Big questions about Israel Baseball League 2008

With the announcement of plans to charge full speed ahead with a second season of the Israel Baseball League, president Martin I. Berger has once again done a brilliant job of changing the headline while ignoring the fury and controversy that swirls around the league. The IBL even managed to pull off a team move to Jerusalem with the backing of the nonprofit Jerusalem Foundation (but be advised, the Foundation says it "provides full accountability and open reporting to its donors by maintaining ongoing contact with and supervision of all its projects"-- something the IBL apparently did not).

Miami attorney Berger has proven himself adept setting his own agenda despite the flames around him, as he showed on Novermber 15th on when, an hour after we posted the exclusive story on the resignations of the IBL 10, he posted a comment on this site that the resignations "will have no effect on the incredible things going on right now with the League."

The president has also done a fine job of keeping embattled IBL founder Larry Baras out of the spotlight. The news on the IBL website yesterday made no mention of the IBL-related fraud lawsuit against league founder Lawrence Baras, nor the complaints from players and vendors thatthey have not been paid for the the 2007.

So is the announcement of the IBL 2008 season the real thing? Many questions, incuding the ones below, remain:

What players will return for a second season?

Will the IBL cover the debts from 2007?

Will Larry Baras continue to be involved with the league?

Will there be an advisory board consisting of American sports-related bigshots?

And, in the interest of keping things clean in '08... will Our Man Elli in Israel be offered the job of league commissioner?

We've got our calls out, seeking comments. Answers, please!

EXCLUSIVE: BARAS HAS BALLS! (and bats!) DESPITE SCANDAL, ISRAEL BASEBALL LEAGUE ANNOUNCES 2008 SEASON!

Israel baseball fans, rejoice! Despite the scandals and lawsuits, complaints and debts, resignations and rebellion, the Israel Baseball League claims to be ready for 2008 with a full schedule and a new team!

Three months of radio silence on the IBL website was broken with a bang with two explosive stories: The announcement of a schedule for a second season in 2008, and the arrival of professional baseball in Jerusalem. The Petach Tikva franchise is moving and will be renamed the Jerusalem Lions.

Embattled IBL founder Larry Baras is not quoted in either story. But president Martin Berger leads the way. No comment yet from the rebels who announced the formation of the rival Israel Professional Baseball League, though the heralding of Jerusalem as a city with "hundreds of thousands of American tourists, American ex-patriates, visiting American youth groups, and American students on extended stays" does not bode well for native Israelis who claimed they were ignored by the IBl the first time around.

Our Man Elli in Israel will have an update on the historic news. Meanwhile, here are the stories from the IBL website:

2008 IBL Schedule Announced

With great excitement and anticipation, the Israel Baseball League today unveiled its 2008 baseball schedule. This will be the second full season for the IBL. Features include each of the six teams playing a 40-game schedule, culminating in a Championship Series at the end of August.

Opening Day has been set for Sunday, June 22nd, with two exciting games taking place. At Gezer Field, the IBL Champion Bet Shemesh Blue Sox will be playing host to its arch rival, the Modi’in Miracle. And at the Baptist Village, a future rivalry will be born when the Tel Aviv Lightning takes on the new Jerusalem Lions. Both games are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

“This is a well-balanced schedule, with teams having more off-days than last year in order to recharge their batteries in a very challenging hot climate,” said league president Martin I. Berger in announcing the schedule. “There will, however, be a baseball game played every night at both the Baptist Village and Gezer Field, the two baseball venues in which the IBL will play next season,” Berger continued. “Right now, we are assuming that our regular season night games will begin at 7 p.m. at both venues, as we are working with the Jewish National Fund to upgrade the field in Gezer with renovations that will include improved lighting for night games.” As was the case last year, no games will be played on Friday nights and Saturdays.

Tickets for next season’s games are due to go on sale in December. For information, contact tickets@israelbaseballleague.com.

IBL Adds Jerusalem Franchise

for 2008 Season

Last year, we had uniforms and batting cages. We went through thousands of balls and had to quickly order an extra 50 bats as the wear and tear depleted the existing stock. “Baseball” music in both Hebrew and English resounded through all of the games. We even had resin bags brought in through customs. All of the trappings were there, in other words, but one giant omission was obvious to many fans. There was no Jerusalem team.

This is about to change for the 2008 season, as the IBL announced that it is moving the Petach Tikva franchise to Jerusalem for the coming year. The team, to be known as the Jerusalem Lions, will play its maiden season in Gezer Field, about a 25 minute drive from the center of Jerusalem. By the 2010 season, the league expects the team to have a home field in Jerusalem itself.

Jerusalem, with its hundreds of thousands of American tourists, American ex-patriates, visiting American youth groups, and American students on extended stays, has long been a hotbed of baseball activity in Israel. Over 300 participants play in local softball leagues during the summer and hundreds of players in Israel’s youth leagues hail from Israel’s capital.

“Our problem was finding a site in Jerusalem that could accommodate pro baseball requirements,” said Ami Baran, the IBL’s Director of Israeli Operations. “However, we have been working under the leadership of the Jerusalem Foundation in getting a particular parcel designated as a baseball field and it is clear that enough progress has been made on that score for us to start planning for baseball in Jerusalem,” Baran continued.

The Jerusalem Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by former mayor Teddy Kollek, raises money for cultural and recreational projects in Jerusalem. It has made the creation of a multi-purpose outdoor athletic field a priority and has already received significant financial commitments for the development of the site. In a recent meeting between representatives of the IBL and the Foundation, plans were solidified for the baseball community of Jerusalem to have a portion of the field dedicated for baseball use.

“Meanwhile,” Baran said, “the Jerusalem team will play its home games at Gezer Field. We will make arrangements for charter bus service to take interested fans to and from the games. It is only a 25-minute drive from Jerusalem to Gezer, so it makes sense for us to get the team started now,” he said. The Petach Tikva Pioneers will be moved to Jerusalem. However, baseball fans in Petach Tikva will actually experience a net gain, as the IBL plans to have three teams call the Baptist Village home field – the Netanya Tigers, the Ra’anana Express, and the Tel Aviv Lightning. The Baptist Village is located right on the border of Petach Tikva.

Herald harbors Unholey headlines

Our Man Elli notes, "Miami Herald headline writers working overtime":

Lawsuit: Bagel firm in the hole

From a supporter of the Israel Baseball League...

Debate continues to rage over the Israel Baseball League, the upstart Israel Professional Baseball League that wants to take its place, and most recently our decision to print an email from embattled IBL founder Larry Baras in response to Our Man Elli's request for comment. Of all the responses, this posted comment from an hour or so ago seems to demand a wider audience. Full of outrage and accusations, we hope it inspires even more debate. We've cleaned up the punctuation and nothing more:

"Ely you ought to go to Hell for what you have done. You will never amount to anything but being a zero. Stop pinning your hopes on this blown out of proportion story find someone or something else to demonize to make yourself look like a something.

"Isn't there something going on in Israel other than this? Or does Rosen or Rolehouse pay you to much to keep focusing on this one? Or does stupid young Andrew Wilson give the crappy info?

"The putzes who are starting a new league ought to be sent to Hell, as well. Actually, they are already on their way.

"They have fed this blog fodder for weeks and let them be exposed for what they are.

"Guess who will be the inhouse writer for their proposed new league ?

"Ely.

"They indeed have sent the gas into the balloon of this blog and shitty Eli stories. Right, Alan Gardner, Andrew Wilson, Jeff Rosen and Rolehouse?

"You want to make the IBL look bad so you can come marching in as the solution saving the summer for the children of Israel.

"Folks, don't let them put that wool over your head. They are all a bunch of evil creepy zeros. There are thousands of people who had a great summer. Let them enjoy their memories you have tried to destroy something amazing and hopefully you will not succeed in tearing down the IBL or Larry Baras. You have already done so much evil. The fact that you would publish that letter from Larry shows how low you beasts will go to try and get some acclaim at any cost. Tear it down so you will look like saviors. Cannot wait til the announcement that you will be saving baseball. It is so sleezoid.

"I will make personally sure that each one you assholes are investigated and every teenage child you tried to screw and every whore you grabbed will be a part of someones tabloid. Watch your mail. Just watch me.

"It is coming!!!!!!Better stop now!

"Jeff Rosen, shall we dig up pictures of the children in hospitals?

"Whomever is looking for more background on Larry is simply seeking to coerce him into quitting and hurt him more deeply. he has tried his best.

"BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR BEEFS AND WHY YOU ARE ALL WRITING THIS STUFF AND MAKING IT REPEATED AND LOUD.

"YOU ALL HAVE PERSONAL GOALS HERE!

"AND YOU ARE TRYING TO KILL A GOOD THING A GOOD PERSON IN THE PROCESS.

"YOU ARE THE LOWEST OF THE LOW!

"SUPPORT THE IBL!!!"

Israeli baseball headline runner-up

Ex-Burger King exec sues ex-bagel baron

And by the way, Bang The Drum, Shlomo wins our documentary title prize.

OY GEVALT! Elli's covering Israel football for TV!

We told you a month ago that Our Man Elli in Israel, who saved lives, changed the course of Israeli sports history and set the future of Israel professional baseball on a straightforward course for its next season (regardless of the brickbats and slanders hurled his way) with his unblinking investigative coverage of the first season foibles and post season intrigue behind the Israel Baseball League is also covering the four-team Field Turf Israel Football League, the first national tackle football league in the Holy Land.

Well, Elli's got more than a pen and notepad this time around. That's Elli Wohlgelernter, reporting for the Israel Broacasting Authority, in the clip above. Hang on to your jocks.

(Said one fan to the Jerusalem Post after the league kicked off: One fan proclaimed, "As a fan of football, it's a wonderful thing to be here to watch American tackle football being played in the holy land." Oy, does that sound familiar!

Jerusalem Post finally covers baseball scandal

But they went with the Associated Press story...

(Translation: Israel's major newspaper didn't assign a reporter for its first story on the collapse of the nation's baseball dream. They cut and pasted a story on the Larry Baras fraud suit that came in from the wire service on Tuesday. We ran the original story 12 days ago. At least Haaretz ran the IBL 10 story last Sunday-- four days after we broke it.)

Israel Baseball League fans! Shirts are 20% off!

"In 2007, history was made once again in the Land of Israel –
The Israel Baseball League was born.

"It is exciting to see this age-old sport and family pastime
brought to a new level of professionalism
and meaning as it is being played
by six dedicated teams throughout Israel.

"Join in on the excitement of Israel’s venture into baseball
by sporting an IBL t-shirt from Jerusalem Depot!"

Mementos of an idea gone by? Or the start of something big? Someone with a good eye for business is making hay with all the publicity The Israel Baseball League has received on this site. The Jerusalem Depot is offering Israel Baseball League T shirts at 20% off-- this weekend only!

All six IBL teams are represented, along with the official league shirt ("All six IBL teams are displayed here in this official league t-shirt."). Originally $24.90, now on sale for $19.90.

The Jerusalem Depot is connected to the Israel Today magazine. Subscribe today and win a free trip to the Holy Land-- and possibly catch an IBL (or IPBL) game next season!

The Forward wins our Israel Baseball headline prize

Scandal Tarnishes Holyland Diamonds

AN URGENT CALL TO THE FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF LARRY BARAS! His emailed message to Our Man Elli has us worried about his state of mind and well-being

"Elli,
you have totally
destroyed me.
You win.
Congratulations.
Won't you stop now?
Please?"
--email message
from IBL founder Larry Baras
to Our Man Elli in Israel

Someone please check on Larry Baras and make sure that he's all right.

Seriously.

The story of the implosion of the Israel Baseball League, the lawsuit against its founder Larry Baras, resignations of its leadership and the controversial creation of the rival Israel Professional Baseball League all played out exclusively on Tabloid Baby for months, but now that the story was ripped off without attribution by the Associated Press, it is this morning spreading around the world and beyond, from Israel to New York to Paris to Baghdad-- to the headline news being beamed to the shuttle up in space.

It's a story about baseball. And business. And the history of a nation. It's also the story of man, Larry Baras, who according to those who know him, is a hardworking, well-intentioned Zionist who wanted to bring a good thing to Israel and "who ran to replace a popsicle for a child... who had perspiration marks up and down... making it all happen on opening day, stress and sweat oozing out of his pores... picking up left behind trash towards the end of the game..."

That is why this response to Our Man Elli's request for a comment on the latest turn of events is so disturbing to us.

It read like a suicide note. Or at the very least, a cry for help.

For Larry Baras to blame Our Man Elli for his predicament is unfair and baseless.

Elli, you have totally destroyed me...

Our Man Elli wrote a balanced news article about the ups and downs of the first season of the Israel Baseball League. Yes, that article in the days after the season's last out led to the first widespread negative publicity the IBL had received since its creation. But remember, in midseason, financial problems caused the cancellation of the league's broadcasting deal with Sport5 cable TV, players had threatened a strike over late paychecks and living conditions, and manager Ken Holtzman quit spectacularly. Later, players and vendors complained of bounced checks. Native Israelis complained that they were not appreciated by the league.

Our Man Elli had nothing to do with the lawsuit filed against Larry Baras by an investor in his stuffed bagel company. The banking group that was to provide him a bridge loan canceled the deal because Larry Baras did not inform them of the federal securities fraud suit.

The IBL commissioner and advisers who walked away last week did not do so because of Ell Wohlgelernter's or Tabloid Baby's reporting. They did so, because they "were distressed that the league's finances and business operations were not handled in a more professional manner and, in particular, that the league was unwilling to provide relevant financial information concerning its operating results. They also noted significant staffing and other organizational problems that have beset the league since inception."

You win. Congratulatons (sic).

You win? Win what? Tabloid Baby is a journalistic cooperative and forum. No one gets paid to express their views on the is site. We, and everybody wins, if the league's problems are repaired and the ump shouts "Play ball!" in Israel in 2008.

Won't you stop now? Please?

It doesn't work like that. We are journalists. We follow a story. And as a story develops, we report its twists and turns wherever it leads us. And this particular path concerns us greatly. We urge Larry Baras' friends and family members to give him a call, bring him some chicken soup-- see that he's all right.

We do not want his or anyone's blood on our hands.

For the record:

THE FOLLOWING IS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE RESPONSES TO OUR MAN ELLI'S E-MAIL REQUEST FOR COMMENT FROM LARRY BARAS:

FROM OUR MAN ELLI, Mon, 19 Nov 2007 09:23:23 -0800 (PST)
hi larry,
would you care to comment on the law suit?
elli wohlgelernter

FROM LARRY BARAS, AT IBL EMAIL ADDRESS, 3 minutes later:
is there a new lawsuit or do you mean the one I know about?

FROM OUR MAN ELLI, 8 minutes later:
blacher's.
also, to the board members' claim of non-transparency. i'm writing a story and thought, even though a small chance, that you might want to comment.

FROM LARRY BARAS, 32 hours later:
Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:54:08 -0500 (EST)
Elli, you have totally destroyed me. You win. Congratulatons. (sic) Won't you stop now? Please?

( UPDATE: Last night, Baras was reached at his home by WCVB-TV. He said the claims in the lawsuit against him are "absolutely, 100 percent, not true," that his SJR Foods is still "a profitable, functioning company of which (Blacher) is a shareholder," that Blacher could still see a return on her investment, and that "the goal is still to sell the company and distribute the proceeds to the shareholders." Baras denied using any money invested in SJR Foods to prop up the baseball league, which he said will continue to operate "despite the distractions.")

Israel Baseball: Our Man Elli advances the story

While "mainstream" news organizations like the Associated Press are just now getting to rehashing and taking credit for the Israel Baseball League news that Tabloid Baby and its multitalented investigative reporter Our Man Elli in Israel have been bringing you exclusively since August, Elli Wohlgelernter continues to advance the story here and elsewhere.

Today, as lazy sports editors in places like Boston (hometown of embattled IBL founder Larry Baras--where the Globe buried the story as the last item in a baseball notes column), Jerusalem-- and the International Herald Tribune-- copy the nine-day old AP news, Our Man Elli brings readers of the New York Jewish Week up to date:

Dueling Israeli Baseball Leagues?

Rough diamonds: IBL Commissioner Dan Kurtzer,
left, resigned last week. And embattled IBL
founder Larry Baras, right, has been hit with
a fraud lawsuit against his company, SJR Foods, Inc.

by Elli Wohlgelernter/Jerusalem

Is Israel ready for not one but two professional baseball leagues?

That was the question this week as the Israel Baseball League, which launched its inaugural season last summer, seemed to be unraveling — and a new league, the Israel Professional Baseball League, seemed to be taking shape.

The IBL’s commissioner, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer, resigned last week along with 10 members of the IBL advisory board. Yet the IBL, plagued with problems on and off the field in its first season, says it is moving forward with a second season.

The resignations came amid charges by the IBL board members of a lack of transparency in the league’s financial operation, as well as revelations of a fraud lawsuit against IBL founder Larry Baras.

The league’s Web site has not been updated since Aug. 31, except for the removal of the list of advisory board members, including those of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and members of his family.

At issue for the board members, as well as for Spectrum Capital Group, an investment banker group that pulled out of an agreement with the league, was the failure by Baras and league President Martin Berger to disclose both the extent of the league’s finances, as well as the suit against Baras.

“Several of us had been arguing with Larry and Martin for some time in view of our understanding that they were continuing to solicit investors, without providing them or us with the financial results of operations by the league and its franchises for last season,” said Marvin Goldklang, a part owner of the New York Yankees and owner of four minor-league baseball teams.

The suit against Baras and his company, SJR Foods, Inc., was filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Sept. 24 by Natalie Blacher of Dade County, Fla., alleging fraud, securities fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.

Baras did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Berger sent an e-mail to the players thanking the resigning board members “for their help in launching this amazing venture. I want you all to know that this will have no effect on the incredible things going on right now with the League.”

Meanwhile, many players say they have not been paid in full for last summer.

Some have helped found the new IPBL, which sent a letter to IBL players Sunday decrying the “frustratingly destructive inability of management to communicate on basic matters of the financial affairs of the league. As such, it is apparent that the original leadership has lost the much-needed credibility with vendors, lenders, past and future league participants to adequately carry on the affairs of a professional baseball league in Israel.”

The IPBL said it has “the funding and understanding of all the problems and concerns that occurred last year.”

Those behind the new league include: Jeffrey Rosen, a major IBL investor who also owns the Maccabi Haifa basketball team; Andrew Wilson, who was a facilitator on the ground for the IBL and now works for Rosen; Alan Gardner, a lawyer from New York, who was the centerfielder for the Beit Shemesh Blue Sox; and Michael Rollhaus, a businessman from Queens and major IBL investor.

But what, no link?

AP finally runs our exclusive Baras lawsuit story

Eight days after Tabloid Baby broke the story, some pisher at the Associated Press has turned in a version-- and doesn't give us or Our Man Elli any credit.

Big surprise.

Schmuck!

For the second time in three days, the AP has picked up a report that appeared exclusively on Tabloid Baby, rewrote it without credit to or mention of the source or backstory, and posted it so it is already being picked up around the world:

BOSTON - The founder of Israel’s financially struggling professional baseball league is being sued by a Florida woman who claims he defrauded her of the $275,000 she had invested in his bagel business, and instead used the money for personal expenses and to support the league.

Natalie Blacher is asking for the return of her investment along with interest and attorney’s fees in the lawsuit against Lawrence Baras, of Brookline, Mass. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Boston in September.

Blacher claims that she bought $275,000 worth of stock in SJR Foods Inc. after she was assured by Baras that the company was financially sound. Baras was the company’s president...

On November 12, we wrote:

The rumoured financial problems and improprieties clouding the future of the Israel Baseball League and its founder exploded to the surface today with the details of a federal lawsuit filed against Boston-based businessman Larry Baras.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts and obtained exclusively by Tabloid Baby, alleges fraud, securities fraud and breach of fiduciary duty on the part of the embattled founder and managing director of Israel's first Major League-style professional baseball league.

Baras has been in headlines in recent months due to allegations that he owes money to players and vendors involved in the league's first season, and to the frustration of many, has been silent on the question of whether the lBL will return for Season Two. He has yet to address serious questions abut the IBL's management in wake of the disturbing August 28th report on the first season by Our Man Elli In Israel.

In the lawsuit filed September 24th, Natalie Blacher of Dade County, Florida sued Lawrence S. Baras and SJR Foods, Inc., claiming that the founder of the Israel Baseball League duped her out of $275,000 that was supposed to go into a successful bagel company, but instead went to “his personal living expenses or expenses which should be charged to IBL.”

Blacher contends that she spent $275,000 to buy stock in Baras’ SJR Foods on Baras’ word that the company was generating $10 million per year, only to discover that the company was $1,500,000 in debt and that despite his claims, Baras was spending all his time—and possibly stockholders’ money-- on the IBL...

Credit was due, no? Hey, maybe we can ask That Putz Greenberg.

Maybe they should change the name of the movie to 'The Bad News Baras'?

Ouch! Lost in the shuffle of all the controversy over the Israel Baseball League that has raged on this site is the documentary movie about the league's birth! No, it's not "Mel Brooks' The Producers 2," it's called Holy Land Hardball and it's due out on the spring.

Three nice Jewish boys-- and experienced directos and producers are behind the film. Brett Rapkin directed, produced and edited “Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey,” an independent film about former Boston Red Sox lefty Bill “Spaceman” Lee. Erik Kesten won an Emmy for HBO’s terrific Curse of the Bambino and co-produced HBO's Mantle. Executive producer Matthew Hilyzik worked five annd a half years for Harvey Weinstein at Miramax! They've all got lots more credits you can read about here.

On the trailer above and the one you can see here on their site, you can put some faces to some of the names that have been tossed around on this site over the past few months.

The doco looks to be topnotch. But as they say, the ending may be unwritten...

Can you come up with a more topical name for Holy Land Hardball? Be the readers' favorite and win an autographed copy of the book Tabloid Baby!

Baseball in Israel: You don't have to be Jewish...

So will there be professional baseball in Israel next summer? With backers of the Israel Baseball League claiming that he postseason scandal is much ado about nothing (while its embattled founder, Boston bagel-stuffing baron Larry Baras remaining mysteriously mum), a renegade cell of players, employees and investors breaking off to start up the Israel Professional Baseball League (nice dig), Our Man Elli on the case (and potentially the country's new baseball commissioner), and the international battle being waged in the comments section of this unlikely playing field of Tabloidbaby.com (which is always days ahead of the "mainstream" media who won't give us or Elli Wohlgelernter credit for carrying their water), the prospect seems likely, if not in 2008, then certainly the following summer.

And you don't have to be Jewish to love the idea of baseball in Israel. Fabian Armenta, who blogs as Javelin13 on a site called A Goy in Israel, is a southern Californian who pitched for the Netanya Tigers. He lived through the season. He's owed money. He's being charged bank fees. He got screwed over. He can't wait to go through it again, as he posts today:

In the last couple of weeks many things have come to light for many people regarding the Israel Baseball League, its future, and many things that have gone on/are still going on regarding the finances of the league. All this has been talked about on various sites but mostly on one site called tabloid baby. Many things have been said, most of them appear to be true. Its hard to say what is and what isn't because many of the posters have done so anonymously.

One thing I do know for sure is that money is still owed to players, including myself. My last paycheck bounced two times already and I have been charged $170 in bank fees due to the multiple times my paycheck bounced. It is now three months after the last game of the inaugural season and I still haven't been paid my last paycheck.

Another thing that is for certain now is that there is an attempt to start a new league to compete with the IBL. All of this has been reported already in the site I mentioned before. The new league is going to be called the Israel Professional Baseball League. It is being started by people involved with the IBL in its first season and someone already involved in professional basketball in Israel.

I hope all of this gets worked out soon though. I just want to get back to playing ball in Israel. I fell in love with Israel this summer and can't wait to return. People seem to think that you need to be Jewish to love Israel, but that is not true. I was there two months and I fell in love with it. My mother wishes to come out to Israel if I do indeed return. She has long wanted to see the city of Jerusalem. I just want to get back there get to play lots of baseball, have some shwarma, some chicken with hummus in a pita, and see the ladies of Israel. Another thing that I am surprised that I do miss is the kids in the crowd saying "Give me ball... give me ball please."

Now more than ever

(Cut this out and post it wherever baseball is spoken:)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He's the right man for the job!

Elect

ELLI
WOHLGELERNTER

Commissioner

of the
Israel Professional
Baseball League

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another lawsuit clouds Israel's baseball future: Founder of rival league embroiled in ugly legal battle over kid-killing toys

Lawsuits continue to vex the future of professional baseball in Israel.

A week after we revealed the federal lawsuit against Israel Baseball League founder Larry Baras, readers of this site have brought to our attention an even more serious legal action involving one of the leaders of the rival league that was announced this weekend.

The Chicago Tribune reported in May that the MEGA Brands toy company "allege in a lawsuit that (Israel Professional Baseball League leader) Jeffrey and Lawrence Rosen -- the brothers who sold them Rose Art (makers of the Magnetix building sets), then led that division after the merger -- didn't fix the problems with the dangerous toy in part because they didn't want to jeopardize personal multimillion-dollar payouts tied to profit targets.

"Kenny Sweet Jr., a suburban Seattle toddler, died, and at least 27 other children suffered serious intestinal injuries after swallowing tiny magnets that fell out of Magnetix toys.

"In a statement, the Rosen family denied Mega Brands' allegations, saying that 'prior to its acquisition by Mega Brands' the family 'acted in a thorough and responsible manner with regard to the manufacture, safety, quality control and sale of its Magnetix toy products.'

"Four months before Kenny's death in November 2005, Mega Brands bought Rose Art from the Rosen family for $315 million in cash and stock, plus the assumption of $35 million in debt.

"The Rosens said they told Mega Brands before the merger that customers had complained that magnets were falling out, and the family said it disclosed an attorney's claim that a child was injured..."

The Rosens are suing MEGA Brands in United States District Court in the Southern District of New York, contending that it failed to pay them $51 million, as they say the 2005 sale required. MEGA Brands has countered in court that it does not owe the money to the Rosens. Earlier this year, a federal judge sent the case to arbitration.

Jeffrey Rosen was an investor in the Israel Baseball League who joined with player-attorney Alan Gardner and other IBL veterans to start up the rival Israel Professional Baseball League to take the place of the IBL, which saw its commissioner and nine advisory board members bolt last week, days after Tabloid Baby revealed the details of a federal securities fraud lawsuit against founder Baras.

The Boston bagel and baseball visionary had planned keep the IBL afloat with money from the Spectrum Capital Group, but the investment bankers backed out of the deal after Tabloid Baby revealed that the suit alleged that investments in his "Unholey Bagel" company were being used to prop up his sports operation.

The letter announcing the formation of the new IPBL said the new leadership was "made up of participants from the ’07 season, all of whom have a uniquely inside view of what happened and will make sure that it does not happen again."

The accusations within the Rosen toy case are not connected directly with the baseball league, unless one counts dead and seriously injured kids as potential fans, and the spectre of little victims has already stirred up taunts of "blood money" from opponents to the "new leadership"-- just the tip of another ugly and angry battle being waged largely by anonymous commenters on the Tabloid Baby site, which has become the forum for debate and information surrounding the dream of professional baseball in Israel.

The editors of Tabloid Baby have, in fact, nominated Our Man Elli in Israel to be commissioner of the new league.

Our Man Elli responds to his nomination as commissioner of the new Israel baseball league

"I'm not in the running for any position
in the new league, the old league or any league."

Our Man Elli in Israel, whose exclusive reports on the Israel Baseball League culminated in the implosion of the IBL and the phoenix-like birth of the new Israel Professional Baseball League, has responded to his nomination yesterday as commissioner of the new IPBL:

"Look, guys, I'm flattered. But I'm also busy!" Mr. Wohlgelernter insisted. "I'm not in the running for any position in the new league, the old league or any league. Just as my place is in the press box, not the batter's box, it's not in the commissioner's seat. It's in what I consider to be the catbird seat-- in the stands, on the bus, talking with the players and coaches, getting the stories and living the baseball life the way I've lived it since I was a kid at Yankee Stadium.

"How am I supposed to phrase it? 'If nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve.' I'm very happy with my role as a journalist, and I'm content looking forward to seeing as many games as I can as a consummate baseball fan, and watching outstanding professional ballplayers.

"And I wish them both the best. I wish the IBL and the IPBL as much success as possible. I want them to spread the great game of baseball to Israelis across the country."

Sorry, Elli. the nomination stands!

We say:

Elli Wohlgelernter for commissioner of the IPBL!

El-li! Eli-li! El-li!

(Cut this out and post it wherever baseball is spoken:)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He's the right man for the job!

Elect

ELLI
WOHLGELERNTER

Commissioner

of the
Israel Professional
Baseball League

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We nominate Elli Wohlgelernter for commissioner of the new Israel Professional Baseball League

No sooner does the mainstream news media climb on board the story of the exploding Israel Baseball League, than the story veers into an other, unexpected direction, with word-- that again, we reported exclusively, that IBl veterans (on the field and at the checkbooks) have banded together to stage a coup, announcing the formation of a new, rival Israel Professional Baseball League for 2008.

Let us go on a limb and nominate Elli Wohlgelernter for the position of commissioner of this new league.

Our Man Elli in Israel will no doubt be embarrassed and kneejerkedly refuse the nomination, but we the editors of Tabloid Baby know that no one is more knowledgeable, and no one cares more about baseball or Israel, and few have done more to set right the near-fatal mistakes of the first IBL season than this brave and experienced journalist, baseball fan, Israeli and Jew.

And no one will be a better caretaker, watchdog and leader.

We say:

Elli Wohlgelernter for baseball commissioner!

Let the chant begin as the new season dawns:

El-li! El-li! El-li!

EXCLUSIVE! ISRAELI BASEBALL LEAGUE REBELLION! PLAYERS ANNOUNCE FORMATION OF NEW LEAGUE FOR 2008!

"...Financing is being obtained and will be in place
well in advance to insure that payrolls and other
expenses incurred are paid. To the extent that
there is a manner in which the league can be
bonded in Israel, it will be, in good faith, to show
everyone that we truly mean business..."


"The NEW Israel Professional Baseball League
will establish a first class reputation with
its players, managers, coaches, staff, vendors
and fans in Israel and around the world..."

An alternative baseball league is being proposed to replace Larry Baras' Israel Baseball League for 2008, as outlined in the following letter under the letter head of Triangle Financial Services LLC of Aventura, Florida and signed by IBL players Andrew Wilson and Alan Gardner, Bet Shemesh Blue Sox general manager and IBL investor Michael Rollhaus and investor Jeffrey Rosen, has been sent to Israel Baseball League players:

November 18, 2007

Dear Players:

As you know, there has been much turmoil following the inaugural season of professional baseball in Israel. This letter is intended to let everyone know loud and clear that baseball will continue in Israel, albeit under an infusion of new blood at the top. The new group has the funding and understanding of all the problems and concerns that occurred last year. The group is currently structuring the new organization and will be making a formal announcement ASAP.

The New Leadership is excited about taking on the business of promoting baseball in Israel in a serious manner. It is made up of participants from the ’07 season, all of whom have a uniquely inside view of what happened and will make sure that it does not happen again. Financing is being obtained and will be in place well in advance to insure that payrolls and other expenses incurred are paid. To the extent that there is a manner in which the league can be bonded in Israel, it will be, in good faith, to show everyone that we truly mean business. The NEW Israel Professional Baseball League will establish a first class reputation with its players, managers, coaches, staff, vendors and fans in Israel and around the world.

Please email us at ipbl@trianglefs.com to establish your interest in returning as a player, coach or in some other capacity with the league, noting in what capacity or capacities you would like to return.

The original leadership must be recognized for its vision in seeing a place for baseball in the desert land that is Israel. Unfortunately, as many of you already have experienced, there were many missteps, mistakes and misfortunes that have made it impossible for the original management to meaningfully continue to lead the way for baseball to take root and thrive in Israel.

Thursday’s announced resignations of Daniel Kurtzer and many other key advisors to the league, follow a frustratingly destructive inability of management to communicate on basic matters of the financial affairs of the league. As such, it is apparent that the original leadership has lost the much needed credibility with vendors, lenders, past and future league participants to adequately carry on the affairs of a professional baseball league in Israel. Hence, a new day has dawned on professional baseball in Israel and we look forward to welcoming you aboard.

Please be in touch and stay tuned. We look forward to having as many of you on board as possible as we take baseball to a new level in the land of milk and honey.

Play ball,

Jeffrey Rosen
Andrew Wilson
Alan Gardner
Michael Rollhaus

UPDATE: ASSOCIATED PRESS PICKS UP ISRAEL BASEBALL LEAGUE STORY: NO MENTION OF OUR MAN ELLI OR TABLOID BABY

Tabloid Baby's exclusive is now
being repeated all around the world

Three days late and credit short, the Associated Press has run a story on the implosion of the Israel Baseball League.

The item has been picked up the by Boston Herald, a hometown paper of IBL founder Larry Baras, and Israel's Haaretz, among other papers and news organizations around the world.

Of course, there is no mention of Our Man Elli in Israel, who broke the story exclusively here, or the months of controversy that unfolded here and led to the recent turn of events. For that, you will have to bookmark Tabloidbaby.com.

Israel baseball league Commissioner Kurtzer
leads flurry of resignations

By Associated Press | Sunday, November 18, 2007 |

JERUSALEM - Dan Kurtzer stepped down as commissioner of Israel’s fledgling professional baseball league, topping a flurry of resignations amid questions over the league’s operation.

The former U.S. Ambassador to Israel announced in a statement Thursday that he was resigning along with league advisory board members Martin Abramowitz, Marty Appel, Jeff Goldklang, Marvin Goldklang (a minority owner of the New York Yankees), Stuart Hershon, Randy Levine, Gary Rosen, Bob Ruxin and Andrew Zimbalist.

They commended the league’s founder, Boston-based Larry Baras, for having the vision to bring pro baseball to Israel, but expressed dismay with the way the league’s finances and business operations were handled.

The league’s broadcasting deal with Israel’s Sport5 TV cable network was canceled at midseason because the league could not live up to its financial obligations.

The six-team league concluded its first season in August. It drew a following from the country’s expatriate American community, but failed to catch on with native-born Israelis.

Israel’s first professional baseball league said it will return next summer with at least one new team.

EXCLUSIVE! THE LETTER! BARAS LAWSUIT LED TO ISRAEL BASEBALL LEAGUE'S FINANCIAL COLLAPSE & RESIGNATIONS!

"You never disclosed the existence
or threat of this lawsuit to us;
had you done so, we would not
have entered into the Agreement.
The Agreement is hereby
terminated and canceled,
effective immediately."

This is the letter that shows the link between Our Man Elli's reportage and the shocking resignations of the Israel Baseball League's commissioner and advisory board members. It was sent to Israel Baseball League founder Larry Baras, from the Spectrum Capital Group, the investment bankers Baras had hoped would bail out the IBL, canceling the deal, the day after Tabloid Baby revealed the details of the securities fraud lawsuit that had been filed against him.

On Thursday, The IBL 10 announced their resignations.

"The IBL 10" are erased from league's history

The Israel Baseball League website has not been a source of information in the troubled months that followed the controversial end of the first season The last message posted by founder Larry Baras was dated August 31st, and ignored Our Man Elli in Israel's exclusive investigative report three days earlier that was already stirring controversy and would soon open the floodgates for a tsunami of complaints and scandal that culminated with Thursday's resignations of the league's respected commissioner and advisory board members (henceforth to be refered to as The IBL 10).

But while Baras remains unavailable for comment, someone is home, working behind the scenes at the IBL website. As of this morning, mention of The IBL 10 has been deleted has been deleted from the IBL site.

Three Days Later: The New York Times finally reports on the resignations that rocked the Israel Baseball League. But do they credit Our Man Elli?

Three days after we broke the story here that the commissioner and nine members of the Israel Baseball League advisory board had resigned over financial concers about league founder Larry Baras, the New York Times has finally picked up the story. Baseball Hall of Fame sportswriter Murray Chass buries the item in a potpourri baseball column with a headline about past Major League drug use.

Not surprisingly, the venerable traditionalist does not credit Tabloid Baby for the scoop on Thursday, nor does the former "newspaper of record" mention the controversial investigative piece by Our Man Elli in Israel, the three months of uproar and revelations that followed in its wake, or the federal lawsuit against Baras-- the details of which were published exclusively here last week.

Instead, with his first nine words, Chass picks up the IBL spin, and raises new questions about his, and the New York Times coverage of the league (see below):

The New York Times
November 18, 2007
ON BASEBALL
By MURRAY CHASS

Split in Israel League

The Israel Baseball League had a successful first season, but its founder may be hard pressed to keep that success going.

Last Thursday, Daniel Kurtzer, the league commissioner and former ambassador to Israel and Egypt, resigned with nine members of the advisory board, including Marvin Goldklang, a limited Yankees partner; Randy Levine, the Yankees’ president; and Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College.

In their letter of resignation, summing up the concerns of all, Goldklang and Zimbalist wrote that “it has become apparent that the business leadership of the league has ceased to perform in an effective, constructive or responsible manner and has failed to manage its capital and other resources in a manner likely to produce successful results.”

Furthermore, they said, the league had not paid some players, managers and umpires.

In a telephone interview, Goldklang added, “The biggest issue was the feeling that trust in the management of the league was compromised.”

The criticism was aimed at Larry Baras, the Boston bagel entrepreneur, who founded the league. Baras was not available Friday, but in a phone interview Martin Berger, a Miami lawyer who is the league president, said: “We are upset and disappointed that they’re leaving, but we are going ahead for next year. We have been talking to people who potentially are going to purchase the teams.”

Dan Duquette, a former major league general manager, will continue to be the league’s baseball operations director.

The advisers who resigned said the league was unwilling to provide financial information.

“They were asking us for things that we didn’t have yet,” Berger said. “We haven’t done our financials for this year.”

Interesting that the esteemed baseball journalist lets Berger slide on that last point. The IBL hasn't done its financials, three months after the close of the season? As one member of the IBL 10 told Our Man Elli: "The league doesn't have financial information to share with the advisory board, yet is out trying to sell franchises in the league. How in the world do they think they can sell franchise rights without properly disclosing the results of league and franchise operations to date?"

Which raises the question of why the New York Times writer is giving the IBL a pass and, why, after all these months of on-the-record statements by IBL players here on Tabloidbaby.com, Chass would write "they said" players and others have not been paid. Chass was given the exclusive story of the IBL for his Times column of May 13, 2006. And he's written about the IBL at least four times since-- not once scratching the surface or moving beyond PR for an idea that seen as good for proud Zionists in the States and baseball fans in Israel (Chass' son resides in Bet Shemesh, Israel-- home, in name at least, to the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox).

Let's hope Murray Chass continues to chase that comment from Larry Baras. Meanwhile, we guess this makes Tabloid Baby the new newspaper of record.

The forgotten victims of the Israel baseball scandal: Who could deny them another season in the sun?

Ask them if they want a second season of the IBL.

Player sheds light on Israel baseball scandal

Alan Gardner, the New York City-born outfielder for the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox of the Israel Baseball League (who believes that you haven't done your job if you didn't get your uniform dirty, and at age 45 could claim proudly to have covered as much ground in the outfield as the kids), has posted the following comments in response to Tabloid Baby's exclusive coverage of the scandal that has interrupted Israel's baseball dream:

Hey guys... ok, it's time to stop all this anonymous stuff that's been going on... this IS a serious situation... the IBL's infrastructure has crumbled... very little, if anything, meaningful is left and for some very disturbing reasons (as clearly stated in the Goldklang/Zimbalist resignation letter and the Spectrum Capital cancellation letter)... unfortunately, Larry Baras and Martin Berger could not even secure a bridge loan that would allow the league to make the final payments on salaries due to players, managers and personnel and fees owed to vendors. The federal lawsuit allegations are, if true, deeply disturbing and no-one can miss the unusual parallels between the allegations and what we in the league have experienced.

There is, from what I have seen in discussions that I have been having with some very responsible and concerned people, a very bright light at the end of the tunnel. I believe that baseball will continue in Israel and will have a brighter future than the past season could ever have foretold.

If you have concerns about money owed to you, please reach out to me at 917-710-7168 or by email at amgardneresq@gmail.com.

And, if we have comments to make from hereon forward, let's make them professional and fact-based and sign off on them. Let's leave the emotional nonsense and smoky messages to the others that have been pulling the wool over our eyes (and, it seems, others) for a bit too long already.

Let's play two, men.

Alan Gardner
Bet Shemesh Blue Sox '07

P.S.-I appreciate Mr. R's thoughtful comments as well. However, as they say, things "have gone too far" at this point. We all hoped that change would not be necessary, but it is clear that it is. We, the players, managers and on-site personnel in Israel are really who sank and watered baseball's roots this summer... we, with little help, both organized the product and played the games. Just remember how hard guys like Andrew Wilson, 23 and David Rattner, 21 worked and how many different roles they took on as an example. Just remember how Eric Holtz had to order extra bats through a contact he had because the baseball league itself could not get us more bats. And the list goes on.

In response to another commenter, Mr. Gardner added:

Players, managers, personnel and vendors have been wronged to the tune of a lot of money. Maybe it has nothing to do with what our anonymous poster quotes Teddy Roosevelt saying at the Sorbonne in 1910.

This is 2007 and it has to do with running a business right, dotting i's, crossing t's and being forthright with the people that you deal with. Maybe it takes a "cold and timid soul" or two to sell a bill of goods to a bunch of largely college grads and poor Dominicans who need the money they are owed under a contract the parties agreed to, not to mention generous investors and vendors.

By the way players, if you want a copy of your signed contract (signed by both player and league rep), email Martin Berger and ask him to send you the PDF of it he has in his office computer. I asked him for mine to include in my scrapbook, before all this hit the fan, and he sent it to me almost immediately... they do exist and you have a right to yours.

Let's play two,

Alan