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The 2008 Fourth of July Downeast Wood Bat Classic called
attention to the story of Ari Alexenberg, the title game pitcher for the
Medford Mets. Alexenberg threw a complete-game seven-hitter in a 3-2 win over
the defending champion Maine Diamond Dogs in the 45+ division title game.
The story behind the story is that the then 46-year-old lefty became a part of
international baseball history in 2007 when he signed a professional baseball
contract to work as a player/coach for the Petach Tikva Pioneers of
The Israel Baseball League.
Alexenberg was given a contract because he’s Jewish, and he’s good. Eventually
the Israel Baseball League hopes that 25 percent of its players are Jewish.
Alexenberg's contract expired at the end of the league’s inaugural 41-game
season, which ran from from June through August of 2007. It was fun while it
lasted, according to Alexenberg.
At 6-1, 195, Alexenberg has ideal physical package for baseball. In his prime,
his fastball cooked along in the high 80’s. Any loss of velocity has been offset
by his excellent physical condition and the vast amounts of wisdom accumulated
over decades in the game. In the world of 45-and-over baseball, such specimens
with their arms intact are relatively rare.
Alexenberg always loved the game. He grew up in Queens, N.Y., playing stick ball
and dreaming about the big leagues. An Orthodox Jew, Alexenberg could not
participate in Little League games on Saturdays. At the age of 23, he moved to
Boston and played in amateur leagues. His skills earned him some face time with
a Pittsburgh Pirates scout, who recommended that he head west.
While playing in semipro leagues in San Diego, Alexenberg worked for legendary
San Diego State University coach Jim Dietz. There he did everything from working
with players to helping to build bleachers. “It was a great experience to work
with one of the top baseball programs in the country,” Ari said.
Alexenberg eventually abandoned his baseball dreams to fulfill another dream –
marriage and a family. For the next two decades he coached and played in amateur
leagues. Ari, who now works as the Director of the Israel Action Center in
Boston, has worked in the marketing and technology fields for a living.
Ari skipped an IBL tryout in Massachusetts in 2006 because he didn’t think a
45-year-old pitcher was on anybody’s shopping list. His wife Julie had a
different thought. She urged him to book a flight to Israel for another tryout.
The rest is history "I thought it was ridiculous,” he told the Portsmouth
Herald, “but my wife encouraged me to go. She knows how much I love it and had
faith I'd be able to make it."
Duquette offered Alexenberg a contract to coach and pitch. The team’s
international roster counted players from nine countries, including the
Dominican Republic, Japan, Australia, the U.S. and Canada.
For his part in the effort to bring baseball to Israel, Alexenberg has received
a lot of local press. The Portsmouth Herald has done a couple of stories.
Additionally, a film maker named Steve Sanger is making a movie based on
Alexenberg’s story and will be shopping it around Hollywood, according to
Alexenberg. A book may be in the works as well, he added.
Alexenberg said it’s been an amazing journey. “Getting paid to live and play
baseball, sign autographs, and talk to the press is always a great experience,”
Alexenberg said. “Getting that opportunity for the first time at 46 years old is
a feeling that is hard to describe.”
The Israel Baseball League, founded originally by Boston businessman Larry Baras,
formed with six teams in 2007 and is part of a well-organized effort to bring
professional baseball to Israel.
Former major leaguers Art Shamsky, Ken Holtzman, and Ron Blomberg, all of whom
managed teams, and former Boston Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette, gave the
organization critical mass and instant credibility. Duquette is supervising the
development of a baseball academy within Israel that will cater to everyone from
the player just learning the game to the skills training for premier players.
The ultimate goal of the league is to bring elite baseball to Israel, and to
make Israel the winter home for European baseball just as Florida and Arizona
are winter homes to Major League Baseball’s teams, according to Martin Berger,
the league’s director of operations.
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