation while hoping to work in the renewable energy sector. During the pandemic-shortened season in 2020 Wanger batted .410 (5th in the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

)/.500/.564, and was also the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

’ closer, and had three saves (2nd) and a 0.00 ERA in six appearances. He was named ''

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') is an American publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" which has been published for over 40 y ...

'' All-America second-team. Wanger then attended the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

as a graduate student at the Herbert Business School, earning a Master of Science in International Business. He pitched in relief for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

in 2021. Prior to the season, ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' named him a preseason Second-Team All-American. In March 2021 he had minor surgery to remove

bone chip Osteochondritis is a painful type of osteochondrosis where the cartilage or bone in a joint is inflamed. It often refers to osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). The term ''dissecans'' refers to the "creation of a flap of cartilage that further dissec ...

s from his elbow, and he was back on the mound two months later.

Professional career

In 2021, Wanger pitched for the

of the independent

. He made 15 appearances for the team, posting a 5.67 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 27.0 innings pitched. He became a free agent following the season. On March 9, 2022, Wanger re-signed with the Barnstormers for the 2022 season. Wanger appeared in only two games for the Barnstormers, struggling immensely to a 16.88 ERA with 2 strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work. With Lancaster, he won the Atlantic League championship.

Team Israel

In August 2019, he obtained

Israeli citizenship Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew in the world has ...

so that he could play for Team Israel in

baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Rep ...

in Tokyo. He pitched for Team Israel at the

2019 European Baseball Championship The 2019 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by the Confederation of European Baseball. The 2019 Championship was held September 7–15, 2019, in Bonn and Solingen, Germany. The tournament contribut ...

. He also pitched for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, which Israel won to qualify to play

in Tokyo. He had three hits, scored four runs, and had three RBIs, while on the mound he pitched 4.1 scoreless innings, gave up one hit and one walk, and struck out five batters. He pitched for Team Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2021, giving up a run in two innings over two relief appearances, and also played first base in one game.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanger, Ben Living people Baseball players from Massachusetts Baseball players from Florida Jewish American baseball players Israeli American Israeli baseball players People from Newton, Massachusetts People from Coral Gables, Florida Yale Bulldogs baseball players USC Trojans baseball players Miami Hurricanes baseball players Chatham Anglers players Lancaster Barnstormers players Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics 1997 births Olympic baseball players of Israel 21st-century American Jews University of Miami Business School alumni