Susan R. Eisenstein: Get To Know Eric Holtz: Special Guest Coach Baseball World Classic
Since childhood, baseball has always been a constant in the life of Eric Holtz. “My father actually got to see Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig play baseball in person,” Holtz said. “Because of that, some of my earliest memories with my dad were standing in the yard playing catch and talking about the New York Yankees.”
Over the years, Holtz’s baseball career included impressive milestones, including having been the assistant coach of gold medal-winning Team USA in baseball at the 2013 Maccabiah Games and head coach for Team USA for the gold-medal-winning under-18 baseball team at the 2017 Maccabiah Games. And Eric Holtz is also the former manager of the Israel national baseball team. The Israel national baseball team competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, beating Mexico and finishing 5th
“But the journey didn’t start there,” Holtz continued. “I took over the program in 2017 and the road to the Olympics was anything but easy. We had to fight our way through multiple qualifying tournaments—Serbia, then Bulgaria, Lithuania, Germany, and Italy in 2019. Along the way, we faced and defeated some outstanding baseball nations to earn our place in the Olympics.”
And now, Holtz is a Special Guest Coach at the 2026 World Baseball Classic for Team Israel Baseball, held March 6-11th at LoanDepotPark in Miami, in Pool D. The team will face Team Venezuela, Team Netherlands, Team Dominican Republic and Team Nicaragua.
“Being around those players is always special. Anytime we get together—like before the World Baseball Classic—it feels like a reunion. Especially in times like these, there’s something powerful about being surrounded by people who share the same love for the game and the same experiences.”
Asked what has sustained his interest in baseball, Eric Holtz told Israel Seen, “It’s simple. Baseball has been a part of my life for more than 50 years. I still play. I still coach. And today I own and operate a baseball training facility in Emlsford, New York called Game On 13. At Game On 13, we train everyone, from five-year-olds to 78-year-old ballplayers. We run travel teams for boys baseball from 8U through high school and girls softball from 12U through 18U.”
“But more than anything, what I love most is teaching life through the game.
Because baseball isn’t just a sport. It’s a classroom.”
For information: www.gameon13,com
