The Israeli Baseball League was a minor topic of fascination among baseball people for a year or so, but in 2007 the league collapsed financially. Apparently Israeli market demand for second-tier baseball players dueling on half-groomed baseball fields is low. Who knew? So Israeli baseball went away, seemingly forever, and I'll admit I totally forgot it was even an interest of mine in the first place. Video games are distracting that way. Alas, the New York Times' baseball blog informs us today that Israeli baseball may not be dead for long. Apparently, a limited Yankees partner -- who was involved in the first Israeli league but resigned because of his dismay over how poor the league was -- is organizing a new league with an ETA of 2010 or 2011. Why would this league be any different? He seems to have it pretty well-considered:
"I could spend an hour telling you everything that went wrong," he said of the first I.B.L. "Essentially what we're doing now is forming a group of people to do some fairly serious due diligence – the type of due diligence that, candidly, was not done the first time around."That sounds pretty elementary, but it's the sort of thing that wasn't done much when the first league was hatched, so it's also encouraging. Maybe baseball will never happen in Israel -- maybe people just don't care, or maybe the initial investment is too high -- but if it doesn't, it won't be for lack of trying.
"We want to create an atmosphere that makes it enjoyable whether or not they're quote-unquote baseball fans, and build from there," Goldklang said. "A quarter or third of people who attend games are not necessarily fans. But they enjoy the experience, and they come to appreciate the game itself. What will appeal to Israelis once they come to the ballpark and what will get them to relate to the game on the field?"
