IAB Chief umpire Leon Klarfeld is nothing short of a legend in Israeli baseball. Aside from ‎his regular duties as umpire #1 in Israel, organizing his team of umpires for the leagues ‎and coaching at the American International School; once a year he spends many long ‎hours dedicated to training Israel baseball's newest crop of umpires. ‎

Now Leon is counting down to the 2014 IAB Umpire course that he will be running in ‎January, and he wants YOU to join.‎

Who is this man?‎

Leon describes himself as having 1 wife, 4 kids, 7 grandchildren and thousands of ball ‎players.‎
He made Aliya from New York in 1969. Some years later, he stumbled on baseball. "One ‎day, my wife told me that there was some nut in the Sportek in Tel Aviv teaching ‎baseball and I should take our kids," Leon recalls. "So I dug up my old Little League ‎glove, which was a lot smaller than I remembered it, and took them to the field. I was ‎hooked and graduated from helpful parent to president of the IAB for eight years and now ‎to chief umpire."‎
Leon has coached our national teams – in Germany for the Little League tournament in ‎the early 1990s and the senior national team; he's represented Israel as an umpire in ‎various CEB championship tournaments; and was twice chosen to umpire in the finals.‎

Nurturing new generations of umpires

Leon has been running the IAB Umpire Course for 11 years. It's a beginning level course ‎to give the uninitiated basic techniques and information so they can umpire in the local ‎leagues. The course teaches the basics of rules and mechanics and safety, includes ‎classroom and outdoor field work and concludes with a game experience for the ‎students.‎
One of the main goals of the course is to ensure that there is a pool of umpires for all our ‎Friday afternoon games. "One problem," notes Leon, "is that we get umpire students ‎doing triple duty - playing, coaching and umpiring - so they're not available for umpiring ‎Friday league games. That's why we need to also get parents and others involved who ‎are free to umpire games."‎

The IAB 2014 Umpire Course

The IAB 2014 Umpire Course begins on January 6, at 19:30-22:00 at the Baptist Village, ‎and includes five sessions and a written exam. Participants need to be at least 15 years ‎old, turning 16 during 2014. A basic knowledge of baseball is required and participants ‎should be able to read English.‎
If you want to join Leon for the course and learn a whole lot more about baseball and ‎about being an umpire, contact him directly at and become a ‎member of his elite team of umpires.‎

The IAB Juniors division completed the fall portion of the 2013-2014 with 4 teams separated by 1.5 games for the division lead.

The Jerusalem Lions raced out to a perfect 4-0, beating Efrat twice, the Beit Shemesh Blue Sox and the Modiin Miracles, posting a resounding run differential of 56-8. The Lions play has been characterized by solid defense, good base running, and outstanding pitching.

Last year's regular season champs, the Beit Shemesh Comets, have won 20 consecutive regular season games, also holding a 4-0 record. Shlomo Lipman won 3 times on the mound, posting 42 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings. The Comets have struck out their opponents in 3 of their 4 games, with an offense led by Lipman, Elyashiv Segal, Hanan Sibony and Yakir Becker.

Trailing the Lions and Comets by one game with a 3-1 record are the Modiin-Gezer Miracles. The team's infield has performed almost flawlessly, providing solid support for pitchers Ori Wachspress and Boaz Milgram. Yoav Halper and Aviel Brief have shared the catching duties and fueled the offense. Only a half a game behind the Miracles stand three-time defending champs the Tel Aviv Comrades, with a record of 2-1-1. The Comrades have juggled a lineup consisting of seasoned players (including 4 from last summer's Macabbiah team) and newcomers, as they gear up for the spring season.

The Juniors' 16-game season resumes in late February and promises to be very exciting.

Hundreds of people joined in the fun at the IAB's first annual Hanukkah All Stars Day, ‎held at the Baptist Village on Sunday December 1.‎

The day started with a scouting session for a group of junior and senior players with Rex ‎De La Nuez of the Cincinnati Reds. Rex spent time assessing the players and providing ‎them with valuable constructive advice on how to further develop and grow as players. ‎

Next was the skills competition for minors, juveniles and cadets. Nearly 100 players took ‎part, and showed their capabilities in pitching, base running, batting, and fielding. ‎Following a barbeque, IAB President Peter Kurz lit the Hanukkah candles and welcomed ‎all the participants to the event. ‎

The final event of the day was the much awaited All Stars game between the White ‎Team - players from the Jerusalem and the Ra'anana Premier League teams, and the ‎Blue Team - players from the Modi'in and Tel Aviv PL teams. ‎

In an exciting game, Team White beat Team Blue 6-2. Orr Gottlieb was the winning ‎pitcher with 5 Innings, 0 hits, 9 strikeouts, 2 Walks, and 1 unearned run allowed. Blue ‎Team pitcher was Dan Rothem: 5 innings, 5 hits, 5 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 3 runs. ‎

The White Team scored 2 runs in the 3rd inning on singles by Asaf Lowengart and Asaf ‎Rothem who scored on Andrew Klein's single and Nate Fish's double. In the 5th Josh ‎Weiss (2 for 3) tripled and scored on a passed ball. Nate Fish (2 for 3) led off the 6th with ‎his second double, and then scored on a double by Yoav Halper (2 for 5). Josh Weiss ‎scored again in the 7th inning after reaching on an error and scoring on an error. In the ‎‎9th, Yotam Ben Amram scored on a single by Avi Watson.‎

The Blue Team scored in the 4th when Albert Levy, who walked, scored on a wild pitch; ‎and in the 7th, Yoni Shwartz walked, then scored on a single by Hernan Guinguis. Blue ‎got their first hit of the game in the 6th, and ended up with 4 hits, all singles. ‎

A big thanks to all those who helped make this day a special one. See you all next ‎Hanukkah again!‎

Teams from all over the country played baseball on all available fields on Friday ‎November 29 for the first day of this year's Hanukkah tournaments for minors, juveniles ‎and cadets. The games were played in a friendly and fun atmosphere.‎

Minors played in the a one-day Eliyahu Jackson tournament in Hashmonaim and Modiin, ‎with two Modiin Miracles teams, the Ginot Shomron Hawks, Ra'anana Raiders, Rehovot ‎Raptors, Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Bet Shemesh Flames, Gezer Bats, Tel Aviv Comrades ‎and Jerusalem Lions. ‎

Juveniles played in Ra'anana and at the Baptist Village. On Thursday December 5, the ‎Ra'anana Raiders, the Gezer Bats, the Bet Shemesh Flames and the Tel Aviv Comrades ‎will play to decide the medal winners at the Baptist Village.

Cadets played at the Sportek in Tel Aviv and at Kibbutz Gezer. Three teams will play for ‎medal positions at Kibbutz Gezer on Thursday – the Rehovot Raptors, the Ginot ‎Shomron Hawks and Misgav.‎

The medals will be decided during Day 2 of the tournament, to be played on Thursday, December 5 – Cadets at Kibbutz Gezer and Juveniles at the Baptist Village.

This Sunday, December 1, at 19:00 at the Baptist Village, the IAB Premier League All Stars will face off in not-to-be-missed game, the first of its kind in the history of Israeli baseball. The Blue team will take on the White team, and it's guaranteed to be an exciting evening of baseball.

Meet the teams:

WHITE TEAM
Name: Josh Weiss Team: Ra'anana Raiders Height: 177 cm Weight: 74 kg Position: CF, SS Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Las Vegas Favorite Major League Team: Arizona Diamondbacks
Name: Orr Gottlieb Team: Ra'anana Raiders Height: 185 cm Weight: 93 kg Position: P, OF Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Tel Aviv Favorite Major League Team: Atlanta Braves
Name: Asaf Lowengart Team: Ra'anana Raiders Height: 171 cm Weight: 60 kg Position: Utility Throws: Right Bats: Right Homwtown: Moshav Timorim Favorite Major League Team: Milwaukee Brewers
Name: Yoav Halper Team: Ra'anana Raiders Height: 170 cm Weight: 74 kg Position: C Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Kibbutz Gezer Favorite Major League Team: Oakland A's
Name: Yotam Ben Amram Team: Ra'anana Raiders Height: 184 cm Weight: 77 kg Position: P Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Kibbutz Beit Nir Favorite Major League Team: Oakland A's
Name: Yaniv Rosenfeld Team: Ra'anana Raiders Height: 176 cm Weight:70 kg Position: SS, 2B Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Misgav Favorite Major League Team: Boston Red Sox
Name: Nate Fish Team: Jerusalem Lions Height: 183 cm Weight: 91 kg Position: 3rd base Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio Favorite Major League Team: All
Name: Ilan Klein Team: Jerusalem Lions Height: 183 cm Weight: 82 kg Position: C/SS/3B Throws: Rght Hits: Right Hometown: Bet Shemesh Favorite Major League Team: New York Yankees
Name: Gil Siegel Team: Jerusalem Height: 175 cm Weight: 73 kg Position: C Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Kibbutz Gezer Favorite Major League Team: San Francisco Giants
Name: Avi Watson Team: Jerusalem Lions Height: 178 cm Weight: 64 kg Position: 1B/P Throws: Left  Hits: Right Hometown: Bet Shemesh Favorite Major League Team: New York Yankees
Name: Meir Ginensky Team: Jerusalem Lions Height: 176 cm Weight: 64 kg Position: SS Throws: Right Hits: Right  Hometown: Beit Shemesh Favorite major league team: New York Yankees
Name: Andrew Klein Team: Jerusalem Lions Height: 180 cm Weight: 91 kg Position: 1B Hits: Right Throws: Right Hometown: Menlo Park, CA Favorite Major League Team: San Francisco Giants
BLUE TEAM
Name: Dan Rothem Team: Tel Aviv Comrades Height: 183 cm Weight: 100 kg Position: P Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Ein Sarid Favorite Major League Team: I like good baseball wherever it is
Name: Danny Meltzer Team: Tel Aviv Comrades Height: 182 cm Weight: 90 kg Position: OF Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Boston, MA Favorite Major League Team: Seattle Mariners (it's not easy...)
Name: Yuli Tsypin Team: Tel Aviv Comrades Height: 1.88 m Weight: 78 kg Position: P/OF/C Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Kostanai, Kazakhstan Favorite Major League Team: Boston Red Sox
Name: Tal Erel Team: Tel Aviv Comrades Height: 173 cm Weight: 63 kg Position: C, P Throws: Right Bats: Switch Hometown: Givatayim Favorite Major League Team: Miami Marlins
Name: Noam Calisar Team: Tel Aviv Comrades Height: 183 cm Weight: 69 kg Position: SS Throws: Right Bats: Right Hometown: Binyamina Favorite Major League Team: Boston Red Sox
Name: Hernan Guinguis Team: Tel Aviv Comrades Height: 172 cm Weight: 87 kg Position: 2B, 1B Throws: Right Bats: Right Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina Favorite Major League Team: New York Yankees
Name: Binyamin Mor Team: Bud's Boys Modiin Height: 175 cm Weight: 80 kg Position: P Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Bet Shemesh Favorite Major League Team: New York Yankees
Name: Dmytri Ryabtsev Team: Bud's Boys Modiin  Height: 180 sm Weight: 90 kg Position: 3B Throws: Right Bats: Right Hometown: Rishon Lezion Favorite Major League Team: New York Yankees
Name: Albert Levy Team: Bud's Boys Modiin Height: 173 cm Weight: 66kg Position: 2B/CF Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Englewood,N.J. Favorite Major League Team: New York  Yankees
Name: Noam Markose Team: Bud's Boys Modiin Height: 184 cm Weight: 75 kg Position: C, CF Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Jerusalem Favorite Major League Team: Toronto Blue Jays
Name: Yoni Schwartz Team: Bud's Boys Modiin Height: 175 cm Weight:102 kg Position: 1B Throws: Right Hits: Right Hometown: Hashmonaim Favorite Major League Team: Kansas City Royals
Name: Sammy Tover Team: Bud's Boys Modiin Height: 177 cm Weight: 75 kg Position: SS Throws: Right Hits: Left Hometown: Hashmonaim Favorite Major League Team: Los Angeles Dodgers