A love of the game
FREEPORT— A group of baseball players from Israel haven't died and gone to heaven.
They're just visiting America — specifically the Freeport International Baseball Invitational — and playing the game they love.
Israel's Colt team began its first appearance in the event with a 12-2 loss to the Penn Hills Colt team Tuesday at Swartz Field.
The score doesn't matter. The experience does.
"This is a tremendous experience for these kids,"said Haim Katz, president of the Israel Association of Baseball. "We only have one field of this size in our country. Some of these kids have to travel an hour and a half by train just to get to practice.
"That's a major problem for the older kids. The little kids can play anywhere — on soccer fields, empty lots, outside basketball courts — we get creative that way."
Baseball has existed in Israel for only 20 years. Its association began with four youth teams and 70 teams are playing today.
Getting equipment to play can be an adventure. Most players order gloves and bats over the Internet, then wait for their arrival.
"You order a bat and it may show up in two weeks or three months," center fielder Philip Tannor said.
When the team arrived in Pittsburgh, the players were taken to a sporting goods store and "walked out of there with gobs of stuff under their arms,"Katz said, chuckling.
Because of the lack of fields, Israeli youngsters play baseball during the fall and spring. The adults use the big field during the summer months.
Since baseball is considered a minor sport in Israel, little funding is available. Soccer and basketball are the only major sports in the country.
With a limited number of active baseball players in Israel, finding quality catchers and pitchers has been difficult, said Craig Dunning, the head coach of Israel's traveling team.
"Because our quality of pitching is limited, our hitters can only develop so far because they don't face top pitching on a regular basis,"Dunning said.
This touring Israeli team is playing baseball in America for the first time. Israel has brought two other teams to the United States, coming to Philadelphia in 2001 and doing a barnstorming tour through St. Louis, Omaha, Neb., and Kansas City, Mo., in 2002.
<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE51098723.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>Israel has one assistant coach, Moshe Lewis, who originally came up through its baseball program. All of the team's other coaches have American roots."Coaching is a real problem for us,"Katz admitted. "In the United States, almost any kid's dad can help teach him the game, at least work with him. None of our players' fathers know anything about baseball. Finding quality instruction is difficult."Despite the obstacles, Israel is improving its baseball standing among European countries, finishing third in the European Federation recently behind Holland and Germany, two countries with professional baseball leagues.Israel developed a six-team pro league last year, consisting of 100 players — 20 from Israel — but it folded due to a lack of funding.Italy hosts a Major League Baseball Academy each year, taking the 60 best players from Europe and showcasing them for major league scouts. Nine such players were signed by big league organizations last year."For the first time, one of our players was invited to that academy this year,"Katz said. "We are progressing, ever so slowly."I would love to see us get a player to the major leagues. We're pushing for that. It would do wonders for baseball in our country."Israeli players are connected to the major leagues through ESPNbroadcasts and the MLBpackage on satellite TV."We're seven hours ahead of the Eastern time zone, so games don't come on until 2:30 a.m.,"Dunning said. "These kids stay up and watch. They play in fantasy leagues.""I'm a Yankees fan, but of no player in particular,"Tannor said. "I'd love to play in college (in the United States), but the military blocks that a little bit. After school, I have to join the Army."Two Israeli players currently are playing baseball at American universities, one at Haverford in Philadelphia, the other in Rochester, N.Y.Eran Ebstein, an 18-year-old shortstop, is a diehard Chicago Cubs fan. His father is from Chicago."We go to Wrigley Field every time we visit,"Ebstein said. "I'm a little guy and I admire the little guys in the majors. Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot are my favorites."Someday, Israel will get a player to the majors, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon."Ebstein played numerous sports as a youngster, including soccer and basketball, before deciding to devote his time to baseball."A lot of people in our country think it's boring, but baseball is a game of concentration," he said. "So much goes on in a game, so much goes into it. I'm fascinated by it."Over here, to be able to play for your own high school, practice every day, really become a team — that must be incredible."
