In Israel Paralell Worlds Converge

In 1972 I was 11 years old and lived in Israel. There was no baseball in Israel back then but I would take my glove and a tennis ball and throw endlessly against a stone wall in front of our house. I would pretend to be a Major Leaguer pitcher and the erratic bounces off the uneven wall were hits that I fielded. In those days the Jerusalem Post would publish the Major League standings once a week, delayed a couple days of course. I would go out early in the morning to beat my Dad to the newspaper which was delivered to our front stairs. I would glance at the standings outside and then bring him the paper. I loved baseball.

In 1972 Ken Holtzman was an elite Major League pitcher. He won nineteen games for the Oakland A’s that year and helped his team win the World Series by pitching them to victories in game one and four against the Cincinnati Reds. Kenny did not know me then but we were connected. I was a southpaw like Kenny, Jewish like Kenny and loved baseball like Kenny.


In 1972 the Olympics were held in Munich Germany. It was a big event in Israel, it was on TV and in my youthful naiveté I thought the Israeli athletes were sure to bring home some gold. When the Palestinian terror faction, Black September, shot dead two members of Israel’s Olympic team and took nine other team members hostage, I was heart-broken. Watching the masked terrorists on TV hour after hour and feeling the tension the adults around me were enduring, was disconcerting and haunting. Somehow I just felt that the athletes would be OK, they would survive. I was on the couch about 10 feet away from my mother when she answered the phone, suddenly she burst into tears, my world stood still, she sobbed, "they murdered all of the athletes." That moment sucked the naiveté of my youth from my core and replaced it with a gut punch whose impact will stick with me the rest of my life.


Back in the USA, upon hearing the news of the massacre Kenny and his Jewish teammate Mike Epstein walked around town for hours in shock. That day Kenny was scheduled to pitch against the second place White Sox. In an act that Kenny described as “the appropriate thing to do” he walked to the mound that day wearing a black arm band to honor and mourn the murdered Israeli’s. He wore it for all nine innings that he pitched and he beat the White Sox 9-1.

Kenny and I lived in parallel worlds. Worlds that were deeply connected yet were never to connect. In an unlikely twist the creation of the IBL altered the paths of our lives. On Monday Kenny will be leaving Missouri and I New Hampshire. We will journey thousands of miles away from our homes and converge at a another home that we share. Home plate in the Jewish Home land.

Pitching Wisdom from the Masters

My only day off is the day I pitch.
--- 7 time Cy Young Award Winner Roger Clemens


The wildest pitch is not necessarily the one that goes back to the screen. It can also be the one that goes right down the middle.
--- Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax


I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.
--- Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax


I can be successful pitching away because I keep the ball down and keep them honest inside.
--- 2 time Cy Young Award Winner Tom Glavine


Hit the catchers target with 2 or 3 different speeds and the rest will take care of itself.
--- Hall of Famer Robin Roberts advice to Ken Holtzman



If I tried to throw harder than I could, the ball went slower than it normally would.
--- 3 time Cy Young Award Winner Tom Seaver


If you make a mistake inside it’s a single if you make a mistake inside it’s a homerun.
---- Hall of Famer Bob Gibson



Our idea is simple: command the fastball and change speeds
--- Leo Mazzone, Major League Pitching Coach and in my opinion, one of the best.


If my curveball is breaking and I’m throwing it where I want, the batter is irrelevant.
--- Cy Young Award Winner Steve Stone


Once I am on the mound pitching becomes all about confidence.
--- 7 time Cy Young Award Winner Roger Clemens


Everybody talks about Schilling’s arm and great control, but nobody prepares for a start like he does. He studies the opposition’s hitters like he is preparing for a test.
--- Red Sox Manager Terry Francona


Only three or four outs directly affect the outcome of the game.
--- 3 time Cy Young Award Winner Tom Seaver



Your supposed to win when you have all your pitches working for you. You haven’t become a good pitcher until you can win when you don’t have anything.
--- Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax


Never the same pitch twice, never the same place twice, never the same speed twice.
--- 1951 All Star, 1953 ERA leader and winner of 5 world Series Eddie Lopat


Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser.
--- Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax



When they're in a jam, a lot of pitchers...try to throw harder. Me, I try to locate better.
--- 4 time Cy young Award Winner Greg Maddux


The fastball is the best pitch in baseball. It's like having five pitches, if you move it around.
--- 3 time All Star Luis Tiant



“Keep the ball down and your hopes up!”
--- 2 no hitters, 2 All Star Games and 5 World Series rings, Pioneer Manager Ken Holtzman

Major League Confession

I have something to tell you that you probably can’t relate to. I hope you don’t judge me too harshly.

I guess I have what people would call a mistress. We get together often during the summer months and then she leaves. Oddly, there is no prohibition against this in Jewish law. In my defense Julie knows about it. She is not always happy about our relationship but generally speaking she understands the love I have for my mistress. It is a passion that is hard to describe but it is so sensual, complete and magical. I am telling you this as a warning. She will be leaving shortly as the weather gets cool. She hates the cold. When she leaves I often get depressed for a while.

I am sure you have met her. Her name is baseball. My depression usually leaves when football arrives. I love football too. I guess I am a hopeless romantic philanderer.

Be well, Ari

I wrote the above paragraphs as an email to my manager and friend in 1999. I was the creative director in a technology consulting firm and had a large workload and felt he needed to be warned of my impending dip in spirits. I also knew he would get a chuckle. My wife, Julie, saved this email unbeknownst to me and presented it to me a few days ago.

The Rookie and the Legend

September 24th, 1966 was Yom Kippur. On that day the two most winning Jewish pitchers in the history of baseball were not at the ball field because they chose to honor their heritage. The pitchers were Sandy Koufax and Ken Holtzman. Sandy is a legend, one of the greatest pitchers the game has ever seen. In 1966 he won the Cy Young Award which is given to the best pitcher in the major leagues. He had also won the honor the previous year and two years before that, he was simply dominating. Today I can say that Ken Holtzman is the winningest Jewish pitcher of all time, he won 174 games, Koufax won 165. I can also say that he owns 5 world series rings, played in two all star games and pitched two no hitters. But in 1966 Kenny, as he is called, was a rookie. I can only wonder what he was thinking and feeling in Synagogue on September 24th, knowing that the next day he was to take the mound against a living legend, Sandy Koufax.



On that Yom Kippur day in 1966 Koufax owned a 25-8 record, he was still on top of his game but his arm was ravaged. He would retire only a few weeks later. The two Jewish southpaws would face each other only this once, the rookie versus the legend.

Kenny was a Chicago Cub and the game was played at Wrigley field so the visiting Dodgers were up first. Kenny took the mound and quickly laid down the Dodgers one two three. In retrospect Kenny seems to thrive under pressure, he has a 4-1 record and a 2.55 ERA in World Series play. The Cubs scored the only two runs they were to get that day in their first try at bat. So Kenny had a 2-0 lead but with Koufax on the mound you had to know that the lead would not grow. In the second inning Kenny was to face the heart of their lineup, the number 3-4-5 hitters. Not a problem, he struck out number 3 and 5 and the cleanup hitter grounded to short. This went on all game. Koufax pitched a complete game giving up only four hits and one earned run. But that day the rookie out dueled the master. After eight full innings, Kenny had not given up a hit let alone a run. If it wasn’t for a third inning walk to Dick Schofield he would have had a perfect game going into the ninth and final inning. As it turns out Schofield was the first batter he had to face in the final inning and he hit a single up the middle. Kenny ended the game with a two hitter and the win. …And that’s the story of the greatest game two Jews ever pitched against each other.

I get to pitch and coach for Kenny this summer. I will get the inside scoop on that game and many others and report back.

Long Live The Changeup

I just watched the Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels throw a gem. He pitched eight innings giving up two hits while striking out eleven and walking only one. He is the National League version of John Santana, a southpaw with an above average fastball and a devastating changeup.

I recently spoke to a group of High School pitchers and said that the changeup is a better pitch than a curve. As I said it I realized it is not really accurate in the absolute sense but I let the statement stand in order to emphasize its value in light of its underappreciated status in the amateur ranks.

Some of the greatest pitchers currently playing have staked the claim of greatness on their changeup. I classify the splitter in the same category as the other traditional changeups such as the circle, palm, fosh etc. The bottom line is that the change of speed is the key deceptive element of those pitches, its movement, though integral to its effectiveness, is secondary to its change of pace. Some of the currently playing greats who rely heavily on their changeups are Cy Young winners Johan Santana, Tom Glavine, Gregg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens (splitter), and on the relief side, Future Hall of Famer, Trevor Hoffman. This of course is an abbreviated list but just looking at those names is impressive. Interestingly, Barry Zito, known for having among the best curveballs in the game, threw more changeups than curves last year.

With the changeup being responsible for so much pitching success, I have been thinking about why the changeup is so undervalued outside the professional leagues. This is what I came up with. Kids (think 12 and under) love to make balls curve, it is magical and hence irresistible. Additionally, making the ball curve will almost always leave a batter who, is uninitiated to the wily ways of the breaking ball, look utterly hapless. Changeups, on the other hand, are not magical on the surface. The magic is unveiled when you are facing a hitter that can crush your best fastball and swings with futility ahead of a pitch that plods through the strike zone at the pace of tractor on the autobahn.

There are other reason little leaguers put the changeup on the back burner. For the changeup to be effective a pitcher needs to establish a fastball. Often little leaguers simply don’t have enough velocity on their fastball to make the change of pace on their changeup effective. Changeups are also counter intuitive for young pitchers. Pitchers learn early that most often the harder they throw the better the results. So asking them to throw a change up, which is essentially a batting practice pitch, is scary. This leap of faith comes with experience and maturity.

The above reasons make sense, but I still believe coaches should teach kids the changeup before the curve. One reason to teach kids to throw a changeup before a breaking ball is health. The American Sports Medicine Institute recommends that kids should be 14 years old (give or take two years) before they start throwing curveballs. Aside from health reasons, the changeup expedites the process of teaching kids to be pitchers rather than throwers. Hall of Fame pitcher, Warren Spahn, said that “Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.” the change up brings that point home. So first learn to throw the fastball with proper mechanics and control, and then learn the changeup.

Documentary

A movie maker heard my baseball story, gave my wife his business card and told her that I should give him a call. About a month later I did, we had a couple meetings. The producer thought that not only was the story interesting but I could tell it well. So now they are filming a documentary about it.

The story braids a few interesting paths, each rare unto itself, but the fact that they all come together in one life is unique. The reactions I get from people who hear it, the press and now from the movie makers, have been quite remarkable.

Briefly, this is the deal. I loved baseball and had talent but could not play organized ball because I grew up as an observant Jew and also spent key childhood years in Israel. The first time I played organized baseball I was almost 24 years old. I was a lefty armed with a 90mph fastball and the experience level of a tee ball player. By the time I could harness my talent I had a family and was too old to pursue a baseball career. Along comes the IBL. Thinking it is absurd to start playing pro ball at 45, I skip the first tryout being held a couple hour drive from my house. Next tryout is being held in Petach Tikvah, Israel, the same town where my parents and siblings live. I can resist no longer and fly over for the tryout. Dan Duquette, ex general manager of my beloved Red Sox, watches the tryout and bingo I am offered a contract to play pro ball. There’s quite a bit more but that is it in a nutshell.

They started shooting a couple weeks ago. The plan is to do a lot of filming over the next few weeks and then they will follow to Israel. The first filming was at opening day for the Eagles, a team I play for in Manchester, NH. It was a little nerve racking for a few reasons. First, it was opening day. But I had also been working out over the winter and was eager to test some of the stuff I have been working on against live batters. And of course, I had no idea what to expect with the filming. I also did not know how the team would react with a camera not only following me around but them too.

Everything turned out fine. Warming up with a camera in my face was not what I was used to but I was very focused on the job at hand, and did not really let it effect me. The team also operated as if nothing was happening. As for the game itself, we won 7-0. I pitched the first three innings, gave up no runs, striking out seven but walking three. I could feel I needed to work on some mechanical issues. My goal the next game was to iron out some mechanics and not to issue any walks. The next game I pitched the first five innings giving up no walks or earned runs, unfortunately we lost the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was a sloppy game by both teams. I am in a strange spot. I view my Eagles season as my pre season for the IBL. I want to try and test new things. On the other hand, this is not pre season for the Eagles, so I need to pitch optimally for their sake. I try to balance the two. The one mistake I made was throwing three consecutive splitters and leaving the third one up and in. It was hit for a long double. Luckily, I got out of the inning unscathed.

This is where the filming got a little weird. On Sunday night the film guys came to my house to start interviewing. Though I have no problem talking to the camera, I found myself saying things that if taken out of context can make me sound more than a little wacky.
In a couple weeks filming will be done in Teaneck, New Jersey. My best friend Yitzie and I will go around to the old neighborhood where we grew up playing stickball.

Poetry in Motion

A lefty named Sandy Koufax



The clip is from pitchingclips.com
They have numerous clips of great pitchers.

The Draft

After doing a cursory study of the Israel Baseball League draft results I am a bit perplexed. Admittedly, I do not have complete data to review. I don’t have Dan Duquette’s scouting report. But even so, how do guys like Abel Moreno and Efrain Ramos not get drafted in the first ten rounds and how does a guy like Raul Franco get drafted behind 33 other players?

I noticed that I have a Pioneer teammate named Abel Moreno who had no IBL profile. So I googled his name along with the keyword baseball and this is what I found. A pitcher with three years of pro experience in the Angels organization compiling the following stats:



Like I said I don’t have the full story. It might be a different Dominican pitcher named Abel Moreno. His last year with the Angels was 2004, maybe he blew out his arm and never recovered completely. On the other hand, there were over 160 players trying out in the Dominican Republic and most if not all had pro experience and Dan signed him, so he must have some pretty good stuff. So why were there so many college ball players picked before him?

I did not venture much further into this issue but my brief scan led me to check out two more players. One is Efrain Ramos. Efrain played pro ball in the Dominican Summer League (an MLB affiliated minor league) for the Mets last year and had the following stats:



Again, it might be a different Efrain Ramos. If it is the same Efrain, I realize I don’t have the full story which might include information that detracts from his stats in the Dominican League.

With the information I have, I find it curious that certain players were not drafted in the early rounds. My guess is that further research would reveal additional players with professional experience that were not drafted and I don’t understand why.

As a Pioneer I am glad we have the benefit of an overlooked player named Moreno who appears on paper to be quite Abel.

From Nine Corners of the Earth

One of the aspects of sports that I love is once a team walks between the lines of the field all players are equal. It matters not whether the person is rich or poor, black or white, Christian or Jew. They become one unit with a common cause, they work together to achieve the same goal. As a coach or player, I don’t know anything about the socio economic background of my players or teammates, it is irrelevant. Ties to the world all melt away on the ball field. During games the only world that exists is the world contained by the chalk lines and the nine innings (or seven in the case of the IBL). The world beyond the game is temporarily suspended.

Today I learned who my Pioneer teammates are. They hail from the Dominican Republic, Australia, Israel, Canada and the USA. That’s five of the nine countries from which the IBL signed players. The Pioneers include African American, Spanish and Caucasian players. They include Christians and Jews. They include the two oldest players in the league who will be pitching to their teenage catcher.

They were gathered from around the world for two months to share a home in Israel and a field in Petah Tikva. They were gathered to introduce the grand sport of baseball to the uninitiated and entertain the initiated.

…and I get to be one of the players. I must be one of the luckiest guys on earth.

Lets Play Ball!

To the right are the flags of the nine nations that the IBL players come from. They are in the order shown, Australia, Israel, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Ukraine, USA, Venzuela and Japan.

Yarkon Rivalry?

While I was looking at the satellite images of Israel I noticed that Petah Tikvah's Baptist Field and Tel Aviv's Sportek Field are both located on the Yarkon River. Actually, Baptist Field is about 200 yards from the Yarkon and Sportek Field seems to be right next to it.




For those who don't know, the Yarkon River is Israel's largest coastal river. It originates in northern Petah Tikvah and flows into the Mediterranean sea in Tel Aviv 16.7 miles later.

Is this the foundation of a rivalry in the Israel Baseball League? Maybe the Pioneers vs. Lightning games should be referred to as the Yarkon series. With that said, I propose that the team that loses the season series or the first game they play against each other must row from their home field to their rivals field. I am not sure if this is logistically possible, but worth checking out.

Click on the image below to view a larger version


Photos of the Yarkon River photos are fron here and here.