Ryan Lavarnway of Israel out at home base in a game against Mexico during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Major League Baseball veteran catcher and free agent Ryan Lavarnway spoke at Syracuse University’s Chabad House on Tuesday night about his MLB career, competing as part of the Israeli National Baseball team and his relationship with Judaism, the student publication The Daily Orange reported.

The Israeli-American baseball player, 34, traveled to Israel for the first time in 2017 as part of Israel’s national baseball team. Their journey competing for the first time in the 2017 World Baseball Classic was documented in the film “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel.”

Lavarnway, whose mother is Jewish, said he has grown closer to Judaism since joining Team Israel and becoming an Israeli citizen, which was a requirement in order for him to play for the team in the Olympics. He told students that when he joined Team Israel, he purposefully chose the jersey number 36 because it is a multiple of 18, the numeric value of the Hebrew word “chai” (“life”). His catcher gear for the Israeli team also has a gray outline of the word “chai.”

The athlete later recalled Team Israel feeling like they had a home field advantage when they played a WBC qualifying match in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

“The thing that stood out to me most was there were all these little yeshiva kids that came to the game. And they finally had someone to root for that had something in common with them,” he said.

When team president Peter Kurz suggested that the athletes wear yarmulkes instead of baseball caps during the playing of the Israeli national anthem at the Coney Island game, their Jewish fans applauded the move. Lavarnway remembered that “people couldn’t get over the fact that we finally have some whole team to root for.”

The California native and dual Israeli-American citizen about talked to Syracuse University students about competing as part of Team Israel in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He hinted that if baseball is included in the 2028 Olympics and Team Israel has a spot in the Games, he would be interested in coaching the team.

The athlete concluded his meeting with Syracuse students by signing their yarmulkes, according to The Daily Orange.

Lavarnway began his professional career in 2008 but made his MLB debut in 2011. He played for 10 different Major League teams before joining the Columbus Clippers, a Minor League Baseball team and Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. He became a free agent in October.