There's Something About Jews and Baseball

I can't exactly say it's an across the board thing, but it seems to me there are a great many Jews - men mostly, but I do know of a couple of women - who are really, truly, madly, and deeply in love with the sport of baseball.  Lots of the same folks may be football or basketball fans, but there's something indescribable with Jews and baseball.  My Rabbi is a huge White Sox fan and is known for making lots of baseball references from the bimah.  Billy Crystal has a well-known thing for baseball. In my family, on my side and my husband's side, there are rabid fans of the Red Sox, Yankees and the Mets.  When we were growing up, my cousins could recite every statistic, every batting average for every player.  It seems to go beyond the normal fandom into an almost worshipful relationship. Baseball is placed on a pedestal and spoken of in hushed tones. It's not just a game - - it's a tradition, passed down from generation to generation. 

Given this love for the sport and the number of transplanted Americans living in Israel, it surprises me that they are only now getting around to starting up a professional baseball league:

Jewish major leaguers introduce first Israel Baseball League

Former major leaguers Ken Holtzman, Art Shamsky and Ron Blomberg will manage three of the six teams in the first season of the Israel Baseball League, the nation's first foray into professional baseball.

The inaugural season will begin June 24, 117 days from today, with a 45-game schedule covering eight weeks and culminating in a championship.

The three managers met at a press conference today in New York, where they were joined by the league's Commissioner, Daniel C. Kurtzer, the former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel; Dan Duquette, the former General Manager of the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox, who serves as Director of Baseball Operations; and Larry Baras, the Boston businessman who conceived the league. Mr. Baras is Managing Director, IBL and IBL Community Foundation.

Also in attendance today was one of the 120 players who will populate the league's rosters -- Leon Feingold, a New Yorker who will realize a dream by playing pro-ball in Israel. He is representative of the players who have been signed out of Dan Duquette's tryout camps. Tryouts will continue March 6-7 in the Dominican Republic, and April 15 in Los Angeles.