Israeli Baseball League Video

For the baseball fans among us, Arutz 7 has a video of the opening day. It is interesting that Arutz 7 seems to be very enthusiastic about this enterprise. In another article on Arutz 7 about the opening day, someone takes a different look at the league:

"Do we really need to import the big-bucks, beer-jlubbing, hero-worshipping culture of American baseball into the Holy Land?" asks one observer. "This is simply a Greek-like fan-culture with little redeeming value. Did we yearn to leave the Exile for 2,000 years merely so we could build a copy of it here in Israel? It's very nice that the league doesn't play on Shabbat, but I'm afraid that during the week, children will grow up idolizing players, as they do in the U.S. at great cost in time and money, instead of going out to play themselves or otherwise occupy themselves constructively."

Personally, as I mentioned in a previous post, I don't have time for spectator sports.

Israeli Baseball League?

I wonder if this is going to catch on:

The Israel Baseball League has signed up former New York Yankee manager Ron Blomberg to manage one of the six teams to take the field June 24, when the league starts its first season. No games will be played on the Sabbath.

It also has taken on 45-year-old pitcher Ari Alexenberg, who grew up in an orthodox Jewish family that later moved to Israel. He remained in the United States but recently tried out for the Israeli teams in Petach Tikva, where his parents live.

Turns out that this CBS already reported this on February 12:

Former Major League Baseball players Ken Holtzman, Ron Blomberg and Art Shamsky were hired Monday as managers for the first season of the Israel Baseball League.

Six teams will play in the league, which opens June 24. Each club will play 45 games over eight weeks, with no games Friday nights or Saturday afternoons because of the Sabbath.

Former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette is the league's director of baseball operations and Daniel Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, is its commissioner. The league plans to announce cities later this month, spokesman Marty Appel said.

Holtzman went 174-150 and is the winningest Jewish pitcher in MLB history. Blomberg was the first designated hitter in MLB and Shamsky played for the 1969 New York Mets World Series championship team.

The name Ron Blomberg certainly bring back memories of my youth when I was a Yankee fan. Today my free time is much too dear to me to waste on spectator sports. However I admire the fact that the league is respecting the sanctity of the Sabbath. I wonder if they will sing the national anthem before the game.

Update: Ha'aretz has an interesting article about the tryouts for the IBL which were held last November.

Update: For those interested, the IBL has a web site. (Hat tip: Soccer Dad)