A new baseball blog has hit the Net, written by Jesse Michel — Playing4Shekels. The tagline:
Want to know what it’s like to be a local celebrity in Ra’anana, Israel? Don’t ask me…I’m just playing baseball there. But I am going to chronicle my journey through this blog, so enjoy.
As a boy, Jesse dreamed of being a major leaguer; like many of us with a similar dream, he had to adjust his expectations:
Growing up, I envisioned myself being the starting catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees. As I got older though, I came to the realization that most major league clubs aren’t looking to invest millions of dollars in a 5′8″ catcher with an average arm, speed like a Santa Cruz banana slug, and less power than it takes to light up Jerusalem on Shabbat.
However, he is doing something about his dream: going halfway around the world to play for the Ra’anana Express of the Israel Baseball League. (You can read more about it at this Wikipedia article.)
There will be six teams playing beginning this summer, and MLB.com is reported to be carrying games.
Dodger fans might remember hearing earlier this year about the IBL from the lovely moment of Sandy Koufax honored by being drafted by the Modi’in Miracle.
“His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league,” said former big leaguer Aret Shamsky, who will manage the Miracle. “It’s been 41 years between starts for him. If he’s rested and ready to take the mound again, we want him on our team.”
I’m always fascinated by baseball’s reach across the world, particularly in places that aren’t already famous for it (e.g. Japan, Latin America), like Israel, Ireland, or Lithuania. That in mind, I’ve decided to assemble a page of international baseball links, which I’ll post later.
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