Baseball in Israel

In Israel, baseball is a game that is not extremely popular, although there have been several attempts at changing this. There are approximately 3,000 baseball players in Israel and Israel is ranked 28th in the world in the sport.^[1]

History

Baseball was first played in the British Mandate of Palestine on July 4, 1927.^[2] The first field in Israel was built in Kibbutz Gezer in 1979, and the country now has a baseball field at the Yarkon Sports Complex in Petach Tikva. Israel sends national teams of various age groups to international baseball tournaments each year. The best recent showing to date in International Play (Pool A) was a 1st place by the Israeli Juvenile (ages 10–12) in the 2009 European Championships (CEB). Between 500 and 1,000 Israelis regularly play baseball in amateur league play. Baseball is growing at an accelerated pace, with much greater baseball identity associated with the country.^[3]

Israel Association of Baseball

The Israel Association of Baseball (IAB), established in 1986, is a non-profit organization in Israel. Their goal is to promote and develop baseball in Israel. In order to accomplish this they teach baseball to youth, organize national tournaments as well as aid in assisting Israeli teams to compete internationally, and procuring the required equipment. Additionally they will help organize the league, ensure they have a proper field, train the coaches, umpires and player.^[4]

The IAB is a member of The Olympic Committee of Israel, The Confederation of European Baseball and The International Baseball Association. The above organization in addition to the Israel Sports Authority, recognizes the IAB as the sole governing body for baseball in Israel.^[5]

Israel Baseball Academy

Under the authority of the IAB the Israel Baseball Academy launched in October 2014.^[6] The first year's program started in mid-October at Yarkon Sports Complex in Petah Tikva.^[6]

Academy players will partake in weekly training. This will give them the opportunities to play in the Israel National Team Program, to be recognized as Elite Athletes in the IDF. The program is also recognized by Major League Baseball and will give them access to programs designed for the best young players in Europe.^[7]

The co-directors will be IAB National Director Nate Fish and National Team Coach David Schenker. Dan Rothem, a former college pitcher and Israel National Team player will be the pitching coach. ^[7] Each year the program plans to include 10 kids age 14-21.^[7] In addition to the first year's participants there are 20 kids which are being scouted for year two.^[7]

Israel Baseball League

World Baseball Classic

2009 Tournament

Israel applied, unsuccessfully, to participate in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. They were subsequently invited to participate in the newly created qualifying round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

2013 Tournament

MLB Players

Under WBC rules, any player eligible for citizenship of a country, even though they do not have it, may play for that team.^[13] Therefore this entitled Israel to have non-Israeli citizens of Jewish heritage play for the team. Several Major League Baseball players expressed interest in playing including Kevin Youkilis,^[14] Ian Kinsler and Ryan Braun.^[15] The first qualifying round however took place in September, during the MLB season, so they were unable to participate.^[16] Other MLB players that qualified but did not compete were Ryan Lavarnway, Ike Davis, Danny Valencia, Sam Fuld Ryan Kalish, Jason Marquis, Scott Feldman, Craig Breslow, and John Grabow.

Israel, although have no major leaguers, was coached by All Star Brad Ausmus.^[17] Several minor leaguers also played for Israel; Nate Freiman, Eric Berger, Brett Lorin, Josh Satin, Jake Lemmerman, Ben Orloff, Adam Greenberg, Ben Guez, Joc Pederson and Robbie Widlansky.^[1]

Additionally Shawn Green, although he retired in 2007, was also eligible to compete. Green stated that it "would be an honor" and he "would love to" play for Israel, and eventually did.^[18]

Qualifying Tournament

Israel, was placed in the Qualifier 1 bracket with Spain, South Africa and France.

Israel competed in their first qualifying match for the 2013 tournament on 19 September 2012. In this game they defeated South Africa by a score of 7-3. Nate Freiman had two home runs in the victory.^[19]

Israel's second qualifying match was against Spain on 21 September 2012. Israel won the game by a score of 4-2. Nate Freiman once again homered twice for Israel in the victory.^[20]

Israel's third qualifying match was once again against Spain on 23 September 2012. Israel lost this game by a score of 9-7 in 10 innings. With the victory Israel was eliminated from the tournament and Spain moved on to the next round.^[21] Although Israel had won their first two games they were eliminated due to the tournaments modified double-elimination format. This meant that the final game was winner-take-all.

Ballparks

Currently there are three main ballparks in Israel.

The Yarkon Sports Complex, seating 15,000, in the Baptist Village in Petach Tikva, just outside of Tel Aviv. ^[22]

Gezer Field, about halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.^[23]

Sportek Baseball Field, in Tel Aviv.^[24]