Israel Starts Pro Baseball League

Dozens of Jewish athletes flocked to a Baptist convention center in the heart of Israel on Friday in hopes of realizing an American dream: becoming a professional baseball player.

Israel's fledgling pro baseball league held its first tryout for local ballplayers in this Tel Aviv suburb, putting them through a grueling battery of sprints, fielding drills and simulated games on an unseasonably warm November day.

With the pops of leather mitts and cracks of wooden bats filling the air, the scene resembled a typical ballgame in small-town America. But the tryout had a decidedly Israeli feel.

Players included Orthodox seminary students, Israeli soldiers and Mideast peace activists. They freely mixed Hebrew and English baseball jargon — there apparently is no Hebrew word for "curve ball" — and some left early to get home in time for the start of the Sabbath at sundown.

Larry Baras, the American businessman spearheading the effort to launch the league, was ecstatic over the turnout of roughly 70 prospects.

"I was sitting back there, just taking it all in," he said after getting his first glimpse of the local talent. "It was no different here than it was in the States."

Baras envisions a six-team professional league, modeled after small-market minor league baseball in the U.S. He already has scheduled opening day for next June 24.

Baras faces a number of obstacles. Israel has few playing fields, a minuscule fan base and, most critically, a dire shortage of world-class — or even high school varsity-level — baseball players.

"We'll have a lot of affirmative action," Baras conceded. "But I think the caliber today was higher than we thought it would be."

Baras expects the league to be comprised overwhelmingly of foreign players, mostly American college players or former minor leaguers. The league also is looking toward the increasingly competitive Australian baseball scene.

After a tryout in Massachusetts last summer, the league signed four players, including a pitcher with a 93 mph fastball, and expects to bring in more than 10 others, Baras said.

Intent on developing a local talent base, Baras has drafted Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Boston Red Sox, to be the league's director of player development.

Duquette scouted the players at Friday's tryout, scribbling notes on a clipboard. He watched stone-faced, even as players struck out and bungled ground balls.

"The talent level is representative for the country," he said. "There were some good plays and there were some forgettable plays."

Duquette said he expects to sign roughly half a dozen players from Friday's tryout.

"Potentially I have a good shot. I haven't played in two years. I just have to warm up," said Gilad Schenker, a pitcher and center fielder on Israel's national baseball team who now spends his days in an Israeli combat unit.

Organizers hope the two-month summer league will build interest in baseball and help develop local talent. They expect to bring in more Israeli players in the coming years, with the goal of enabling the country to field a team for the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

"We have a lot of work to do," Duquette said. "But we're going in the right direction. ... I'm encouraged."

In addition to Duquette, Baras is counting on a high-powered lineup to get the league off the ground. Dan Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, is the league's commissioner, and Marvin Goldklang, a minority owner of the New York Yankees, is on the board of advisers.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig also has voiced support, and Baras has been busy seeking sponsors to buy the local teams and working with local officials to find suitable playing fields. The tryout Friday took place at the "Baptist Village," a visitors' center that is home to Israel's only full-sized baseball diamond.

He has no doubt the league will be ready to play next June, though Israel is a soccer- and basketball-crazed nation with no tradition of baseball. Baras hopes to create a fan base by appealing to the tens of thousands of American immigrants living here, as well as tourists who come during the peak summer season.

Dan Rothem, an Israeli-born pitcher, said it could be a tough sell.

"Average Israelis look at baseball and see nine guys standing there," said Rothem, who played at Gardner-Webb and claims to be the first native Israeli to play college baseball in the U.S. He is expected to be one of the league's first signees.

"Hopefully, if we can get a good league up and running here, people will be more open to what baseball really is."