2008 Woodie Awards
Land of Milk, Honey, Peanuts, and Cracker Jacks
The Commentator
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
This summer, six teams competed in the inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League. The Modi'in Miracle, Netanya Tigers, Petah Tiqwah Pioneers, Tel Aviv Lightning, Ra'anana Express, and Bet Shemesh Blue Sox played a 40-game season at three scenic venues in Israel: Sportek Park in northern Tel Aviv, beautiful Yarkon Field by the Yarkon springs outside Petach Tikvah, and Kibbutz Gezer, with a field of sunflowers growing beyond its right-field wall.
The players were from very diverse backgrounds. For example, on the champion Bet Shemesh team, there was Californian Gregg Raymundo, a former Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguer and devout Christian, Jason Rees, an Australian power hitter with a strong arm, and Alan Gardner, a 45-year old lawyer from New York City. Third baseman and hometown hero Jeff Mor lives in Bet Shemesh, and his son was the bat boy for the first few weeks of the season. Juan Feliciano, a right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic, played professional baseball in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp.
The level of play in the league was very impressive. Some of the pitchers, former major league prospects, threw in the mid-90s, with vicious breaking balls and deceptive changeups. There were hulking batters clubbing the ball over 400 feet in batting practice, and contact hitters batting well over .350.
One of the most impressive parts of the league was how well everybody got along. Most of the players were housed together in Kfar Hayarok. They stayed in the same rooms as players from opposing teams, and went out touring together on Shabbat, when there were no games scheduled. They got along really well with the fans - after the games, they signed baseballs, hats, t-shirts, soccer balls, and whatever the kids had- and the fans routinely invited the players over for Shabbat dinner at their homes.
During the season, they players met hundreds of young ballplayers. One of the main aims of the new league was to bring baseball to a new country, and they did that by spending time with the younger generation, teaching them how to hit, throw and catch. The league ran baseball clinics in conjunction with the Israel Association of Baseball- the organization that runs little league programs in Israel. Some young fans came to so many games that the players knew them by name, and the luckiest ones even got private lessons before games. In the last week of play the Blue Sox let their two bat boys take one round of batting practice each, an experience they won't forget for years to come.
Some of the players collaborated to make an awards ceremony the night before the playoffs, which they affectionately called "The Schnitzels"- named after their favorite Kfar lunch.
After a slideshow presentation by Sean Slaughter, awards were presented in 12 different categories. The ceremony almost had the feel of an end of the summer camp banquet, with the most obvious difference being that campers were all above the age of 18 instead of below it. They even posted some footage of "The Schnitzels" on YouTube for posterity.
In addition to the veteran players, there were Jewish former major leaguers, each owner of a World Series ring, managing three of the teams. Ken Holtzman managed Petah Tiqwah, Art Shamsky managed Modi'in, and former Yankee Ron Blomberg managed Bet Shemesh. Blomberg, a funny and outgoing guy, kept the Bet Shemesh team relaxed, which was just what they needed. They jumped ahead into first place, winning their first nine games, and never looked back. After spending the entire regular season in first place, they fought through the playoffs and earned the championship trophy for the city of Bet Shemesh by defeating the Modi'in Miracle 3-0 in dramatic fashion, led by Raf Bergstrom's stellar complete game pitching performance.
The players were from very diverse backgrounds. For example, on the champion Bet Shemesh team, there was Californian Gregg Raymundo, a former Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguer and devout Christian, Jason Rees, an Australian power hitter with a strong arm, and Alan Gardner, a 45-year old lawyer from New York City. Third baseman and hometown hero Jeff Mor lives in Bet Shemesh, and his son was the bat boy for the first few weeks of the season. Juan Feliciano, a right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic, played professional baseball in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp.
The level of play in the league was very impressive. Some of the pitchers, former major league prospects, threw in the mid-90s, with vicious breaking balls and deceptive changeups. There were hulking batters clubbing the ball over 400 feet in batting practice, and contact hitters batting well over .350.
One of the most impressive parts of the league was how well everybody got along. Most of the players were housed together in Kfar Hayarok. They stayed in the same rooms as players from opposing teams, and went out touring together on Shabbat, when there were no games scheduled. They got along really well with the fans - after the games, they signed baseballs, hats, t-shirts, soccer balls, and whatever the kids had- and the fans routinely invited the players over for Shabbat dinner at their homes.
During the season, they players met hundreds of young ballplayers. One of the main aims of the new league was to bring baseball to a new country, and they did that by spending time with the younger generation, teaching them how to hit, throw and catch. The league ran baseball clinics in conjunction with the Israel Association of Baseball- the organization that runs little league programs in Israel. Some young fans came to so many games that the players knew them by name, and the luckiest ones even got private lessons before games. In the last week of play the Blue Sox let their two bat boys take one round of batting practice each, an experience they won't forget for years to come.
Some of the players collaborated to make an awards ceremony the night before the playoffs, which they affectionately called "The Schnitzels"- named after their favorite Kfar lunch.
After a slideshow presentation by Sean Slaughter, awards were presented in 12 different categories. The ceremony almost had the feel of an end of the summer camp banquet, with the most obvious difference being that campers were all above the age of 18 instead of below it. They even posted some footage of "The Schnitzels" on YouTube for posterity.
In addition to the veteran players, there were Jewish former major leaguers, each owner of a World Series ring, managing three of the teams. Ken Holtzman managed Petah Tiqwah, Art Shamsky managed Modi'in, and former Yankee Ron Blomberg managed Bet Shemesh. Blomberg, a funny and outgoing guy, kept the Bet Shemesh team relaxed, which was just what they needed. They jumped ahead into first place, winning their first nine games, and never looked back. After spending the entire regular season in first place, they fought through the playoffs and earned the championship trophy for the city of Bet Shemesh by defeating the Modi'in Miracle 3-0 in dramatic fashion, led by Raf Bergstrom's stellar complete game pitching performance.