JCC Softball Cincinnati

JERUSALEM — Israel’s professional baseball league is coming back for a second season after a tumultuous inaugural campaign that left it on the brink of collapse.
The Israel Baseball League said Thursday it would begin play on July 27, about a month behind its original schedule and in abbreviated form. The league will consist of four teams, down from six last year, and the length of the season is cut in half to 20 games.
Still, simply returning to the ball field is an accomplishment for the fledgling league, which suffered from low attendance, financial difficulties and a mass defection of executive board members last year.
“While it is important to acknowledge, correct and learn from the mistakes that happened in year one, at the same time, we cannot lose sight of the incredible accomplishments that were attained,” said Dan Rootenberg, a former player and the league’s new president.
“The goal of having a three-week season this summer is to keep the momentum going, build on the fan base that was created last summer … and bring back the high level of talent,” he said. “We hope that all of this will lay the groundwork for a 45-game season in 2009 and beyond.”
The league said it has received financial backing from a group of Boston businessman to pay off remaining debt, including some unpaid player salaries, and provide funds for future play.
The league was founded by Larry Baras, a Boston bagel maker with a passion for baseball and Israel.
His dream was to introduce the American pastime to the Holy Land, attract youngsters to the sport and eventually develop a stable of high-level local players. He gathered a high-powered lineup of U.S. businessmen, baseball executives and Jewish former major leaguers to help.
The biggest challenge to the league was generating fan interest. With its slow pace and complicated rules, baseball is little more than a curiosity to most Israelis, who prefer soccer and basketball.
After its Opening Day game attracted several thousand fans, attendance quickly dropped. Most fans were American expatriates, and despite a family-friendly atmosphere modeled on U.S. minor league baseball, turnout at some games was only a few dozen people.
The league ran up a six-figure deficit, a manager quit during the season, players nearly went on strike when they weren’t paid on time and a TV deal collapsed. After the season, a string of board members, including the commissioner, resigned amid questions about league finances. The troubles fuelled persistent rumours that the league would fold.
But the league also enjoyed many successes on the field. The quality of play was high, thanks to the large number of U.S. and Latin American players with college and minor league experience. There was a loyal fan base, and 14 athletes went on to sign professional contracts, several with affiliates of big league clubs.
Almost all of the 120 players were foreigners who lived in dormitory-style accommodations. About a dozen players were Israeli.
Dan Duquette, the former Red Sox general manager and the league’s director of player development, said 2008 rosters would include many players from last year and others picked up from tryout camps held in the U.S. during the off-season.
He said the league plans to work “on a grass roots level, which if properly cultivated should help us become a viable international professional league.”
Duquette has said he hopes Israel will field a team for the 2009 World Baseball Classic, though he acknowledged in an e-mail interview a national team might not be ready by then.
While the league has lost many executives, it also has added some like Gary Woolf, a Boston businessman who once headed the sports management agency founded by his late father, Bob Woolf.
Woolf, who now runs a consulting firm, said he hoped to help the league grow by attracting sponsors, establishing media partners and strengthening ties between Major League Baseball and local Israeli officials.
“We have to figure out how to go beyond the initial seed, how to bring attention from around the world to this league,” Woolf said.
League officials said they were in the process of paying the bills.
An official at Channel 5 TV, which broadcast games last year, said the station had not been paid its sizable debt owed by the league or been contacted by the new management. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he expects negotiations to begin soon, said he hoped to settle the debt and be involved with Israeli baseball again.
The league said its long-term goal is to sell its teams to individual owners. Baras, the league founder, is not expected to be involved in day to day operations.

Team Kirzner got back into the winning ways with a victory over Team Eppstein, 6-2. Kirzner had a 6-0 lead through the 4th. Eppstein scored an unearned run in the fifth and tried to make a comeback in the the 7th. They had the bases loaded with nobody out. One run scored on a SF but the rally ended with Mike Rothstein hitting a grounder to Mike Small for a 6-3 double play. Two game balls were awarded for the victory. One to Stu Weinstein who went 2 for 3 with a HR and 2 RBI’s, and the other to Pitcher David Fox who was also 2 for 3 with an RBI at the plate and 0 walks and 2 K’s on the mound while allowing only 1 earned run.

Team Schwartz eeks out a 6-5 victory over previously unbeaten Team Grefer. Lansberg breaks his arm in a attempt to tie the game.Team Grefer down by 3 runs when Lansberg, hitting left handed hit a gapper to left field, that rolled to the wall. The two runners scored ahead of Lansberg, who upon approaching third base was waved to the plate by third base coach Captain Gary Grefer. As Lansberg approached home Howard Schwartz was covering the plate for Ron Rose, when Lansberg did a head first jump/drive into the plate and the tag. The result was a good break for Team Schwartz, holding the lead and a bad break for Lansberg and Team Grefer. Lansderg will miss several weeks and then will start his rehab assignment with Mike Creemer’s 5-6 grade team, before rejoining the big club in time for the playoffs.

Team Glassman picked up veteran righthander, Jan Becker, to replace the older and injured Big Gig, “Commissioner for Life” and won a big game over the fading Team Weisser. Jan pitch a flawless game, walking only one and striking out 7. The offense was in high gear with another multiple hit game by the Guttman boyz and Fink.

Friday June 20………..10:01 a.m……….CORRECTION……….LANSBERG NOT LANDSBERG…….Food for thought I……….will Dusty Baker survive this current road trip??????…….Food for thought II…..is Rocket now predicting a ONE loss season????????……..Food for thought III………mid-season MVP?????????…………. r.rosenthal@fuse.net ……………..