More sports

Baseball tries to establish roots in the Promised Land

The Israeli Professional Baseball League starts its first season with six teams and big dreams.

By Bob Putnam
Published June 26, 2007

Ben Pincus thought about quitting baseball. The former Boca Ciega standout went through numerous injuries at North Florida, the last one on his left shoulder that required surgery and prevented him from pitching for nearly a year.

Then came the call. He was asked to join a fledgling pro baseball league in Israel.

At first, Pincus did a double take.

"I didn't know anything like that existed, " Pincus said. "I was certainly intrigued, though. It was a chance to be the first in a league I could take a lot of pride in."

Pincus, 23, is in the Israeli Professional Baseball League, modeled after small-market, minor-league baseball in the United States. The six-team league has players from nine countries and is set to play a 45-game schedule over eight weeks, culminating with a championship game. There will be no games Friday nights or Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, and ballpark refreshments will be kosher, which means hot dogs will be served but no pepperoni pizza.

The first professional baseball game in Israel was played Sunday in Kibbutz Gezer between the Petach Tikva Pioneers and the Modi'in Miracle, two entries in a league that includes the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Netanya Tigers, Ra'anana Express and Tel Aviv Lightning.

Modi'in won that inaugural game 9-1. And just like that, a game many regard as a religion staked its place in the holiest of lands.

The professional league was the brainchild of Larry Baras, a Jewish businessman from Boston who said he came up with the idea while watching a minor-league game in Brockton, Mass.

A baseball game "is a wonderful place for a family to gather, " Baras said via e-mail. "I love baseball; I love Israel. I thought how great would it be to bring this game there."

The problem is how to sell a sport with no local tradition. The country's main sports passions are basketball and soccer. The first baseball diamond wasn't built until 1979, and there are only three fields there suitable to play games.

But baseball is growing. More than 2, 500 players participate in baseball and softball, and the Israeli Association of Baseball, the governing federation, regularly fields a team in international events.

Baras is trying to widen appeal and revenue through marketing promotions and blogging travelogues of players. And the rules are different. Games are seven innings instead of nine. Ties will be decided by home run contests instead of extra innings.

The target audience is the more than 120, 000 Israelis from the United States, as well as American tourists and students on study programs. But organizers plan to reach out to native Israelis.

"There's been great enthusiasm and lots of cooperation, " Baras said. "But it remains to be seen how native Israelis take to it."

To build his brand of baseball, Baras recruited some big-league help.

Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Expos and Red Sox, was hired as the league's director of baseball operations. Duquette knows as much as anyone about how big-league teams go about developing gifted but unschooled players. His job now is to use that knowledge to turn Israel's league into the country's most efficient baseball factory. Most of the players were hired at tryouts in the United States, Israel and the Dominican Republic.

About a third have professional experience, some have played college baseball and many are Jewish. They will receive $1, 500 for their services over the summer.

"The level of play is somewhere around independent and Class A, " Duquette said. "We're doing this with little time to have full practices, though many of the players are in great shape. In time, we hope more Israelis take to the game and provide more of a player base. It's at 18 percent right now."

Financed by private investors, the Israel Baseball League has some high-profile supporters. Its advisory board includes Bud Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball, and Randy Levine, president of the New York Yankees. The commissioner of the Israeli league is Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Three of the six managers in the Israeli league are former well-known Jewish players in the major leagues: Ken Holtzman, Art Shamsky and Ron Blomberg.

Blomberg, who played for the Yankees and White Sox and was baseball's first designated hitter, manages the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, the team Pincus plays for.

"I was thrilled to be asked to manage, " Blomberg said. "I do a lot of coaching with youngsters now, and it's great to be back in uniform. We finally have a league of our own."

Pincus, who left for Israel on Wednesday, said he didn't meet Blomberg until this week.

"I have read his book, though, " Pincus said.

Pincus, who is Jewish, is well-versed in the culture. He visited relatives a few years ago as part of an exchange program. The only concern is the recent outbreak of violence.

"That is something that is definitely in the back of my mind, " Pincus said. "But I know the league is taking all kinds of security measures to keep us safe.

"I'm too excited to even focus on that. I'm just ready to go out and play and experience something that I'll never forget."

Bob Putnam can be reached at putnam@sptimes.com or 727 445-4169.

[Last modified June 26, 2007, 01:38:07]