Our Man Elli in Israel, who turned the first season of the Israel Baseball League into an international subject of debate with brutally-honest exposé that was first published here, responds exclusively to news that there are two books on the IBL’s maiden voyage in works— one by a star player who got screwed when his last paycheck bounced, and the other a potential “official” version by a New Jersey sportswriter and PR man who’s got the blessing of league founder Larry Baras.
Elli, who'd been offline because of sick kids at home in Jerusalem, says about the book from Tel Aviv Lightning star Nate Fish: “I’m excited to hear about it! Nate is not only a great player but a great guy, and most importantly, an honest one. He refused to go along with the league's attempt at gagging players from telling the truth about what was happening all summer. I have no doubt that he’ll tell a great story.
"His book will be a first-person account—and an honest account-- of what took place during the IBL summer of 2007. And he’ll be able to offer an even more detailed description than what I gave, because he lived it, and he saw what the rest of the players went through, and how they were all treated by the league."
And before shutting down for Shabbos, he had these words for Ron Kaplan, who told us he’s writing a book with the “cooperation” of the embattled Boston-based IBL boss, and misspelled Elli’s name (as “Eli”) when he mentioned that he found Our Man’s article “a bit unnecessarily harsh”: “Kaplan says he’s not writing an exposé? So what is it? Considering that he’s someone who wasn't there watching the league—who wasn’t even in Israel- I question what he’ll be able bring to the table that hasn't already been written about everywhere over the last two years.
“The fact that Kaplan says he has approval from league management, and that he’d found my exposé ‘was a bit unnecessarily harsh, given the circumstances of the start-up enterprise,’ seems to promise that he’ll be offering the same spin that's been spun by the PR machine and repeated by the media everywhere.
“I look forward to what Nate Fish will write, cover and reveal… from the inside!”
And then it was lights out.
It seems kind of ridiculous that you guys are already so critical of Kaplan's book when you haven't even seen it yet. Especially considering your reporting has been so sloppy and so inaccurate. And this is coming from a fan who went to a lot of games and saw how much of the league operated. If you evaluated yourself in the same way unfair and biased way you do the IBL, your publication would probably be out of business.
ReplyDeleteSlop? Inaccuracies? Unfair? Bias?
ReplyDeleteExamples, please!
It is very nice that you attended allot of games. But Elli's reporting is accurate. It is not fair to gloss over unpaid players, coaches, travel agents,fields , Kfar Hayarok who housed the players just to mention a few. If Ron Kaplan is honest ,he should write about the mismanagement of the IBL director and investors
ReplyDeleteYou're missing the real story here. Where the heck is there a market for one book about the IBL, let alone two or three? A few thousand fans showed up at the games, few of whom seemed the least bit curious about what was going on behind the scenes. Who on earth is going to buy these books? And why would anyone publish them?
ReplyDeleteLet's see some journalism here! Dig deeper, please!
Dear Mr IBLEMETRICIAN,It is a good way for Mr Baras to spin his story.Yes nobody cares but his ego trip can get him one step further
ReplyDeleteThere is information in the public domain that could shed some real light on past business of key individual(s) involved in the founding of the IBL
ReplyDeleteWhat's really sad here is that an idea such as the IBL with real potential will ultimately fail because of poor management and questionable intentions.