Dean Kremer, who is a member of the 2015  Israel Senior National Team, was selected on June 10 by the San Diego Padres in the 38th round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft. Kremer, who is born in the US but has Israeli parents and is a citizen, is the first Israeli player ever drafted by a Major League organization. Dean grew up in Stockton, California where he still lives and recently finished his season pitching at Delta College in California, but he is very much a part of the Israel Baseball family. Dean speaks fluent Hebrew, and every year he volunteers to work with Israeli kids at the IAB summer camps and school programs. 

Dean was a member of the US Maccabiah team that played in Israel at the 2013 Maccabi Games. In July last year, as a member of the Israel Senior National Team that won the European Championships' C Pool in Slovenia, Dean was named Pitcher of the Tournament. He will also be playing in the Senior National Team at the end of July as they compete to win the B Pool of the European Championships in Vienna Austria.

"Dean is a great kid," says IAB National Team Head Coach Nate Fish, who was also Dean's coach duing the 2013 Maccabiah. "He's been part of the baseball program in Israel since he was 14-years-old and he's now becoming a big time prospect. We are all very proud of him and wish him the greatest of success."

Related link: Dean Kremer - Israel Senior National Team Star on the Rise 

The opportunity of a lifetime awaits a group of baseball players with high school, college, and professional experience. At last, The Israel Association of Baseball is opening its doors to a select group of students to come to Israel and spend a year playing and coaching, as well as experiencing all that Israel in general and uber-cool Tel Aviv in particular has to offer. 

The IAB has set up a program called the Israel Baseball Experience in partnership with Masa Israel, and will bring groups of baseball players to Israel every year. The 2015 program aims to bring 10 people to Israel and will serve as a pilot for the Masa Israel Sports Initiative, a larger program that will bring hundreds of American athletes from all sports to Israel in coming years.  

What will you be doing?

Israel Baseball Experience participants will play in the IAB’s Premier League alongside local senior players. They will help develop baseball in communities around Israel by coaching local youth teams.  

Destination Israel, an Israel Baseball Experience partner, will provide high quality housing for participants, along with Hebrew language lessons and travel experiences around the country with other Masa Israel groups. It’s the perfect combo – visiting the most awesome Israel sites, learning the lingo, and playing a lot of baseball with the locals.  

Obviously the IAB is very excited about this program…

And here’s what they think.

IAB National Team Head Coach, Nate Fish (pictured above) , who will oversee the program’s baseball operations, says, “This is a really unique opportunity for these guys to come over here and continue their playing careers and help develop baseball in Israel on the ground level.  It’s a great opportunity to make a difference in Israel while also continuing to play baseball and see the country. If this program existed when I was coming out of college, I would have loved to do it.”  

“This program will give us a huge boost,” adds IAB National Director Peter Kurz. “It will raise the level of play in the Premier League and give us a pool of talented young coaches and baseball role models for our young players here in Israel.”

How can you be part of this ground breaking program?

As high school and college baseball seasons finish up in America, Destination Israel and the IAB are launching this new program. Participants can learn more about the Israel Baseball Experience and apply for the fall session of the program beginning September, 2015 by clicking on this link - http://www.destinationisrael.com/baseball/.  Contact us today – places are limited.

The group of returning Baseball for All players arrived on Thursday at the Baptist Village pumped to get going for the second time. Most of the 26 kids – Israeli Arabs from Ramle and Israeli Jews from Modiin – had taken part in the first Baseball for All Session in March and were looking forward to seeing their team mates and friends again.

Baseball for All is a program initiated by the Israel Association of Baseball in partnership with the Play Global nonprofit organization. The goal is to unite kids from two different cultures, giving them a chance to build understanding while having fun. Joining this session from Play Global was Tony Klarberg, Head of the Swedish Baseball Academy.

The second session kicked off with some fun ice breakers just to get the players back in touch with one another. Then the practicing began, and the players got to work on the skills they had learned in March. Joining the group were 10 volunteers from Citibank, who spent the first day with the players, helping with the coaching and joining in with the fun. The players were treated to a Premier League game in the evening. They enjoyed the action on the field, as well as a BBQ complete with baseball hot dogs.

Day 2 was dedicated to games. The players were divided into 4 teams and played a fun and exciting round robin. “What was clear in this session,” says Nate Fish, IAB National Team Head Coach, “was that this time the kids came prepared to play baseball and knew the importance of team work, no matter who was on their team. This is what we were aiming for – kids from two different cultures cooperating in the name of baseball and having a lot of fun in the process.”

The feedback from the players themselves was only positive. One player, when asked what they thought about the program, answered, “It’s so great, I don’t even have the words to describe it.” And they are all looking forward to the third and last session for 2015, which will take place in October. 

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Ra'anana Mayor Zeev Bielsi surprised the players who were about to play their games at the baseball field in Ra'anana on Friday. Bielski arrived at the field just before the R'aanana Minors, Juveniles and Cadets were to start their games and was delighted to be given the honor of throwing out the first pitch in each game. He was accompanied by Ra'anana Councilwoman Deby Slutzky, who is also a supporter of baseball in Ra'anana. 

Press release: CEB ANNOUCES THAT “CONTROLLING THE GAME” WILL BE OFFICIAL BAT SPONSOR OF POOL ‘B’ EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Controlling the Game, a Bronx, New York based sporting goods company, has partnered with the CEB to sponsor the Pool “B” European Championships to be played in Vienna and Karlovac from July 27-August 1. Pro quality bats will be donated to each of the 12 teams participating in the tournament. “CTG” bats and gloves are well known in the United States and are being used by dozens of major league players.

“We are extremely happy to bring our brand and quality bats to the players of the European Championship. We believe baseball will become ever more popular and we want to be part of its growth,” stated Carmine Calzonetti, CTG Director of Business Development.

"CEB is happy to announce the partnership for the European Championships with Controlling the Game, New York and have them as an Official Bat Sponsor for the B-Championships at the end of July 2015. A number of Controlling the Game bats will be provided to all 12 participating National teams.“ Jan Esselman, President CEB