Miracle Met & Miracle manager Art Shamsky: "I will never say anything bad about the Israel Baseball League" (but I'm not coming back)

Art Shamsky, the 1969 Miracle Met who went on to become manager of the Modi'in Miracle in the first season of the Israel Baseball League, may still be listed on the IBL website of one of the league's managers, but he doesn't seem likely to return for the promised four-team, 20-game, three-week, momentum-keeping mini-season that looks more unlikely by the day.

Shamsky is interviewed by baseball writer and authorized Larry Baras-IBL biographer Ron Kaplan in the New Jersey Jewish News. He says he's writing a new book and "expects to be busy with speaking engagements."

Kaplan's article, while upbeat about the IBL, acknowledged the reality that was first reported here by Our Man Elli in Israel, an unflinching view that Kaplan had once complained was "a bit harsh": "From day one, the Israel Baseball League was beset by problems. Poor field conditions, missed payrolls, poor marketing strategies, and the mass resignation of several board members... just a few of the challenges that may mean the inaugural 2007 season was perhaps also the last."

But he adds, "Despite the difficulties, you won’t hear a negative word from Art Shamsky."

Says Shamsky by telephone: “I will never say anything bad about the IBL. They gave me an opportunity to be part of this great experience.

“I was reluctant to go at first because my initial thoughts were that (the IBL) wasn’t going to work (and) that Israel was a dangerous place. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this was an opportunity to see this wonderful, beautiful country and to really help baseball get going there.”

From the article:

Sure, the conditions weren’t always the best, but it was baseball at its purest, reminding Shamsky of his days as a minor leaguer. “You never know who’s watching these games.” While major league scouts might not be flocking to Israel to watch them, “somebody knows somebody who knows somebody else,” he said.

Shamsky had particular praise for those IBL players — representing seven countries — who took the opportunity to tour the country on off days, visiting various cultural and religious sites. “We were playing in the holiest of places; I thought it was an incredible feeling to do that.”

Read the entire article here.

Bi-Sex & Baseball! At last! An Israeli baseball story that won't drive away our regular readers!

Yes, we promised we wouldn't drive away our regular readers with lots of Israel baseball stories, but we have another one that we're pretty sure fits into Tabloid Baby territory, Israel baseball or not, while only making the Israel baseball story deeper and more intriguing. And it's only a coincidence the item's arrived on the heels of our newsmaking exclusive!

This one comes from our pals at The New York Post's Page Six, who report that Art Shamsky, the former Miracle Met and the Israel Baseball League's manager of the year (its only year), has been hit with a sordid, seamy, smarmy sex suit!

Art's ex-wife Kim has filed a lawsuit claiming the Mets legend gave her a sexually transmitted disease after repeatedly cheating on her with both men and women.

That's women... and men!

Kim says in the Manhattan Supreme Court papers that during their 13-year marriage the famed outfielder and first baseman "engaged in acts of adultery with both men and women," without her knowledge. His romps included "acts of 'unprotected' sexual and deviate sexual intercourse" that left her with human papilloma virus (HPV). Medical experts say HPV can cause problems such as genital warts and cervical cancer.

The suit claims Art continued to have sex with her although he "knew that an individual or individuals with whom he had engaged in sexual relations had contracted HPV or that he had contracted HPV."

Kim says she suffered "serious physiological and emotional injury."

She wants $11 million in damages.

Art's lawyer says the lawsuit as "frivolous" and insists that Art Shamsky is free of sexual disease.

Pat Crispo says: "This is the act of a very angry ex-wife who has maligned him in the press. He will be vindicated in the courts."

Art Shamsky is 67. He was with the Mets from 1968 to 1971 and batted .300 during the team's 1969 world championship season. He was named the IBL's manager of the year for leading the champion Modi'in Miracle. The Shamskys married in 1994 and divorced last May.

Any validity to Kim's claims? Remember: anyone can make up any charges in a lawsuit... and lots of frivolous claims fly in divorce battles, and there's no better way to embarrass a n old jock than to say he's gay. Our IBL sources tell us that during the IBL season, Kim sent letters to Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, slamming her estranged husband. She is, says one, "some piece of work"...

Blomberg sees dim hope for 2008 Israel baseball

“Blomberg said the IBL
is going through some
financial problems
currently and
may not be able
to play its season
this summer,
but he thinks it will
eventually get back
up and running
in the not-so-distant
future…”

From an article in this morning’s Wellsville, NY, Daily Reporter:

Blomberg, Shamsky helping to bring baseball to Israel

By Paul Jannace
Daily Reporter

HORNELL - Ron Blomberg says he ruined baseball forever in 1973, but he also helped bring baseball to Israel last summer.


Blomberg, one of the guest speakers at the 35th annual Sports Night, became Major League Baseball’s first designated hitter for the New York Yankees on April 6, 1973, and drew a bases loaded walk in the first inning against Boston’s Luis Tiant.


“It screwed up the game of baseball,” Blomberg said in between signing autographs. “And I’m proud of it.”


...Currently working as a scout for the New York Yankees, as well as doing some work for FOX and ESPN, Blomberg will be featured on ESPN April 16 in a piece celebrating the 35th anniversary of the designated hitter.
 Blomberg spent seven of his eight Major League seasons with the New York Yankees, winning a World Series in 1977 and 1978.


While Blomberg may or may not have ruined baseball, he recently was part of the inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League along with fellow Sports Night attendee Art Shamsky (left, tall), who played 13 seasons, including being part of the 1969 World Champion New York Mets.


Blomberg’s Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, sporting the New York Yankees’ colors, defeated Shamsky’s Modi’in Miracle, who wore the colors of the New York Mets, to win the first ever Israel Baseball League championship.

“It was one of the most gratifying things I’ve ever done in my life,” Blomberg said. “If you’re Jewish or Catholic, it’s a wonderful thing.”


While most of the players and coaches in the league are Jewish, it is not a prerequisite, as there are players from all over the world and eight of them who played last summer have signed deals with Major League clubs.


“The quality of baseball is good,” Blomberg said. “For the first year, I would say it’s A-ball.”


Shamsky joked that his only regret to being in the IBL is that he lost to Blomberg in the championship game.
“He out-managed me that day,” Shamsky quipped.


Ken Holtzman, who pitched 15 season in Major League Baseball with the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles, also managed during the IBL’s first season. Dan Duquette, a former general manager of the Boston Red Sox, is the league’s director of baseball operations and is helping to develop a baseball academy in Israel.


“The fact that we started up something and to be a part of that initial experience was great,” Shamsky said. “The fact you were playing baseball in this holiest of places was very, very special.”


Blomberg said the IBL is going through some financial problems currently and may not be able to play its season this summer, but he thinks it will eventually get back up and running in the not-so-distant future.


“Baseball would do extremely well over there,” Blomberg said…

Ferrara first death of Israel Baseball League

Our Man Elli in Israel has resurfaced to bring us sad news: what appears to be the first death among the veterans of the Israel Baseball League. Team manager Tony Ferrara was 84.

"Tony took over for Ken Holtzman when he was fired from Petah Tikva Pioneers," Elli recalls. "Real, real nice guy, players loved him, low-key, and a baseball man through and through.

"Tony may not have been Jewish, but he was the epitome of a mensch."

Tony Ferrara played four seasons with St. Louis Cardinals affiliates before injury ended his dream, but went on to work as a batting practice pitcher, bullpen catcher and scout for Major League teams including the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Oakland A’s.

He also coached college and in the minors-- and acted in and was technical adviser on The Natural.

He was a longtime friend of Mickey Mantle and even wore Mantle's number 7 in his most recent job as bench coach for the Newark Bears.

There was an impromptu memorial service for Ferrara yesterday at the Babe Ruth bat at Yankee Stadium. One of The Mick's sons was there, along with Ron Darling, Art Shamsky, Ed Kranepool, Miracle Met and IBL manager Art Shamsky and legendary Yankee publicist and IBL official Marty Appel.

Click here to see our complete coverage of the ill-fated Israel baseball League on our Israel Baseball League archive site.

Israel news service copies our baseball update

A week ago, on April 2nd, we told you that former Israel Baseball League manager (and NY Yankee) Ron Blomberg had confirmed on the rubber chicken circuit Our Man Elli in Israel's exclusive report that the IBL was not going to dust off home plate for a second season in 2008.

We quoted the Daily Reporter newspaper in Wellsville, NY: "Blomberg said the IBL is going through some financial problems currently and may not be able to play its season this summer, but he thinks it will eventually get back up and running in the not-so-distant future."

This morning, a week later, an Israeli news service reprints our story-- but doesn't attribute it to us or the local newspaper. "This news operation is known as Arutz 7, a right-wing nationalistic news service, which is usually first with the news when something happens in Judea and Samaria, i.e. a terrorist attack in the territories, but is often late with other news," notes Elli.

Well, in this case, even if they did have to take the road to Wellsville for a story in their own backyard, better late than never!

Arutz Sheva 7 is the first Israeli news organization to catch up with the latest developments and rumours that Our Man Elli-- and loyal readers like "0007 Snooper" in Haifa have been chasing down for months. The article is also notable for offering a third variation on the spelling of Ron Blomberg's name, which is misspelled so often as "Bloomberg" that it's been accepted as an alternative.

4 Nissan 5768, April 9, '08

Israel Baseball May Take a 'Shemittah Inning' Stretch

(IsraelNN.com) Ron Blumberg, who managed the Beit Shemesh Blue Sox championship team in last year's inaugural Israel Baseball League (IBL) season, said the IBL may not return to action until next year. He revealed that financial problems may force the league to take a one-year break this summer, which is the Sabbatical (Shemittah) year.

Speaking at a New York area annual sports event, Blumberg added that "baseball would do extremely well" in Israel. Also present at the event was Art Shamsky, who managed the Modi'in Miracles, which lost to the Blue Sox in the championship game. He said the only thing he regretted in the IBL was that his team lost. Shamsky praised the launching of baseball in Israel. "The fact that we started up something and to be a part of that initial experience was great," Shamsky said. "The fact you were playing baseball in this holiest of places was very, very special."

Hey, Steve Walz of The Jewish Press: Gai tren zich!

"I could write a megilla
about what went wrong
with the IBL and why,
but I'll leave that
to another Israeli-based
American journalist
who seems to revel
in his cynical print
and on-line IBL exposes.”

--Steve Walz,
Jewish Press blog

Nine months after Our Man Elli in Israel wrote the article that tore the lid off the scandals of the Israel Baseball League, close to half a year after we told you the league was dead in the water for 2008, the rest of the media is catching up and reporting what to our readers is an old story.

We don't mind when lazy journos don't give us credit for doing their legwork. But we're getting a little tired of the sycophant supposed professionals who take home paychecks each week for keeping their head down and staying beneath the radar, only to hurl offhanded insults at hardworking independent journalists who carry their water and do their work, all for the love of the story-- and the game.

The latest offender is Steve Walz of The Jewish Press. Mr. Bigshot Investigative Reporter has penned a nice long post on the JP blogsite in which he acknowledges the death of the IBL, calls its founder an "alleged charlatan" and slams Our Man Elli and this site-- all because we've been doing his job for him for the past nine months!

Dig the chutzpah of this schmuck:

"For all intents and purposes, one can start saying 'kaddish' for the Israel Baseball League, which has suspended operations after surviving a single season in the Holy Land… a terrific endeavor that was left in the hands of an alleged
charlatan who appeared to have fooled a large number of prominent minor and major league baseball investors and promoters... and in the end... left a trail of unpaid bills and acrimony. Efforts to oust the 'charlatan' who allegedly created the IBL from scratch, by the IBL's Board of Directors (including people close to the Yankees), failed miserably. A last minute attempt to create a new 4 team league this summer... also failed because the new 'owners' could not come up with a cogent business plan. 
Whether or not 'professional baseball' appears on the Israeli scene in 2009 is anyone's guess at this point….

“I could write a megilla about what went wrong with the IBL and why, but I'll leave that to another Israeli-based American journalist who seems to revel in his cynical print and on-line IBL exposes about the life and death of the IBL. The only remaining personal 'hana'a' (pleasure) I have from the IBL is watching two ex-members from 'my' team-the Modiin Miracle succeed in their professional baseball careers. Catcher Eladio Rodriguez, who hit .461 with 14 home runs in the short-season IBL, recently signed a contract to play for the Yankees AAA team in Scranton, PA…

"As I'm writing this blog, I cannot help but stare at the picture of yours truly enjoying a cola with Ron Blomberg... and Art Shamsky... just before a game at Gezer Field last summer, which is featured prominently on my desk. My journalistic instincts prompted me to set up this photo-op last summer, realizing that this was my 'Field of Dreams', perhaps never to be experienced again...at least in the Holy Land..."

Your journalistic instincts?

Those weren’t journalist instincts, boychick. Those were jock-sniffing wannabe cravings, and you can spare us the image of you sitting at your desk with your schmekel in your hand, nechvenining over Blomberg and Shamsky. Yeah, you could "write a megilla"-- but you didn't! You just copied our reporting! You wouldn’t have anything to blog about if it wasn’t for our hard work, from the IBL problems that you didn't cover because you were too busy drooling over autographed balls-- to our day-by-day chronicling of E-Rod’s meteoric ride.

We'll be speaking to your editor, putz. Apologies are in order-- from both of you.

(Click here to see where Schmendrick Walz gets all his "cynical" information on baseball in Israel-- and to get an idea of the scope of our coverage.)

Israel Baseball League crashes Beatlesfest!

Among the Beatles memorabilia vendors at the marketplace of the NY Metro Fest for Beatles Fans in Secaucus, New Jersey was Art Shamsky, member of the 1969 miracle Mets and Manager of The Year of the sole year of the lamented Israel Baseball League, the coverage of which, led by Our Man Elli In Israel, led to a much-publicized Pulitzer Prize nomination that was rejected out of hand by that schmuck Sig Gissler. The Beatles played Shea Stadium and Art was signing baseballs and copies of his book, The Magnificent Seasons. (Last year's New York Metro Beatles Fest odd man out booksigner was Butch Patrick, known to you as Eddie Munster.)

Looking back at Our Man Elli's dreams for Israel

Elli Wohlgelernter, Tabloid Baby's Man in Israel, is at the center of a worldwide storm over his muckraking report on the near-fatal flaws of the Israel Baseball League's first season. And it was while gathering the latest crop of reaction that one of our staffers reminded us that Elli is no Yossi-come-lately to the Israel Baseball League story. As a print and television reporter, he'd been covering the countdown to the IBL for a year before Opening Day, wrote a curtain raiser for the New York Times in June and, back in March, penned an eager preview of the IBL.

Look again at an essay that reflects all the hopes and idealism of a kid who saw his first baseball game at Yankee Stadium in 1962:

Sliding Home

by ELLI WOHLGELERNTER

It's a long season, and you gotta trust it. I've tried them all,
I really have. And the only shul that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out,
is the shul of baseball.
- with apologies to Annie Savoy

"What do you miss most?"

That's the question immigrants to Israel get asked more than any other. Sometimes it elicits serious answers, sometimes personal ones. Of course everyone misses their family and friends left behind, that's a given. And sometimes what we miss most is a simple food we crave, or some product that is impossible to find in Israel, but which would make our daily lives easier.

Me, I always give the same answer.

Baseball.

Sure, I miss my family and friends, and pizza here is never going to be as good as it is in New York. And though I may not see my family and friends as much as I'd like, phone calls and emails keep us well connected.

But baseball is different. Baseball, for serious fans, takes on a relationship more akin to that of a husband and wife. Spouses communicate every day, even from a distance, even if only for a few minutes. The definition of that relationship - a relationship based on passion - demands no less.

So too in baseball. Baseball, like marriage, is nothing without intimacy. Sure, I can read what my favorite Yankees did over the last two weeks, how many games they won or lost, and see highlights on the Internet. But that is just passive knowledge and information, crucial though it is, and videos only highlight how far away I am. It never satisfies the emotional need, never quenches the thirst of passion. For that you need a constant, daily narrative that you can see, hear and smell.

Now we'll have it.

On June 24, the first-ever professional baseball game in Israel will be played at Kibbutz Gezer, between the Petah Tikva Pioneers and the Modi'in Miracle. The six-team league also includes the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Netanya Tigers, Ra'anana Express and Tel Aviv Lightning. Each club will play 45 regular-season games, a schedule comparable to that of the low minor leagues.

The games will be played at three sites: Tel Aviv and Netanya teams will play at Sportek in Tel Aviv. Ra'anana and Petah Tikvah will share a field at the Yarkon Sports Complex, while Kibbutz Gezer will host the Modi'in and Bet Shemesh teams.

Eighty players have already been signed, from eight countries including the Dominican Republic, Australia, Venezuela, and the United States. A trio of retired Jewish major leaguers will manage three of the teams - former pitcher Ken Holtzman, outfielder Art Shamsky and baseball's first designated hitter, Ron Blomberg. The league's first commissioner is Daniel Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Israel, and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is on the board of advisors.

Even with that pedigree the detractors are already lining up to scoff, confident in their criticism that declares the venture - the brainstorm of one Larry Baras, Boston businessman and visionary extraordinaire - this century's version of Fulton's Folly. How can it succeed, they laugh, in a country already saturated with soccer and basketball? Who's gonna care enough to come to a game, besides a few dozen Anglos? And how can a home run compete with the excitement of a goal or a basket for an Israeli?

For those who follow baseball, who understand baseball, such doubters are to be pitied. While it is easy to understand their lack of faith in a Baras, or a Dan Duquette - the man in charge of player development - it is difficult to fathom their lack of faith in the very game itself.

That baseball was never, heretofore, an integral part of the fabric of Israeli culture is hardly a reflection on the sport itself. Baseball will succeed here, first and foremost, because it's the greatest game in the world. But it will also succeed because Israelis, like Americans, are great sports fans, as passionate about athletics as they are about everything that has meaning in their lives. In due time, Israelis too will come to understand the game, the rich nuances and subtleties that make it so interesting to millions of Americans.

Yes, of course building baseball in Israel is a long-term project. Duquette understands that better than anyone. Having once been in charge of player development for the Montreal Expos, Duquette took on a similar challenge going up against Canada's national religion, hockey. And from the ground up, he built an infrastructure and a system that was able to discover, recruit, and further develop Canadian baseball players.

It took a while, but then it happened: On March 8, 2006, Team Canada beat the powerhouse Team USA, 8-6, in the World Baseball Classic. Canadian baseball was on the map. To say that Israelis are less athletically inclined, incapable of playing and eventually competing on that level, is an insult, and simply foolish. A dozen Israelis have already been signed to the league, a number that is sure to grow as the country is more exposed to the sport.

One other thing: Everyone understands that ballplayers on the major league level are supremely talented, and a joy to watch. True enough. But for those who think minor league baseball is not that good, not the real thing, know this: those players underneath the Major Leagues at the AAA, AA, and A level are no less talented then the big boys. There is, in fact, only one difference between those in Single-A and those in the Major Leagues: consistency.

I spent the summer of 1983 covering minor league baseball, the Utica Blue Sox, in the New York-Penn League. They weren't just a single-A team, they were an independent team, which meant that no other ballclub had wanted any of the players. Castoffs, you say? Let me tell you, they weren't just good, they were great. I saw guys make plays that today would be on SportsCenter every night. The raw talent was breathtaking.

And now that's coming here. Baseball in Israel. I will get to see professional players up close, watch them show off that incredible talent, and follow their stories for 10 weeks, right here in my backyard. I'll still follow the Yankees, of course, but now I can follow a local team as well - the Blue Sox again, this time in Bet Shemesh. And my immigration will have become complete.

Israel baseball blogger arrives late to the game

“Think about the goals of Baseball in Israel…
Are we going over to offer a distraction?
Do they need a distraction?
Is this another example of America trying to act as a hero?”

A new baseball website has us wondering, as we’ve stopped to do more than once over the past nine months, why the mainstream sports, business and political media have overlooked, and actively ignored— the story of the Israel Baseball League and efforts to bring professional baseball to Israel-- a story that’s of such interest and importance to so many people around the world. With league founder Larry Baras a colorful, controversial and lawsuit-laden bagel baron based in Boston, with a would-be rival league headed by a controversial lawsuit-laden toymaker taking cash from auditioning athletes in Miami, and minor and semipro leagues around the world picking up IBL refugees, there would seem to be enough local angles, mysteries, sports fans and Jewish readers out there for some award-hunting reporter or editor to feel the thrill of the hunt as they follow the money.

For now, Our Man Elli In Israel has the field to himself. But the latest visiting player is "Elliott," AKA “OMmetsfan07,” the blogging Mets fan behind the 213 Miles from Shea site. His new site, The Great International Pastime (Exporting America’s Game), started up a few weeks ago with a post about baseball in Ghana (anybody seen Eladio Rodriguez?) and today lands in Israel.

Despite a year of raucous infighting, accusations and outrageousness that was enough to fill an entire website called Baseball in Israel, this new internationalist site picks up the story of the Israel Baseball League in a much simpler time, before the drama of the past year, when the spin was only starting to pick up speed, and doesn't seem to realize that greed and bad business killed off baseball in Israel in 2008:

"Baseball in Israel was one of the first topics I thought of when I decided to talk about world baseball because I feel that its known in America more than in Israel and I have often questioned the motives for it (but I do love it, don't mistake that). I root for the Modim Miracle only because of their Manager, Art Shamsky, who was a '69 Met, so I am a little biased when it comes to their teams.



"I found this video on YouTube not too long ago (about two weeks ago). The video was added online a little over a year ago, but makes a lot of insightful points subliminally. When you watch it, think about the goals of Baseball in Israel? Are we going over to offer a distraction? Do they need a distraction? Is this another example of America trying to act as a hero? 
I have been thinking about this clip now for over two weeks, and I still have not finalized my opinion about it.
"

These of course are questions first posed by Our Man Elli almost a year ago, so we don’t know whether to be frustrated that the author didn’t do a Google search of “Israel Baseball” or gratified that someone’s at least sniffing out the story. We sent Elliott a link to our site. Once again, we’ll see if the bloggers pick up where the mainstream journos dropped the ball.

"Jew're Out!" Our Man Elli on Israeli Baseball

Elli Wohlgelernter, Tabloid Baby's Man in Israel, is a reporter for IBA TV in Jerusalem. He's also the center of the documentary project, Sex & Baseball. Today he writes on the Israel 21C website about... baseball. Oh well.

Sliding Home

It's a long season, and you gotta trust it. I've tried them all,
I really have. And the only shul that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out,
is the shul of baseball.
- with apologies to Annie Savoy

"What do you miss most?"

That's the question immigrants to Israel get asked more than any other. Sometimes it elicits serious answers, sometimes personal ones. Of course everyone misses their family and friends left behind, that's a given. And sometimes what we miss most is a simple food we crave, or some product that is impossible to find in Israel, but which would make our daily lives easier.

Me, I always give the same answer.

Baseball.

Sure, I miss my family and friends, and pizza here is never going to be as good as it is in New York. And though I may not see my family and friends as much as I'd like, phone calls and emails keep us well connected.

But baseball is different. Baseball, for serious fans, takes on a relationship more akin to that of a husband and wife. Spouses communicate every day, even from a distance, even if only for a few minutes. The definition of that relationship - a relationship based on passion - demands no less.

So too in baseball. Baseball, like marriage, is nothing without intimacy. Sure, I can read what my favorite Yankees did over the last two weeks, how many games they won or lost, and see highlights on the Internet. But that is just passive knowledge and information, crucial though it is, and videos only highlight how far away I am. It never satisfies the emotional need, never quenches the thirst of passion. For that you need a constant, daily narrative that you can see, hear and smell.

Now we'll have it.

On June 24, the first-ever professional baseball game in Israel will be played at Kibbutz Gezer, between the Petah Tikva Pioneers and the Modi'in Miracle. The six-team league also includes the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Netanya Tigers, Ra'anana Express and Tel Aviv Lightning. Each club will play 45 regular-season games, a schedule comparable to that of the low minor leagues.

The games will be played at three sites: Tel Aviv and Netanya teams will play at Sportek in Tel Aviv. Ra'anana and Petah Tikvah will share a field at the Yarkon Sports Complex, while Kibbutz Gezer will host the Modi'in and Bet Shemesh teams.

Eighty players have already been signed, from eight countries including the Dominican Republic, Australia, Venezuela, and the United States. A trio of retired Jewish major leaguers will manage three of the teams - former pitcher Ken Holtzman, outfielder Art Shamsky and baseball's first designated hitter, Ron Blomberg. The league's first commissioner is Daniel Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Israel, and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is on the board of advisors.

Even with that pedigree the detractors are already lining up to scoff, confident in their criticism that declares the venture - the brainstorm of one Larry Baras, Boston businessman and visionary extraordinaire - this century's version of Fulton's Folly. How can it succeed, they laugh, in a country already saturated with soccer and basketball? Who's gonna care enough to come to a game, besides a few dozen Anglos? And how can a home run compete with the excitement of a goal or a basket for an Israeli?

For those who follow baseball, who understand baseball, such doubters are to be pitied. While it is easy to understand their lack of faith in a Baras, or a Dan Duquette - the man in charge of player development - it is difficult to fathom their lack of faith in the very game itself.

That baseball was never, heretofore, an integral part of the fabric of Israeli culture is hardly a reflection on the sport itself. Baseball will succeed here, first and foremost, because it's the greatest game in the world. But it will also succeed because Israelis, like Americans, are great sports fans, as passionate about athletics as they are about everything that has meaning in their lives. In due time, Israelis too will come to understand the game, the rich nuances and subtleties that make it so interesting to millions of Americans.

Yes, of course building baseball in Israel is a long-term project. Duquette understands that better than anyone. Having once been in charge of player development for the Montreal Expos, Duquette took on a similar challenge going up against Canada's national religion, hockey. And from the ground up, he built an infrastructure and a system that was able to discover, recruit, and further develop Canadian baseball players.

It took a while, but then it happened: On March 8, 2006, Team Canada beat the powerhouse Team USA, 8-6, in the World Baseball Classic. Canadian baseball was on the map. To say that Israelis are less athletically inclined, incapable of playing and eventually competing on that level, is an insult, and simply foolish. A dozen Israelis have already been signed to the league, a number that is sure to grow as the country is more exposed to the sport.

One other thing: Everyone understands that ballplayers on the major league level are supremely talented, and a joy to watch. True enough. But for those who think minor league baseball is not that good, not the real thing, know this: those players underneath the Major Leagues at the AAA, AA, and A level are no less talented then the big boys. There is, in fact, only one difference between those in Single-A and those in the Major Leagues: consistency.

I spent the summer of 1983 covering minor league baseball, the Utica Blue Sox, in the New York-Penn League. They weren't just a single-A team, they were an independent team, which meant that no other ballclub had wanted any of the players. Castoffs, you say? Let me tell you, they weren't just good, they were great. I saw guys make plays that today would be on SportsCenter every night. The raw talent was breathtaking.

And now that's coming here. Baseball in Israel. I will get to see professional players up close, watch them show off that incredible talent, and follow their stories for 10 weeks, right here in my backyard. I'll still follow the Yankees, of course, but now I can follow a local team as well - the Blue Sox again, this time in Bet Shemesh. And my immigration will have become complete.

Elli's brief bio on Israel 21C site says that "he saw his first Major League baseball game in 1962 in Yankee Stadium." Elli is also sports editor of the Encyclopaedia Judaica, now out in a second edition, and his 175 entries include Shawn Green and Sandy Koufax.

¡Oy, Eladio! Now the Mets get into the Israel act!

The excitement among Jewish New York baseball fans over Israel Baseball League batting champ Eladio "E-Rod" Rodriguez landing on the Yankees AAA team a step away Yankee Stadium is spilling over and everybody wants to get into the act-- including the New York Mets!

The crosstown rivals (whose Miracle alum Art Shamsky managed the Modi'in Miracle of the doomed IBL) announced today that May 29 will be Israel Day at Shea Stadium. Israel's 60th birthday will celebrated with Israel entertainment, dancing, Glatt Kosher stands-- baseball, of course-- "and other surprises."

"Other surprises?"

Like what? Eladio's bris?

Er hot nit zorg!

Our Man Elli has an article in the NY Times

Tabloid Baby's man in the Mideast, Our Man Elli In Israel, has an article in tomorrow's New York Times. Buy six copies!

The New York Times
June 24, 2007

Israeli League Is Ready to Play Ball

By ELLI WOHLGELERNTER

JERUSALEM, June 23 — In the land of milk and honey, it is time for peanuts and hot dogs — the Israel Baseball League makes its debut Sunday night when the Petach Tikva Pioneers play host to the Modi’in Miracle. A high demand for tickets has moved organizers to double the seating capacity at the Yarkon Sports Complex to accommodate a projected 2,000 spectators expected to attend.

The game will be televised live in Israel by the local sports channel, whose broadcasters will handle the play-by-play in Hebrew. The game will also be broadcast in English in the United States next Sunday on PBS affiliates in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and West Palm Beach, Fla.

The league’s six teams will share three fields: in Tel Aviv; in Petach Tikva about 10 miles northeast of Tel Aviv; and in Kibbutz Gezer, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The teams will play an eight-week, 45-game season, with an all-star game July 29 and a one-game championship Aug. 19. The league will honor the Jewish faith — there will be no games on Saturdays or on July 24, the Tisha B’Av fast day.

The oldest of the league’s 120 players — who represent eight countries — is Pioneers pitcher Scott Cantor, 51, of Nyack, N.Y. The youngest is Miracle pitcher Nate Rosenberg, 17, who lives on Kibbutz Gezer.

Another teenager from Gezer is Alon Leichman, who started playing at 4. His father, David, initiated the construction of a field at Gezer in 1982.

“I said 25 years ago that the field is for our children, and now my 18-year-old son is to play pro ball on the field,” said David Leichman, who, like many at Gezer, emigrated from the United States.

The league is run by an advisory board of donors and investors who will try to eventually make a profit. For the players, who are being paid $2,000 each for the season, the league is an opportunity to continue doing what they love.

“To me, it’s a reward for all of my hard work in the gym and on the field, and it’s the ultimate Jewish-American dream,” said Josh Eichenstein, 23, a middle infielder from Los Angeles. “Being able to play baseball as a job in Israel blows my mind.”

Eichenstein said he hoped to put on a good show for all the people watching baseball for the first time.

“I want to help Israelis understand the game of baseball,” he said. “Once the game is understood, they will fall in love with it.”

That is what organizers are hoping will happen. In this soccer- and basketball-crazed country, baseball may be a hard sell. The game has been tweaked — some say corrupted — to make it more palatable for a foreign audience. Games will be seven innings instead of nine, and ties will be broken by home-run-hitting contests instead of extra innings.

The league has assembled some former major league players and executives. Art Shamsky, Ken Holtzman and Ron Blomberg are among the managers. Dan Duquette, a former general manager of the Boston Red Sox and the Montreal Expos, is the league’s director of player development. The head of public relations is Marty Appel, who once held that position with the Yankees.

Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former United States ambassador to Israel, is the league’s commissioner. Now retired from diplomatic service, Kurtzer will spend the next two months in Israel, on vacation from his day job as a professor at Princeton.

“My role basically is to establish the character of the league,” Kurtzer, a professor of Middle East policy studies at Princeton, said this week in a telephone interview. “So we’ve developed the rules and a code of conduct. My job is largely to give advice and do some public relations, give speeches and things like that. I don’t know that I’ll be at every game, but I’ll be there the entire summer.”

Once accustomed to negotiating disputes between Israel and its neighbors, Kurtzer is still working on how to mediate arguments on the field.

“We’ll see if it’s a punch, if it’s a brawl, if it’s a melee — we’ll make decisions on the spot,” he said. “I assume that issues will come up about discipline and other kinds of issues that end up in the commissioner’s office. I have done a pretty good study of how the commissioner’s office in Major League baseball works, and in other sports. So you never know — each situation is going to be different.”

The games will also be announced in Hebrew at the ballparks, and the Web site israelbaseballleague.com features the rules and a glossary of terms in Hebrew. Still, the league has been pitched to Jews in the United States, urging Jewish organizations to send tour groups to games and establishing support chapters in Chicago and Phoenix.

Some Israelis, including those born in the United States, are wondering whether such a marketing strategy will help the league establish traction among natives.

“Baseball is the greatest game ever invented, and I hope the league is a rousing success,” said Eli Groner, a one-time Maccabiah Games bronze medalist in softball, who works as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company’s Tel Aviv office.

“But the key to generating popularity here is in successful clinics at the grass-roots level.”

He added, “ ‘If you build it, they will come’ is nice for a movie and to create a tourist destination in Iowa; inculcating a culture requires much, much more.”

The league has a long-range plan for building a fan base. It has run youth camps and clinics, and has promotions scheduled throughout the season. Players will teach children the rudiments of the game and leave behind baseball equipment for them.

“Our real objective this summer is to build some degree of interest on the part of Israelis,” said Kurtzer, who acknowledged having doubts about whether Israelis would make a quintessential American sport their own.

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “I know there’s a Little League that’s functional, that includes not only American Israelis but Israeli Israelis. We won’t know until we test it. We’ve talked to people about it and we think there’s room in Israel for a third sport beyond basketball and soccer. Baseball is a little complicated, it’s a little bit different from what Israelis know, but we’ll have a little fun teaching them.”

Ben Field's colorful speech about his IBL season

What did the Israel Baseball League mean to Ben Field of Atlanta, Georgia? The outfielder for the Ra’anana Express makes it clear in a speech he gave last week at the Hurlbut Church in Chautaugua, NY and posted today on his Haverford Baseball Blog.

The speech, which apparently was accompanied by a slide show, recounts his experience with the Israel Baseball League from the time he first heard of the plan, to the final out of the season.

And what a great story Ben tells! Whoever says the Israel Baseball League isn’t fodder for a book need only read Ben’s story, combine it with Our Man Elli In Israel’s reporting and slap a cover on them!

We’d reprint the whole thing, but it’s sixteen pages long! And we began to print some highlights, but there are too many.

So here is the link to Ben’s speech, and here are three excerpts from his “Speech delivered at Hurlbut Church, Chautauqua, NY 07/27/08 for the Jewish community's celebration of Israel's 60th birthday”:

The Strangest Game I Ever Played In

So one night we were facing the Modi'in Miracle's stud Maximo Nelson and countered with our own pitching ace, another Dominican, Esquire Pie. Now Maximo stood about 6 foot 9 inches tall and I was PERSONALLY behind a radar gun when he was clocked throwing 96 mph. On our side, Pie was no slouch either (PIC17). He had the single most devastating pitch in the league: the split-finger circle change-up, which basically looked like the ball disappeared as it was coming at you. This pitch was only possible because Pie had freakishly big hands.

On this night, no one was going to touch either pitcher. And both pitchers brought no-hitters into the 4th inning. We somehow strung together a few bloop hits and ended Maximo's bid at his no-hitter, but Pie behind his unhittable pitch recorded the first no hitter in league history.

But there was no celebration because we were tied 0-0 after 7 innings, and we were about to have the first game-deciding home run derby in professional baseball history. After our first baseman "Stay Hot" Scott Feller hit 3 homers in the final round, we started jumping up and down to celebrate the UNUSUAL win.

But, alas, things got EVEN weirder.

As we were leaving the field, the Miracle's coach Art Shamsky (who by the way has a World series ring with the '69 Miracle Mets) filed a protest claiming that "Stay Hot" Scott had used an illegal bat made of artificial wood. We left the field not knowing who had won.

Days later, Ambassador Kurtzer awarded us the victory stating that although the bat was technically illegal, it had been ok'ed before the game by the home-plate umpire, so our victory stood.

Throughout the summer, this same umpire proved over and over again that his incompetency went far beyond an inability to recognize bats. And what made his situation doubly unfortunate was that he happened to be a German umpire in a largely Jewish league. I've decided not to tell you what his nickname was.

And that my friends is the story of the SINGLE strangest game I've ever played in.

Bats and Balls

As the season started winding down, we ran into some interesting dilemmas, most of which stemmed from the financial burden of administering the league.

For one, we were losing a lot of baseballs and wooden bats. And for young Israeli children who barely knew the rules of the game, half the draw was asking us for the remains of broken bats and screaming at us from the bleachers, "Hey you, give me ball."

Apparently, English manners get lost in translation. Our bat-girl, Tali had acquired a collection of about 40 balls that we asked her to donate back to the cause at the end of the season. Eventually the financial situation became so desperate that the league started doling out a 50 sheckle fine to any player seen throwing balls over the fence to fans.

After buying a couple thousand more baseballs, Director of U.S. Operations Martin Berger told us that if we lose these balls, we're done, and the season's over.

Equally as desperate was the bat situation. When we got to Israel, we all knew right away that there weren't enough of our breakable wooden bats to last the summer. An average of two bats per player just wasn't going to cut it. Eventually we were forced to share bats. Now sharing a bat for a baseball player is kind of like asking a Jew to share a plate of food at break fast. You JUST don't do it. And god forbid you BROKE someone else's bat!! That would be the equivalent of setting the break fast table on fire.

It was getting desperate, but then like manna out of the sky, the league bought replacement bats, purchased at reduced price. That was a glorious day, or so we thought. We were all really excited and we could not believe how light the wood was...so light in fact that every one of those bats shattered or was thrown in the trash by the end of the week. I've never seen bats that were so incapable of receiving contact. In fact, my team broke three of ours in the batting cage before our first game with them.

By the end of the season, the only bats remaining were ones that had been shipped from home.

Another issue was that the league ran out of money to 1) pay the television station that had been broadcasting our sunday night games and 2) pay the park employees who cut the grass at Sportek. So these workers did what all contract employees do in this situation: they just stopped showing up for work.

The same problem also happened to the league physical trainers, but my favorite bald, tattooed, Israeli male therapist/masseuse named Tiger just couldn't turn his back on 120 aching athletes.

"STRIKE!"

Now would be an appropriate time to mention that the primary reason the Dominicans came to Israel was to send money home to their families. And what an eye-opening experience this was for me considering I wasn't destitute and was just some American out of college having a good time. The Dominicans really needed the money and when the league defaulted on player salaries, it was a huge issue for the Dominicans.

Twice during the season, we threatened to strike until we were paid. This is probably the closest I will ever get to begin part of a socialist workers revolt.

The first time our labor union convened at the Kfar behind Bet Shemesh player Alan Gardner who also happened to be a lawyer. Some of us carried camcorders to document the historic moment.

Commissioner/Ambassador Kurtzer showed up and basically threatened to end the season unless we put on our uniforms.

Once we figured out that the IBL hadn't exactly stiffed us, but more or less, just failed to communicate to us, their payment plan, we laced up our cleats and were back to being good soldiers.

But the second time we threatened to strike, it really was plain and simply that the league didn't have the cash. At this point, Chief Operating Officer Martin Berger came down to the D.R., the spot where the Dominicans played their afternoon dominos, and basically begged them not to strike, promising payment as soon as possible.

Closing

In closing, did the first season of the IBL advance U.S.-Israeli relations? No. Not at all. Did the IBL ease some of the tensions in the Arab-Israeli conflict? Not even close. But, the IBL did ultimately do what it had set out to do: offer a connection between American and Israeli culture. The message of the IBL was this: baseball is America's game and we want to share it with you. The previous two summers in Israel had been engulfed in violence. But, during the summer of '07, the IBL tried to symbolize the opposite: a fun, peaceful respite from the hustle and bustle of daily Israeli life…

And maybe it would useful to see the IBL in the same light as we see Israel: a project with a tumultuous beginning that has innumerable reasons for us to support it. So, we've arrived at the 60th birthday of Israel and what a glorious anniversary it is. And now you're wondering how on earth you're going to show your solidarity this year.

Well, I have an idea. Instead of donating a tree (and as a sidenote you should know that Israel is the only country in the world that has more trees now than it did 60 years ago?!), so instead of donating a tree, buy a plane ticket, and go to Tel Aviv to catch a ball game and a kosher dog. The plan is for games to start in a couple of weeks and I hear there are still some good seats available. Thank you.

Believe it or not, these excerpts are just a hint at the colorful riches in Ben’s story.

Check it out!

Our Man Elli: Israel Baseball League is running out of time, doesn't have the money, and may not have its momentum-keeping mini-season after all!

The new and improved Israel Baseball League is what? Eighteen days away from the first pitch of its four-team, 20-game, three-week, momentum-keeping mini-season, and everyone's still standing around with their fingers up their creamcheese-filled bagels wondering what's going on.

We praised player-turned "in-coming president" Dan Rootenberg for actually speaking with Our Man Elli in Israel, and for putting his reputation on the line when he promised that checks are in the mail to some players still owed money from last year. Today, despite our advice, the IBL site still hasn't taken the "in-coming" off his title and some checks that were supposedly in the mail a week ago have still not landed in mailboxes.

Behind the scenes, we're hearing the machers behind IBL Mach 2 are talking about delaying the mini-season by a week. But again, nobody's talking and all the anonymous commenters who were quick to say we were wrong in being the first to report there won't be any professional baseball in Israel this summer may have been, as they are in bed, premature.

But who knows? Time to wake up Our Man Elli.

Tabloid Baby: So?

Our Man Elli In Israel: Yes and good morning-- is it morning?-- to you. There's a a lot going on. Lots of news. Hard to keep up.

So?

You wanna play that way? Fine. First off: Gezer has been promised again that the money was wired to their account, but as of yesterday – Tuesday – no money has arrived. Which means that as of now, the IBL can’t play on their field.

What’s the problem?

Money. Duh.

We thought the IBL was paying off all debts from last year.

Yes. That’s what they're trying to do. And they're racing the clock to do it. Because if they don’t get the money soon, it's pretty much over. I don’t know about any drop-dead date yet, but c'mon! The season is supposed to start two weeks from Sunday. This can’t go on for much longer.

But what about David Solomont? Isn't he the moneyman who’s paying the tab?

I never said, and you guys never reported, that he was picking up the debts. We all said he was fronting a little money to make some payoffs needed to get the league off the ground or licensed by the IAB. And that he could be raising the bulk of the money from other investors.

So?

So it looks like Solomont hasn't been willing yet to put in much of his own money.

He's not stupid, you're saying.

He's definitely not stupid. And because of that it's looking less and less likely that the IBL will be able to conduct a season this year. I've heard that Solomont or Larry Baras retained an investment banking firm in Boston named Baker and Company to help raise money for the IBL. That probably means that the bulk of the money they need isn't committed.

They're soliciting.

Yeah. The important point is whether they're giving investors full disclosure of the IBL's history of the IBL and the risks of investing in it.

Okay. Hold on a minute. You mentioned Baras. Larry Baras. I thought he wasn't involved. Remember the AP reported--

I have it here. Last line of the story says that Baras, quote, “is not expected to be involved in day to day operations.”

So it depends on how you define "involved.”

My sources say that both Solomont and Baras would be involved in ownership, with Baras as a minority partner. They say Baras would continue to own part of the league, but he wouldn't be an executive, if Solomont can move things forward.

So we’re back where we started.

You were expecting maybe something new and improved?

"Sources tell me
that no team uniforms
have been purchased."

What about the players?

The same sources tell me that some players won’t be paid, at least not for a while. There’s a hierarchy on payment:

The ones coming over here to play will get paid first.

Americans owed money will be paid second.

Other foreigners, third.

And players who intend on playing this summer have to make their way to New York-- and only then will their airfare to Israel be paid. And they better bring uniforms. My sources tell me that players have been told that no team uniforms have been purchased.

Sounds like there's no money to buy them.

The IBL is scrambling. They need cash, and they don’t have enough of it.

"I've sent Rootenberg
a list of 20 questions.
I'm awaiting his response."

What about Rootenberg? Hero or puppet?

So far, neither. He’s certainly trying his hardest to do the right thing, but it’s still not clear that he'll be allowed to do it. Indications are they the new, and still, “in-coming” president, is not being fully informed. Sources tell me that Rootenberg recommended that "small creditors"-- like players and field workers-- be paid in full, especially the ones who'd be needed for a second season.

I don't know if this has happened or will happen. It could be that creditors are being offered much less than what they're owed. And it's not clear whether they'll have enough money to do even that.

In any case, I'm also hearing that Solomont and Berger are in charge of settling the IBL's debts, and that Rootenberg has little say. All he can do is recommend.

I've sent Rootenberg a list of 20 questions. I'm awaiting his response.

Any news about the IBL itself?

Well, their website hasn’t been updated since they made their dramatic announcement on June 19th. And that means ticket sales page is still listing Ra’anana Express and Tel Aviv Lightning as teams. And its very first sublink, a description of the IBL, still lists the original six teams (Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Modi’in Miracle, Netanya Tigers, Petach Tikva Pioneers, Ra'anana Express and Tel Aviv Lightning) and still states that “among the managers of the IBL’s teams are former Major League stars Art Shamsky, Ken Holtzman, and Ron Blomberg," which must be a bit of a shock to Ken.

So now the good news.

Good news? I've got lots of it. The All-Star game next Tuesday at Yankee Stadium features three Jewish players. Well, one full and two half-Jews. We have Kevin Youkilis, the Red Sox first baseman who'll start for the American League. The two half-Jews are Ryan Braun, the sensational outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers-- he'll be starting for the National League, and Ian Kinsler, the Texas Rangers second baseman who made the American League team as a reserve. Both Braun and Kinsler have Jewish fathers. Braun’s dad is Israeli.

I mean good news about baseball in Israel.

Of course. The European Championship Qualifiers are going on right now. There are five tournament locations,featuring national teams vying for a spot at next year’s championship tournament between national baseball teams. It happens in Europe every other year in odd-numbered years. And it’s on this week through Saturday. Israel plays in Karlovac, Croatia. And incidentally, they're one-and-two in the tournament, but still have a chance to qualify for the finals. In one of the losses, the team lost an 8-0 lead.

And as I do the IBL, I wish the Israeli team much success.

As do all of us. But what about--
Gotta go.

Click. Brrrr...