Take Me Out to the Ballgame--In Israel??

The first pitch was thrown Sunday, June 23^rd , in the very first professional baseball game ever in Israel. The announcers struggled with trying to translate the game's terminology into Hebrew, finally giving up and giving the play-by-play with lots of Hebrew interspersed throughout. One of the announcers, live on a cable sports channel, asked how to say 'home plate' and received no answer in return. While having no problem grasping the concept of the game, the language issues did give them several more pauses and problems along the way. But those issues aside, three thousand fans cheered as the Modiin Miracles beat the Petah Tikva Pioneers, 9-1.

Concessions consisted of local fast food selections and snacks such as hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken--all kosher of course-. Soft drinks were plenty and wire fences and bleachers ringed the field just like the professional baseball Americans already know and love.

In a country where the number one game is soccer, organizers will be hard pressed to win fans to baseball, but they have plans to give it a valiant shot. Larry Baras, a bakery czar originally from Boston, who has long dreamed of bringing baseball to Israel, is the man responsible for this effort . At the moment, the Israel Baseball League has more foreign players than not --only 20 Israelis to 120 players on the roster overall. In hopes of developing local talent, Baras has brought in Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Red Sox, to be the league's director of player development.

The plan is that six teams will compete during a 45-game season. The teams hail with names such as the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Tel Aviv Lightning, Raanana Express and Netanya Tigers. There are high hopes that this famous American past-time will take wings, dig roots, in Israel. Hopes that Israelis will become as interested as American immigrants to the country already are.

At this time, there are only three baseball stadiums in Israel, with the one played in today being the only one that is fully prepared and set up. It will be a challenge to get the game up and running in Israel, but it is a promising venture.

Duquette was quoted to say '"We expect Israelis to enjoy it for all the same reasons we do, to be with family, to enjoy the sound of the bat, to see the ballet actions of the players." That's definitely an accurate sum-up of America's love affair with the game of baseball.

Here's to hoping many little Israeli boys and girls get to grow up with fun-filled baseball games as a well-loved family past-time.