Former major leaguers hope to spread baseball fever to Israel

by David Nachenberg
a resident of Modi’in, writes about sports in Israel.

Professional baseball in Israel? Ever since Boston businessman Larry Baras announced his intention to form a six-team league next year, that’s all people involved in the sport here have been talking about.

Baras is the owner of the Un Holey Bagel, a bakery that produces hole-less filled bagels. He loves Israel and baseball, and figured “if you build it, they will come” applies here. His field of dreams is scheduled to include 120 Jewish former college baseball players — mostly recent graduates — who will attempt to finally put baseball on the map of Israeli sports. The league will be similar to the short-season single A minor leagues played in the United States. The schedule will consist of 48 games to be played in July and August.

Baseball is already played in Israel, and there are Little League teams in, among other places, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ra’anana, Modi’in, Hashmonaim, and Kibbutz Gezer. Adults mostly play softball there.

To spark interest in baseball, a summer day camp was held in Petach Tikva July 2-6, and at Kibbutz Gezer July 9-13. Two Jewish former major leaguers — each with New Jersey connections — were on hand to help coach the youngsters at the camps.

Elliott Maddox, a product of East Orange who played for both the New York Yankees and Mets during his 10-year career, and Princeton grad Bob Tufts, who played briefly for the Giants and Royals, came to work with the staff and kids. Maddox had a .261 batting average with 18 home runs and 234 runs batted in in 1,029 games, while Tufts pitched in 27 contests for a 2-0 record and a 4.72 earned-run average in 42 innings.

Tufts, making his first visit to Israel, said, “The image of sports here is soccer and basketball, but these kids had a very good grasp of the fundamentals. With more work on their skills, they can improve drastically.” Maddox had been to Israel on two previous occasions.

Also visiting the camp was Bob Ruxin, director of U.S. operations for the league, which he said would be “marketed as family entertainment, ‘pitched’ toward Israelis with an American connection.”

David Brief, who hails from Palo Alto, Calif., made aliya 12 years ago. He and his wife, Hazel, are in charge of the Modi’in Little League program, which includes four teams and about 45 children. “If you look at the ‘return on investment,’ it’s probably not going to justify it,” he said. “Only through the dedication of people who are passionately committed to baseball in Israel will it have a chance to take off and expose the Israelis to the wonders of [the game].” His daughter, 12-year-old Yasmina, one of the top girls in Little League here, attended the camp. She has been playing organized baseball for two years and is on the national team in her age group. The best thing about the camp, she said, was that “the counselors made us work really hard.” When asked if she thought her Israeli friends who were not involved in baseball would come to watch the league next year, Yasmina said, “I think they would. Baseball is a great game and just like the Chinese play baseball, the Israelis can, too.”