FORMER MAJOR LEAGUERS BLOMBERG, HOLTZMAN, SHAMSKY NAMED MANAGERS IN NEW ISRAEL BASEBALL LEAGUE

The IBL Begins Play June 24

New York, February 12, 2007 – Ron Blomberg, Ken Holtzman and Art Shamsky, three former Major League players, have been named to manage three of the six teams who will compete in the inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League.

The IBL will begin play on June 24. A 45-game schedule will culminate in a championship, as Israelis are introduced to the professional game for the first time.

The announcement of the three managers was made by the league’s Commissioner, Daniel M. Kurtzer, the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel.

None of the three have had managing experience before, but readily embraced the offer to be part of history, to help bring a wonderful pastime to the Israeli people, and to embrace their own heritage with this opportunity.

Holtzman, 61, is the winningest Jewish pitcher in major league history with a lifetime 174-150 record, compiled over 15 seasons (1965-1979), with the Cubs, Athletics, Orioles, and Yankees. (Sandy Koufax won 165 games). Holtzman hurled two no-hitters for the Chicago Cubs.

Shamsky, 65, played for the Reds, the Mets, the Athletics and the Cubs over eight seasons, (1965-1972), where he was a member of the “Miracle Mets” of 1969, and once hit four consecutive home runs for the Reds. He is the author of “The Magnificent Seasons: How the Jets, Mets, and Knicks Made Sports History and Uplifted a City and the Country.”

Blomberg, 58, was the nation’s number one draft pick in 1967 and spent eight seasons in the majors with the Yankees and White Sox (1969, 1971-76, 1978), earning a footnote of fame as baseball’s first designated hitter. He is the author of an autobiography, “Designated Hebrew.”

Although all three managers are Jewish, rosters will be composed of international players of all races, religions and nationalities, with 20 players per team. Many of the players have been selected from tryout camps run by Dan Duquette, the former general manager of the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox, who serves as the IBL’s Director of Baseball Operations. A draft will determine the rosters, and the teams will be announced later this month.

Media contact: Marty Appel Public Relations (212) 245-1772