Thursday, June 19, 2008

Will E-Rod return to Israel as the star of the four-team, 20-game, three-week, momentum-keeping second "season" of the IBL?

Amidst the hoopla over the resurrection of the Israel Baseball League as a four-team, 20-game, three-week show (or is it one game held over at the Orpheum?), there's new E-Rod news from the New York Yankees' AA farm club, the Trenton, NJ Thunder, that's bad news for the Dominican mystery man-- but possibly good news for the new and improved management of the Israel Baseball League.

E, aka Eladio Rodriguez, the most prominent veteran of the IBL, has been placed on the disabled list-- retroactive to June 17th, to make room for right-handed pitcher Oneli Perez, who's been claimed off waivers by the Yankees from the Cleveland Indians and assigned to Trenton.

E-Rod has gotten bupkis when it comes to playing time, and in the past couple of months has gone from the AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees to the Single A Staten Island Baby Bombers, back to Scranton, a step from Yankee Stadium, and down a step to the AA Trenton Thunder, all in the space of a month, before being kicked back down to the Single A NY-Penn League farm team in Staten Island and back up to Trenton at the beginning of June.

And since his signing was seen to be a publicity stunt cooked up by the Yankee-connected members that used to be on the IBL advisory board in the first place-- why not give him back?!

Will he return to Israel in triumph as the star of the new four-team, 20-game three week league!

¡Viva Eladio! ¡VIVA E-ROD!

No comments: