So who'll be running publicity for the new Dominican Republic of the Middle East Baseball League? Not Marty Appel, the New York Yankees' public relations legend who had the job the first time around, before the coup by El Presidente David Solomonte, when the league was known as the Israel Baseball League.The PR maven who helped get the original IBL off the ground with brilliant stunts like having the Modi'in Miracle draft Sandy Koufax, tells Our Man Elli in Israel that he was approached by the Boston businessmen running the DRMEBL to help turn the tide of public criticism.
Appel says he was hesitant, torn between the great promise and challenge of baseball in Israel and his skepticism about the direction the DRMEBL seemed to be taking. He says he offered to take the job if several conditions were met:1) He be paid for last year's work (Appel, like the players and former IBL commissioner Daniel Kurtzer, has not been paid);
2) He be paid for this summer in advance;
3) The Dominican Republic of The Middle East Baseball League agree to operate with full disclosure and financial transparency in order to win back credibility.
Appel says he never heard back.
He tells Our Man Elli:
"I was hoping that the group would be able to stage a 2008 season, and there had been an offer to me to return to serve as the league's media representative, but I never heard anything further and feared this might be the reason.
"It's disappointing, but I remain hopeful that there will be pro baseball in Israel in the future and that the Israeli people be given a full opportunity to experience this great game. Hopefully, the scaled-back plans for this year will result in new enthusiasm for the concept."
This just out...it was learned this afternoon that the IBL's new account with Bank of America (I guess they either left Citizen's Bank or got the boot) has, for the last 3 weeks, been on the list of accounts banks are notified to look out for due to their having deficient funds on account to cover their debts.
ReplyDeletep.s.-and that list is circulated nationwide.
ReplyDeleteI seems to me that the publicity of the league was one of the biggest problems the league had. Israelis knew very little about their own baseball league. I think Appel did a hrrible job over there and it is good to see he won't be continuing. This is a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteThank you Larry for your last post.
ReplyDeleteAppel was hired to do a job in USA
not Israel. Marty has no expertease in Israel .This new IBL is getting publicity on their dishonesty. IBL has made the list of who's who for bouncing checks.
Winter ball in Israel---What non-sense.Marty did a great job !
I agree with Jacob.
ReplyDeleteAnd when you think of all the great publicity and good will that was wasted it is a shame.
The IBL had tremendous momentum and a great list of people on the board.
The problem is and remains Larry. The fact that he was unwilling to open up his books speaks volumes.
He is continuing the scam and has pocketed millions.
He is a disgrace and I hope he is embarrassed to show his face.
What a dishonest human being.
Thanks for giving me credit.
ReplyDeleteJust wait to see the publicity the JNF will be getting. The day they started with L.B. will live in infamy!
Marty Appel is well above the fray in all of this. He did yeoman's work on this side of the divide. The IBL leadership was urged to hire local PR people, but maybe, just maybe those PR folks weren't willing to do it on a promise and a handshake. For that, they deserve some credit for being, well, smart.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget that there were attempts by players to push the PR envelope in Israel, but Baras and Berger even turned down opportunities for FREE advertising during the course of the summer.
Marty Appel's reputation is stellar in his business. He is also a mensch. Unfortunately, he was dealing with the other side of that coin.
That others continue to without demanding the terms that Marty demanded speaks volumes about who they are.
Typo...the last comment was supposed end this way...
ReplyDeletethat others continue to be willing to work with the IBL without demanding the terms that Marty did speaks volumes about who they are.
Well said, to all the snakes like Fat Mouth Feingold - hey, that's a new moniker Tabloid Baby can use, and not even credit me - who don't give a rat's ass about the other players, as long as they get a free ticket to Israel. I wonder if the players from last year who weren't paid will call a strike, and then watch when Fat Mouth Feingold becomes a scab and crosses the picket line. Yeah, that's the ticket - hey fellas, let's all strike, and show up with picket signs for the press, demanding to be paid. Guaranteed to get us the money owed real fast.
ReplyDeleteIf Marty was only to publicize the IBL in the US it was a stupid excus for a job. Would anyone disagree that for the IBL to succeed it needed to be marketed in ISRAEL? Why would a stand up guy take a relatively meaningless job like publicity in the US or an Israeli league? He must have thought he could make a buck doing such a limited use job
ReplyDeletePretty moronic, that last comment. Does Marty speak Hebrew? Was a budget established for publicity in Israel? "relatively meaningless job like publicity in the US (f)or an Israeli league?" Meaningless? The IBL received HUGE publicity in the U.S., which also traveled around the world, in the case of drafting Koufax. Story upon story, which the media ate up without ever questioning - then or now - whast the hell was really going on. That was all the work of Marty. He was never hired to work in Israel. Get a clue, moron.
ReplyDeleteso what if he publicized the league in the US. That would not make the league a success. Why would anyone take a job like that unless it was for their own purposes? SO what if he came up with drafting Sandy Kofax, Mr. Kofax didn't even comment on his draft status and had NO invovlment in the process. If Marty had done that properly he would have had Mr. Kofax been part of the deal or not even bothered with the silly window dressing. Like every thing else in the league it was all fluff and no stuff.Marty was part of that. I am not impressed with his performance. Having him not involved in the future is no loss at all. To say Marty couldn't do his job because he does not speak Hebrew is the moronic thing. Is he incapable of learning Hebrew? Ya see that is was expatriates do that really care about doing a job right THEY LEARN THE LANGUAGE! The new IBL does not have any need for Marty Appel, apparently he won't even learn the language.
ReplyDeleteWhat language does the new and improved IBL speak?
ReplyDeleteBouncing checks is not part of my language!