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The Israel Baseball League (IBL) is a new professional baseball league in Israel. The first game is scheduled to be played on June 24, 2007.

Players

Players will be Jewish or non-Jewish, native Israelis and others. Those already selected are current and former U.S. minor leaguers, professional baseball players from other countries, and starting college players.

The IBL has signed players from eight countries, including the Dominican Republic, Australia, Venezuela, and the United States. About a dozen players will be Israeli.

The League has held tryouts in Massachusetts, Miami, Israel, and The Dominican Republic. Upcoming tryouts will be in Los Angeles on April 15, 2007 at Calabasas High School, and will be overseen by Dan Duquette.

It is expected that the quality of play will be that of Class A ball in the U.S.

One example of a player for the IBL is former Midwood High School and Binghamton University baseball player Dan Rootenberg, a 4-year standout and 1994 graduate of Binghamton. He was the first player signed by the IBL. A prolific left-handed hitting outfielder, Rootenberg played at Binghamton from 1990-1994. During his senior season, he led the team in nearly every major offensive category, including a .407 batting average, garnering both All-SUNYAC and All-State honors. Rootenberg has played professionally for the Chillicothe Paints of the independent Frontier League (whom he signed with in 1994), and has coached and played in Europe in the Swiss professional league. He played for four years as an outfielder and first baseman for the Pleasantville Red Sox, and in 2006 he batted .351 for the Fordham Red Sox of the Westchester Rockland Wood Bat League.

Another projected standout in the league is right-handed pitcher Leon Feingold. Also among the group of four players first signed, Feingold pitched in the Cleveland Indians system from 1994-1995, and was signed by the independent Atlantic League in 1999. A graduate of State University of New York at Albany, Feingold has also pitched with the Pleasantville Red Sox as a teammate of Rootenberg's, and in 2006 recorded an ERA of 1.03 in limited action.

Managers

Among the first managers of the IBL will be three of the best-known Jewish former major leaguers: Ken Holtzman (whose 174 career victories are the most in the major leagues by a Jewish pitcher), Art Shamsky (who hit .300 for the '69 World Champion New York Mets), and Ron Blomberg (a former New York Yankee, and the first DH in the major leagues). Other managers will include Steve Hertz and Shaun Smith.

Teams

Six IBL teams are set so far -- the Netanya Tigers, Tel Aviv Lightning, Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, and Modi'in Miracle, Ra'anana Express, and Petach Tikva Pioneers. The teams will play games at three ball parks: one in Petach Tikvah, just outside of Tel Aviv; another at Kibbutz Gezer, approximately halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; and one at Sportek Baseball Field in Tel Aviv.

Player Draft

The Israel Baseball League NYC Launch and Official Player Draft will be held at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City on Thursday, April 26th.

Management

The Commissioner of the league is Dan Kurtzer, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt.

The league's Director of Baseball Operations is Dan Duquette, former General Manager of the Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos.

The League is the brainchild of Larry Baras, a businessman from Boston.

The league's Board of Advisors includes among others: Professor Andrew Zimbalist (baseball economist), Bud Selig (Major League Baseball Commissioner), Wendy Selig-Prieb (former Milwaukee Brewers owner), Marvin Goldklang (minority owner of the New York Yankees, and principal owner of four minor league teams), Marshall Glickman (former president of the NBA Portland Trailblazers, and former president of a minor league baseball team), and Marty Appel (former NY Yankees public relations director).

Miscellaneous

MLB.com will carry coverage of Israel's games.

Baseball in Israel

Baseball was first played in Israel on July 4, 1927. The first field in Israel was built in Kibbutz Gezer in 1979, and Israel now has a first-class baseball field at the Yarkon Sports Complex in Petach Tikva. Israel sends National teams of various age groups to international baseball tournaments each year.

Israel has between 2,000 and 3,000 people regularly playing baseball in amateur league play. Baseball is growing at an accelerated pace, with much greater baseball identity associated with the country.

World Baseball Classic

Israel has applied to participate in the next World Baseball Classic. Jewish-American professional baseball players (such as Brad Ausmus, Mike Lieberthal, Kevin Youkilis, Ian Kinsler, Ryan Braun, Shawn Green, Jason Marquis, Jason Hirsh, John Grabow, Scott Schoeneweis, and Scott Feldman, as well as recently retired Gabe Kapler) would be eligible for the team, making it highly competitive from the start.

External links

• The Israel Baseball League
• Israel Association of Baseball
• "Israel Baseball League: An Idea Who's Time Has Come"
• "The new ball game," interview with Dan Kurtzer, 3/13/07
• "Israel Baseball League starts in June," 4/11/07
• "St. Louisan plays big role in IBL," 4/11/07

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