Post Draft Thoughts

"With the 60th pick of the draft, Modiin selects Sandy Koufax."

This sentence was picked up by the AP, ESPN and countless news outlets all over the world. People argued on "Pardon the Interruption" (PTI, an ESPN analysis show) whether Sandy could still dominate in the majors. All this buzz was amazing for the IBL, seeing our league's name on the top news and sports syndicates around the world. But the sentence before was slightly more important to me.

You see, I was selected 59th by Petach Tikvah.

Hearing my name called out over the loudspeaker to a crowd of 300, including many of other players, and all the fans watching on the internet was a real thrill. Being analyzed by Dan Duquette and Jeremy Schaap was also really surreal. But now I have something extra! I am the answer to a trivia question! Move over Sam Bowie (the person selected before Michael Jordan). Its my house now. "Name the player selected before Sandy Koufax in the inaugural IBL draft." Can't you see that as a question 'for the wedge?' a daily double?

Seriously for a moment, the draft was a really special day in my life. I got a chance to be on the panel along with Dan Rootenberg, now of Netanya, and Nate Fish of Tel Aviv, and we just spoke about our excitement of the league, and our baseball backgrounds. We fielded questions from the audience, and got to represent the other players at the draft. You can actually see the draft and the panel discussion in its entirety here. Being selected by Petach Tikvah, I quickly tried to find my friends.... and my enemies in the audience. Josh Epstein, our first pitcher chosen, was actually hanging out with me the entire night, so im really happy we are together on the same team. Aaron Rosdal, who also has been blogging is a Pioneer, along with Adam Goldman. There are so many others, but those were the ones at the draft that night.

All in all, it was a crazy night, and it meant the real beginning to the forming of our team, and the beginning of the last minute training. I’ve been working really hard most days, and taking lots of Advil! but in about two weeks we will be playing in a packed stadium in front of Israelis, Americans, and anyone else who finds their way to the Baptist Village, or to the internet to see the first ever baseball game in Israel. I hope you are watching!