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Sports

Bull Durham in Tel Aviv

Tam High social studies teacher and former Drake pitching standout Aaron Pribble pens a book about the first and only year of professional baseball in Israel.

Aaron Pribble thought that his baseball career was over.

The fomer stand Drake High star played pro ball for a couple of seasons for the Sonoma County Crushers and in France before hanging up his spikes to pursue a career in teaching. Pribble came back home to Marin where he began teaching Social Studies at his alma mater before moving across the district to Tam, where he teaches now.

In 2008, his career took an unexpected turn. 

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Three years after he had given up on baseball, Pribble tried out and was asked to join the Israeli Baseball League for its inaugural season. In his new book, Pitching in the Promised Land, Aaron details his experience pitching in the first and only season of the IBL.

An Israeli Baseball League. Who knew?

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As with many things in Israel, the process of forming and defining the league was complicated, Pribble said. The IBL initially suffered from an identity crisis of sorts.

“They weren’t sure if they wanted to be a league of the best Jewish players or the best baseball league in a Jewish country,” Pribble said.

There was a sliding scale for recruiting players, he said.

“The more Jewish you were, the less good you had to be at baseball,” he said.

This made for an interesting mix of players and talent. Pribble was a perfect candidate for the new league, since his mother is Jewish and he was an accomplished pitcher at both the collegiate and professional level.

Pribble’s team, the Tel Aviv Lightning, was an eclectic mix that embodied the league’s dynamic of players from different backgrounds with wide-ranging abilities. His team consisted of a longhaired DJ/street artist from New York City, a “wild Aussie” at catcher and, as Pribble put it, “a handful of Dominicans.”

And that was just the infield.

In addition, Pribble shared a place in the pitching rotation with Dan Rathem, an accomplished Israeli-born player who, in addition to pitching for the Lightning, participated in peace negations between the Palestinian and Israeli governments. 

Pitching in the Promised Land is more than just a great cast of characters. Pribble’s experiences in the league varied from the intense to the hilarious to the poignant. In one story, opening day occurred under the threat of a terrorist attack. Later in the season, Dr. Ruth Westheimer was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a game.

Part of the season was in serious jeopardy when the players went out on strike as the league began to run out of money. And as a tribute to the greatest Jewish athlete ever, Sandy Koufax was drafted as the symbolic last pick in the draft.

Of course there is a love story, as Pribble fell in love with a “beautiful Israeli-born Yemenite Jew.” And the book culminates with Pribble facing the question of his life; whether to once again pursue his boyhood dream of playing professional baseball or go back to his teaching career at Tam. After leading the league in ERA (earned run average), Pribble was the first IBL player to be offered a professional contract stateside.

The memoir began as a collection of journal entries Aaron made throughout the summer. Before he left for Israel, a fellow teacher at Tam, Russell Hill, suggested that Aaron keep a journal of his experiences abroad. At first he “blew off” the journal entries, he said, but before long he was writing regularly about his daily experiences. And he wrote and wrote and wrote.

“I wrote a ton,” he said. Turning the notes into a book was another challenge. “It was such a unique experience. I knew there was a story there but wasn’t sure if I could do it.”

Pribble said the book is primarily a baseball book, but it also delves into weightier topics like the exploration his own Jewish identity and the politics of the very volatile Middle East.

You can get news and information about Pitching in the Promised Land on its Facebook fan page. There will be a release party at  in Corte Madera on May 14. Early shipments of the book have already arrived at many bookstores and are be available online.

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