IBL'S FIRST DAYS IN ISRAEL FILLED WITH HIGHLIGHTS, CELEBRATION AND THE JOY OF BASEBALL
Tel Aviv, July 9, 2007 - "In the beginning" - not "in the big inning," as Talmudic scholars have long debated - the Israel Baseball League has launched with a dazzling array of action in it's first weeks, featuring the unbeaten Blue Sox managed by Ron Blomberg, two no-hitters, two home run derbys to break tie games, a pair of two-home run games, tremendous newspaper coverage in Israel and the US, Sunday night telecasts live on Sport5 in Israel, a PBS telecast of the opening game in the US, souvenir sales through the roof, and entertained (and well fed) cheering baseball fans at each game.
NBC Nightly News and the Canadian Broadcast Company were among the international media on hand to do reports on the first professional baseball league in the Middle East. The league has been covered by the Taiwan news agency.
Now, Comcast West in the US, which is included in the Direct TV and Dish network programming (about 2.5 million homes), will be showing those Sunday telecasts on a tape delay basis on Monday nights.
"This didn't really begin with Opening Day," noted founder Larry Baras. "Opening Day was the culmination of some two years of hard work by dedicated people - people who love Israel, love baseball, and want to see this great game take root here. But when that first pitch was thrown on June 24 at Yarkon Field in Petach Tikva - it was a very, very emotional moment for me."
The schedule has been challenged in the early going by the delay in having the Sportek field ready to go in Tel Aviv, but now it is ready to join Yarkon and the idyllic field at Kibbutz Gezer to give the IBL its fully planned capability to complete its 45-game schedule with a championship game on August 19.
Meanwhile, souvenir sales, including clothing, equipment and a beautiful inaugural year Yearbook, have been selling briskly at the games and on the IBL website, www.israelbaseballleague.com, adding a revenue stream to the league that has exceeded expectations. The question of which team will sell the most caps - the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, the Ra'anana Express, the Petach Tikva Pioneers, the Modi'in Miracle, the Tel Aviv Lightning or the Netanya Tigers - is almost as intriguing (at least to IBL marketers) as who will win the first championship.
The early success of the Blue Sox has certainly focused attention on them, with Blomberg, MLB's first designated hitter (and author of an autobiography, "Designated Hebrew"), causing quite a stir. Australian Jason Rees and Floridian Johnny Lopez have combined for nine home runs in Bet Shemesh's first nine games, answering the question of whether this will be a long ball league. Rees also leads the league with a dazzling .519 batting average through nine games
The league's 120 players, hailing from eight nations, are 40% Jewish and 18% Israeli, as the league recruited players to introduce the game to Israel at a high skill level. In addition to Blomberg, managers include Ken Holtzman and Art Shamsky, two former Major League stars, Australian Shaun Smith, American college coach Steve Hertz, and Israel's own Ami Baran as manager of Netanya. The IBL Commissioner is Daniel C. Kurtzer, the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
Individual and group tickets plus exclusive merchandise are available through the IBL website www.israelbaseballleague.com.
Media information: Marty Appel Public Relations (Appelpr@aol.com).
For more information regarding the Israel Baseball League, Please email
tbaron@israelbaeballleague.com or call our office 617-987-0635.
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