Yes, there was good that came from the first season of the Israel Baseball League. What's not good about the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd in a place where war, conflict and the threat of terror are the main order of the day? Ask folks in the Bronx. Of course an outing at a ballpark will be memorable for any family-- including the Mansons. But as the facts in Our Man Elli's extraordinary article bear out, the league's founder, Boston-based Larry Baras and his cronies cocked up when it came to running-- or not running-- a league consisting of players from around the world. So our suggestion is that Larry take a lesson from his missteps and keep the players' safety and audience's needs in mind if he's serious about the league's longevity. Slandering the journalist who investigated the league and brought forward a Pulitzer-worthy report that's yet to have one punctuation mark refuted is not such a good idea-- and will only lead other reporters to snoop even deeper than Our Man Elli did.And today, more good news from the IBL. Two of the league's top players has been signed by the New York Yankees.
Modi’in Miracle catcher Eladio Rodriguez (above left) was the league's slugging champ and winner of the Hank Greenberg Most Valuable Player Award, having hit .461 with 16 home runs in 34 game-- with a slugging percentage of 1.000. And Jason Rees, an Aussie outfielder and Fred Savage lookalike who was the league's home run champion playing for the pennant-winning Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, will also report to the Yankees minor league complex in Tampa for spring training.
8 comments:
Looks like the IBL was a huge sucess
Was Jason Reese paid by the league?
It seems that allot of the Australian players and coaches have not been paid. Is it true?
The League was not a huge success. And, yes, alot of people have yet to be paid--players, coaches, vendors. However, this is being kept under tight wraps. This has been mismanagement on a scale that is unlikely to be revealed. Players are "encouraged" not to say anything disparaging.
That last comment is brilliant .
Somebody writes that the league is not a huge success and people have not been paid but the players are encouraged not to say anything disparaging. Well why not? I am a player and I have been lied to repeatedly and yes I have not been paid. This is one big sham.
It is only a matter of time before it all blows up.
what could have been such a positive thing was run down by wealthy businessmen.They thought they could fool Israeli's and people in general by defrauding fans, players,owners.
Who would invest (as a player or an investor)in a league that is in debt and lies to anyone
I would strongly recommend that investors and players alike dig deeper into the backgrounds of the executives. Not all is as it seems. How much has been personally invested by some of the key management? Or is it quite the opposite... some of these guys are looking for outside investors to make them wealthy.
A word of advice... don't expect to be paid, move on, and cut your losses. But be truthful about what is really going on to protect others.
The leauge will announce this week that season #2 has been cancelled
I am not surprised. And I am sure that blame will be placed on media negativity, the inability to raise enough money, and that the initiative was more daunting than anticipated.
However, there are other reasons. Some solid citizens and those with well established reputations may have found themselves involved with individuals who have a poor history of entrepreneurship and financial management. It is also difficult to move forward with a season 2 when key vendors and players have not been paid.
The IBL website has not been updated in a while and there have been no new announcements of season 2 tryouts... so I thought something was up.
Is it true that season 2 will be cancelled? When this week will it be announced?
Has anyone else heard this???
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