The new ball game
By Ron Kaplan

Daniel C. Kurtzer, United States Ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005, returns to the Jewish state in a new role: commissioner of the new Israel Baseball League, scheduled for launch in June 2007. The league will field six teams, all league-owned and operated, and hopes to eventually expand to eight before its second season. The league also intends to petition Major League Baseball to represent Israel in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
Kurtzer, who cites Mickey Mantle as his all-time favorite player ("Hank Greenberg's a close second"), grew up in Elizabeth, N.J., and attended the Jewish Educational Center there. He took some time from his new position as the S. Daniel Abraham Visiting Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs to discuss his "other" dream job. 

Q: First of all, congratulations.

A: Thank you.

Q: Looking forward to it?

A: Oh, for sure. It's every kid's dream....

Q: To be commissioner?

A: Well, I mean to be shortstop for the Yankees, but second best would be commissioner.

Q: So aside from your role in Israel and as a Yankees fan, what qualifications do you have for the position?

A: I don't know why they chose me; it wasn't my looks and it wasn't my playing abilities. It's mostly an honorific title. There are a number of businesspeople and professionals who are putting the league together who know what they're doing both from a business and baseball perspective. I think what they're looking for me to do is some public outreach. I'll be in Israel this summer, probably give a few speeches, do some speaking here on behalf of the league. Once it gets launched, [it will be] a place where issues can come outside the system before disputes arise. If there's something between the players and the league, or the players and their teams, or the teams and the teams, it would be a place to try to deal with issues.

Q: Where will the players come from? 

A: It'll be actually three categories: native-born, those who have made aliya, and there will be some provision, as there is in other professional sports in Israel, for some non-Israelis [such as] American-Jewish kids who are playing in college who might be good enough to play minor league ball or at least try out for it. They may want to spend a year or two or three doing it in Israel.
There's already an Israel Association of Baseball, and they're very supportive of this. We have a signed agreement with them, and they're going to do what they can to be a kind of feeder. Dan Duquette [former general manager of the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox, who will serve as director of baseball operations for the Israeli enterprise] is very enthusiastic about this.
We held tryouts last summer for the American young people who want to play. There is also an Israeli national team, which has competed in Europe, not unsuccessfully. They've got some players, and I think we will find it won't take long to get to the "A" level of the minor leagues that we're looking to achieve.

Q: Are there facilities to play in or do they have to be built?

A: [IBL president] Larry Baras surveyed several sites. Various municipalities are quite enthusiastic. We've talked about putting in lights and increasing the stands. Also the Jewish National Fund sees this as part of its mandate, to help build some fields around the country. We can get started with the two or three fields. Over time the hope is that every team would have a home field.

Q: What has been the reaction in Israel to all this?

A: It's not yet well-known in public opinion, although it's been in the press. But within the audience that Larry and I have talked to, there's been much more enthusiasm than we had anticipated. He came back saying there's already some competition for ownership among some businesspeople there who understand that you're not talking about making a lot of money here, but you're talking about a business activity that's viable.

Q; Plus the publicity....

A: Right. It's a new activity. It's one thing if you buy an existing sports franchise; it's another when you're creating something like this from scratch. We're pretty okay in terms of public response; we now have to build interest.

Q: What problems do you foresee?

A: I think our biggest is going to be skepticism on the part of the Israeli public. To the extent that they know what baseball is, they think it's boring. We know that's an issue, so one of the objectives here is to find a way to educate people as to why it's not. 
Number two, we know we've got to find a way to move the game along. Some games here can just go on for hours. That won't work. So we're looking at various options.

Q: There was some mention of a type of home run derby to decide tied games.

A: I don't know where that came from. That's not going to happen. We're not going to change the rules. For example, we can give the umpires discretion to move along the pitcher and the batter so that if somebody stalls, they'll get a ball or a strike called. That provision exists already in the rule book but it's very rarely enforced.

Q: That's partly due to television. What about broadcasting baseball in Israel?

A: We're going to see what we can do, if there's any interest. Certainly on local radio, I would assume we would find some. There are a limited number of television stations.
The biggest challenge -- but it's also the biggest opportunity -- is to create a fan-friendly environment. The two big sports in Israel now -- soccer and basketball -- have a lot of fans, but it's not a family activity. 

Q: Given that you're so far geographically removed, how hands-on can you be?

A: The actual people who will run day-to-day operations will be split between here and those on the ground in Israel. Larry, here, and I know he's looking at some different ways to organize things there, and then we'll see how much travel it will take. I have a day job, as they say, and I'd like to keep it. I like what I'm doing.... Given the academic year here, I can spend a large part of the baseball season in Israel. I'll be there next summer for sure, and then we'll see how it goes after that.

Q: In light of the steroid controversy, is there any concern about that type of thing in Israel?

A: I think it's too soon to think about it. There are provisions already within their sports organizations to deal with these issues in a general way. Knowing what we now know about the American sport, we're aware [of it]. I'm not concerned going in that we're going to face a particular problem.
What's been most interesting: I've done a lot of public speaking over the past three months on Middle Eastern things, and recently when I've mentioned [baseball in Israel], this is what has now gotten people interested. It's like, "Oh, you were ambassador? Who cares," but now it's "Wow, you're commissioner of baseball." So the buzz is quite good.

Reprinted from New Jersey Jewish News