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8-15-2008 Bringing to Kenneth Lasson University of Baltimore School of Law, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Bringing Baseball to Israel, Baltimore Jewish Times, August 15, 2008

This Editorial is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Will Orthodox Support Obama?

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Sunday, August 24, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. See page 7 for more information. Featuring THREE LIVE BANDS, a moonbounce/waterslide, www.bethelbalto.com barbecue. . .lunch, games, prizes BRINGING BASEBALL TO

Orioles instrur:'ental in outreach I S RAE L to would-be Little Leaguers.

GeZer team rn " r.. embers (from left) M I ' air Corsla R • W, WeIssman AI • on Hankin and E h P ralm Schlffm 1/ I er SIt WIth the • Ir~~~ " / /

Kenneth Lasson rill' l.. )ri~'k, '~~O INX NOf AYALOH.isRAEl .1 illlli~h.: r ~l l ' pn)~Lllll" 'it 1:-. \\ l'i r(\,: !1 ill rl~\: lhK)K l \[ ' h. ·~'l "' t1 d rhl..' l.' l 1ln 0 KIll :.-'" rhl' t(• .' rrir' (Irthcr r,·.I<,IlI:" (l( the d . I,, ~ hr L'r. \I'h,) Iud jlN bel')IlI" rht' C lr ibbs'.lIl. .'\ Il d 11,)\\' \\ ' il~ "f King S,lloll·1() Il . Tlur \ \',IS in the Or.IIll!c· -.lIl1i-hbck rile Il)rl1 «'IInlr} Ll.e.E. lo~o s h o~\ s lip .1[' of .111 Tocl:1\. G,'zl:'r i, hO(]I<' fll .1 ditfen:nt ph,es .. l sm:ll1 ".tf>(1I/lC: fid d of :lre:1I11.1:.1 c:1rdi.dl \, 11l.lllicllr<·d in thL' middle of (;r.l,-I. c~PJllSC' Oft'tllt.T;lld ~Tet.'l·l ~r.l:-'S ,mu There .Ire .lL' tl1 :lll y ,oiJ the color 0 1' burnt ul11ber, sur­ Ill ore dUll .1 few rollll,kd by " tenct' Jnd high ch"in­ didl.lrd Orio le· fllls link b:Kkstop - .111 JIll1o,t pertectlv in the Hoh' blld. tailored b,\Sc'b:lll diamond - set ill 1ll0S t ot' th~m native the rough westcrIl slope, of the 13:1ItimoreJlls who ' JudeJn hills nt'Jr Modi'in, 3D kilome­ have lll:ldc' <11i)'

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Bring Baseball to Is raeti;nJl 1''' (( 41

~,, T h" i ',i5ri /\II- Sm C,lJl k' I q , hd,1 thl'\' 11'\: d Je \\ orld ",'cr. Now this is-the way King Solomon [0 \ \ '!Jlt h I< i llg I )j\"ld 1I1 rt li tjll) ",)t\~."Th l~n:' \\',b ,i !'i~ ~).lr.lde ,H't' :1 hi t \l inen.:il l J<; (,UN',·" the I'irili

[h e Orioles -.:: he ,:,u:ries ;lrOt llld a the pitch er!") (!rct1f rc.'pCfI ,Ind sin(t' fC best 1I'i:iltesj /.lit' in ICJ4il., rh e JOl'd:lIli.m Legion 1<)68 Orioles' ,C, i.ion schedule, the Lm Between innings Mr. Siegel ,In' p/I'dsc d 'I) (\l llji-J" I-IpO/l )'01/ rilis :1tucked eezer. There \',;:15 3 heated WJr I'll;: liwd in Baltimore - ;md switches hi, pL1ye,.,,' positiol1l in the CtJUt ';1l0;' :; Cirl.7fioll. b.ntle in which the Jort1.1J1iam tried ~idigllt'; e'peci;1liy in ~H11t'S when field ,1nd helps his Jiminutive cJ tcher It nt:ry be hoh')', but the parchment to take over the kibbutz's bridge, they beat the Y:mkees. put on the hulk,), shin gt.lards and is printed under the Great Seal ot' which served as a vital pas>age to The outlook isn't brilliant for the chest protector - tools ofignor.mce Maryland - a state which, as much if the Jordan lZ iver. Nineteen Isr:reli Gezer team today. even.H this young age. There is no nor more than 'lly other in the soldiers .lncl a like nUl1lber of It is erc~ ShaV1.lo t, and four players stc'aling or bunting, so all the little guy Union, has shown a palpable kimhip kibbutz members lost their lives. ,lre missing. Lee Siegel, the sott-'poken has to do is stop the ball,which he \vith the St.lte oflstae!' (O'Malley was The kibbutz was recaptured several S 6-y[' ~r-o ld coach who's lived on th e sometimes does. here laSt month on a well-publicized days later by what came ro be kibbutz since 1976. t;lkes seriouslv [11 the dry sunny heat of the day trip to pmmote bibteral hiomedical known as tht' Israel Defense Forces. both of his primary re, ponsibiliti ~ the MirJcles, routing players to the resea rch venturt"S, and his staif was The record h;!; it that baseball was here: maintJining th e field ~nd l11"n­ sholt-handed Gezer team, pull steadily rold about the Orioles' overmre.) first played in Israel on July 4,1927, toring a bunch ofboisterous 8-vear­ Jhead. Jhake - a token of Gezer, built circa %0 H.C. E. , was fimd,; were r:1ised by fi-it:nds of Velvd by two America n fathers, Shlomo ,\portsmariship in a Iargdy uncivil part uncovered by famed archaeologist Leher (:1n activist in the Habonim Weiss and Richard Saffern, who ,peak of the world - then Yib"a dYarun in 1971, it was the first Movement), to put up a park in to their players with assemble for pizza ,eienrific proofconclusively to his memory. behind the backstop. validate a passage in the Bible. The project took about six weeks MI'. Siegel gathers up Situated near the internation:U to complete. Bulldozers leveled the the <'guipmem. :\ visi­ coastal highway and guarding the soil, and kibblltz members gathered , tor saunters over :lIld primary route into the Judean hill alter work to put down yards ofsad presents him with, of country, Gezer, which dares back to shipped In on trucks. A mixture of all thin gs , a proclama­ (he Middle Bronze Age, was long clay and s;l nd was bro ught in for the tion sent by Martin one of the rnost O'Milley. the gover­ militarily,trategic nor ofVbryla.nd: cities in the ebb Be it KnOll", :TI'ift re Orioifs fvr the and the last point

Lee Siegel, the coach of the Gezer team stands behind catcher Ruvi Weissman.

42 Baltlmo.... I.. wl.h Tim.... i .. wl.htlme•.com ~, I I, 'I ! ~\l"l' ~.."lth" ,llld pirdlill~ illlHll1d. /\ ~ h,1c!-."rIJp \\ ,1" .ll..illt..'li 1.\[1.."1". rl)~l·rh<..:r ,":rll l·l)\\.TI.:d b<..'l1dll'" f~)! ;.~I.lyI..T" ~ .JJld.l rl'ti"'l'"hI11o:.:1lf "ulld. ~ III I t)St) ,I "1.·I,)n,:hl),lrd ,lllti ,Ill ductlt,ld t~'I1Lt..' \\cT\..' ilhLdkd ti.)r rile' 'jll.ldr"lllli,1I ,\1.1l','.Ibi"h (;,lIll"S. \\'h,'r" fc'" ish ,,,trb,1I1 [,',llllS h\)lll the Ullitc,j Sures, C.lll.l g;Ullt', to \ ,) !'rior ro rhe \ l),)7 MaccJbiah Soti:­ b,lll Ch.ullj'iomhips. rhe tldd W.lS "xpertly re-ll1allicured by George TOil". rhe Iegclldary groundskeeper for the K.lIlsas City Royals at rhe rime and overseer of:> \ Snper Bowl wnues, The lAD is J non-profit organiza­ rion and part of the Israel Olympic Conunirtee, rhe Confeder.ltion of European Basebill and the Interna­ tional Baseball Association. It has a close working relationship with Some budding Orioles fans watch the game. International. Its main focus is on kid,: Religious ;U1d u1tr.l-Orthodox, secular, boys, girl" Baras, a Boston-based baking entre­ Friedman of Baltimore, plays in to invest their most greatest enthusiasm. rich and poor - kibbutz children, city preneur who WJS raised in Silver the Israel Softball League.) The Jewish National Fund, earnestly dwellers,jews, Christians, and Arabs Spring and educated atTaimudical On Aug. 19 oflast year, in Petach seeking to accommodate the growing - all of whom play together on the Academy in Baltimore. The league's Tikva, Ron Blomberg's Bet Shemesh number ofplayers in Imel (currently same fields and often for the same inaugural season was last year, when Blue Sox shut out Art Shamsky's estimated at more than 2,000), runs a team. Few organizations in Israel can six tearns (from Beit Shcmesh, Mod­ Modi'in Miracles, 3-0, in the Israel "Project: Baseball" whose goal is to make such a claim. i'in, Netanya, Petach Tilev:!, Ra'anana Baseball League's inaugural professional develop synthetic turffields around Leagues are grouped according to and ) each played a 45-game championship game. In February, the the country. (Seejnf.org/baseball .) Jge: Minors (8-1O),Juveniles (10-12), season. Although the rules were those IDL annolll1Ced that eight ofits players The problem is where to play. Cadets (13-15),juniors (16-18) and ofMajor League Baseball, there was from last season have moved up in the B~sides Gezer, there are only five Seniors (IS,and over). There are also something uniquely Israeli about professional ranks. Among them are other baseball fields in Israel (at the presently more than 70 tearns in the the experience: Each game was pre­ Eladio Rodriguez and jason Rees Baptist Village, Chashmonaim,Tel country. including Tel Aviv's first ceded by the singing of"Hatikvah," (both signed by the Yankees); Maximo Aviv, a kibbutz near Akko, and Jewish-Arab team, in Jaffa. The very the hot dogs at the concession stands Nelson (with the Japanese champion Ra'anana).TheJNF owns three first sports contact ofany kind betvveen were all kosher and some 20 percent Chunichi Dragons);Juan Feliciano parcels ofland (in Netanya, Tel Aviv Israel and Saudi of the players were sabras. (who turned down Triple-A offers and Beersheva) that have been desig­ Arabia was on a The rest of the rosters were filled from the Nationals,Astros and Pirates nated for future fields and plans are base-ball field, in with amateur and minor ieague to sign with the Sultanes de Monterrey under way to construct a dianlond a European Little players from the United States, of the Mexican League); Raf.lel in . League tourna­ Dominican Republic, Australia, Bergstrom and jason Benson (Atlantic The Jewish National Fund and ment. A month Canada, Russia,Japan and Colombia. League); and Josh Doane and Noah. others - including the fledgling before Israel signed They each received $2,000 for the Walker (both invited to spring training Baby Birds who are this year's boys a peace agreement season, and the amenities weren't by the Boston Red Sox). ofsummer at Gezer - seem to share ,vith Jordan, the much better. Most of the pbyers This week the IBL is putting on a the belief that,just as there "'ill always Israeli national shared ro01115 in a high school week-long baseball festival that will be an Israel, ifthey build more fields baseball team dormitory nearTel A,iv. There were pit an Jll-staf team against one made ofdreams, the players, from allover, played an exhibi­ Baltimore connections here as well. up of premier lsraeJi players. The ",ill keep coming. ":::: tioll game with One of the Neranya Tigers was event will run from August 14 the Jordanian Benjamin Engelhart, who played high rhrough August 21. Kenneth Lasson, 0 low professor Q[ the national team. school ball .It the Hebrew Academy But it's at the Little League level that UniversIty ofBolumore. IS 0 frequent contflbutDr 10 the BAL~,VO,'lE. jE'NI\H T;'"ES. The Isnet Base­ ofGreater Washington and attends baseball in Israel promises to flourish, ball League was the University of Maryland. (His and that's where those who are inter­ the dream of Larry teanlll1ate at the academy, Dov ested in promoting the game continue