Israel Baseball League - Baseball in Israel

Baseball in Israel

Baseball was first played in the British Mandate of Palestine on July 4, 1927. 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.

In November 2007 it was announced that a new six-team league, the Israel Professional Baseball League, was taking shape, and would play its first season in 2008. Those behind the new league included billionaire Jeffrey Rosen, a major IBL investor who also owns the Maccabi Haifa basketball team, which he bought in the summer of 2007, and is the chairman of Triangle Financial Services of Aventura, Florida; Andrew Wilson, who was a facilitator on the ground for the IBL and now works for Rosen; Alan Gardner, a lawyer from New York, who was the centerfielder for the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox; and Michael Rollhaus, a businessman from Queens and major IBL investor.

Read more about this topic:  Israel Baseball League

Famous quotes containing the words baseball and/or israel:

    When Dad can’t get the diaper on straight, we laugh at him as though he were trying to walk around in high-heel shoes. Do we ever assist him by pointing out that all you have to do is lay out the diaper like a baseball diamond, put the kid’s butt on the pitcher’s mound, bring home plate up, then fasten the tapes at first and third base?
    Michael K. Meyerhoff (20th century)

    Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.
    Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 34:10.