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Israel baseball creating diamonds in the desert

America’s pastime, meet the Holy Land.
[additional-authors]
November 4, 2015

America’s pastime, meet the Holy Land.

While soccer and basketball have long ruled the Israeli sports scene, a new program by Masa Israel aims to make inroads in the Jewish state on behalf of baseball, and one of the faces of the effort is none other than former Los Angeles Dodger (and member of the tribe) Shawn Green.

“I think it’s a great idea, and I think it’s going to be very positive for Major League Baseball, who’s trying to expand the world footprint of the game, as well as for Israel, which has a strong contingent of fans that are in need of something like this,” Green told the Journal in a recent phone interview.

Green is teaming up with Art Shamsky, a member of the 1969 World Series champion Mets, to serve as stateside ambassadors for Masa Israel’s initiative, the Israel Baseball Experience, in partnership with the Israel Association of Baseball. 

Masa Israel, an initiative of The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli government, connects young Jewish adults (ages 18 to 30) with a wide range of opportunities, including study abroad, internships, service learning and educational content. The new baseball program will be fully launched in January. 

Alex Elman, Masa’s director of marketing and communications, said the five-month internship will bring 10 to 20 ballplayers, perhaps former college or minor leaguers, to live in Israel, play and coach in the country’s premier league, and run clinics with local youth to help build the game on a grass-roots level. 

The cost is $9,400, which includes housing in Tel Aviv, all baseball coaching, uniforms, cultural and language programs, and more. To apply, go to athletics.masaisrael.org. Scholarships and grants are available. (Applicants do not need to be Jewish, but it is required for grants.)

Elman said the initiative is a recognition that athletics can be one more way to provide young people with an immersive experience in Israel. 

“All our Masa Israel programs are focused on long-term engagement,” he said. “We’ve realized that there are so many interests there among young Jewish adults. How can we get them over there? … Sports is obviously something — if you love to do it, why not do it in Israel?”

Currently, baseball is an afterthought to many Israelis, and one might expect those trying to pioneer the legitimacy of baseball in the Jewish state to be facing an uphill battle. Josh Scharff, a St. Louis native and former Yale University first baseman, is the program’s first participant. He arrived 2 1/2 months ago as a sort of guinea pig and so far he doesn’t disagree with that assessment. 

“Baseball is a part of being American,” Scharff said. “When you come to a place that doesn’t have that, especially when you have 45 minutes with a kid in a school, you have to come in there and be the coolest person in his entire life. It’s a great challenge. You have to have a great session and be really impactful.”

According to Nate Fish, leader of day-to-day operations for the Israel Association of Baseball (the body that runs Israel’s youth leagues as well as its professional one), the state of Israeli baseball looks something like this: There are approximately 800 registered baseball players of varying competitive levels in the country, and only one high-quality baseball field. It’s in the city of Petah Tikva, is owned by a Baptist church, and has to be rented out for use. A lone baseball academy exists in Israel, which is recognized by the Major League Baseball (MLB) academy system. Fish started the academy two years ago; now he and Scharff run it together. 

“We have 17 kids in the academy this year. We send them to MLB elite camps in Europe to help them get scouted for college and pro ball,” Fish said. 

Fish grew up in Cleveland and played college ball at the University of Cincinnati with future Jewish major leaguer Kevin Youkilis. Fish’s major league ties don’t end there. He coached and played for Israel’s national team in several 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifiers, alongside Green and Hollywood native Gabe Kapler, who played for numerous major league teams and is now the Dodgers’ director of player development. 

Fish’s own professional career has included time spent playing in top European leagues. Now he has his sights set squarely on building Israel’s four-team premier league (currently with teams in Jerusalem, Modi’in, Tel Aviv and the academy’s team based in Petah Tikva) into something comparable to European ones. Fish sees Masa’s role in bringing over seasoned American players as crucial.

“This is a model used in Europe. They bring in two or three Americans, add them to rosters and bump up the level of play. We can definitely improve and move up to the quality of play in midrange European countries’ leagues,” Fish said. 

Once the league’s American imports arrive in early 2016, Fish said, he plans to expand the league, adding two more teams. Fish and Scharff — the Israel Association of Baseball’s only full-time employees — are hard at work to keep things moving forward until the cavalry arrives. 

At least, that’s the idea. There is a dedicated base of volunteers helping, but manpower is still stretched thin. Resources might be in relatively small supply but optimism certainly isn’t. 

“You can find us at headquarters — my apartment in Tel Aviv,” Fish joked about their day-to-day. “If we’re in my car, we’re fully mobile.” 

“Just call us the Israel Baseball Road Show,” Scharff added. 

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