The Modi'in Miracle ( he, מודיעין מיראקל) was an Israeli

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team from

Modi'in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( he, מוֹדִיעִין-מַכַּבִּים-רֵעוּת) is an Israeli city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In t ...

in the

Israel Baseball League The Israel Baseball League (IBL; Hebrew: ליגת הבייסבול הישראלית, ''Ligat ha-Beisbol ha-Israelit'') was a six-team professional baseball league in Israel. The first game was played on June 24, 2007. League structure The six ...

. The Miracle finished the inaugural 2007 season 22-19 (.537) in third place, and after upsetting the # 2

Tel Aviv Lightning The Tel Aviv Lightning ( he, תל אביב לייטנינג) was an Israeli baseball team from Tel Aviv in the Israel Baseball League. The Lightning finished the inaugural 2007 season in second place with a 26-14 (.650) record, and lost to the M ...

in the semi-finals, lost to

Ron Blomberg Ronald Mark Blomberg (born August 23, 1948), nicknamed "Boomer", is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a designated hitter, first baseman, and right fielder. He played f ...

Bet Shemesh Blue Sox The Beit Shemesh Blue Sox ( he, בית שמש בלו סוקס) were an Israeli baseball team from Bet Shemesh. The Blue Sox was one of the inaugural teams in the Israel Baseball League. They had the best regular season record (29-12, .707), and ...

3-0 in the championship game. Miracle catcher, and former

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

r, Eladio Rodriguez was the league batting champion (.461). and had 16 home runs in 102 at bats. He was co-winner of The Hank Greenberg Award for Most Valuable Player. 6' 6" Maximo Nelson from

San Pedro de Macorís San Pedro de Macorís is a city and Municipalities of the Dominican Republic, municipality (''municipio'') in the Dominican Republic and the capital of the San Pedro de Macorís Province, San Pedro de Macorís province in the east region of the ...

, in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, led the league with 85 strikeouts; he pitched for the

Gulf Coast Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseball e ...

in 2004 (posting a 6-5 record, with a 2.63 ERA).

History

The name for the Miracle is a reference to the miracle of the

Maccabean revolt The Maccabean Revolt ( he, מרד החשמונאים) was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167–160 BCE and ended ...

(which started in the area presently known as

Maccabim Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( he, מוֹדִיעִין-מַכַּבִּים-רֵעוּת) is an Israeli city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In t ...

, just outside

) and victory over

Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his deat ...

in 167

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

. Thus the use of a

hanukiah A Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah,Also called a chanukiah ( he, מנורת חנוכה ''menorat ḥanukkah'', pl. ''menorot''; also he, חַנֻכִּיָּה ''ḥanukkiyah'', or ''chanukkiyah'', pl. ''ḥanukkiyot''/''chanukkiyot'', or yi, ח ...

in the team's logo, an object commonly associated with the miracle victory of the

Maccabees The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees ( he, מַכַּבִּים, or , ; la, Machabaei or ; grc, Μακκαβαῖοι, ), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. ...

over the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

s. On February 26, 2007, it was announced that

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player

Art Shamsky Arthur Louis Shamsky (nicknamed "Sham" and "Smasher"; born October 14, 1941) is an American former Major League Baseball player. He played right field, left field, and first base from 1965 to 1972 for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Chicago ...

of the "

Miracle Mets The 1969 New York Mets season was the team's eighth as a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise and culminated when they won the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles. They played their home games at Shea Stadium and were managed by Gil Hodges. ...

" would be the manager of the Miracle. Team colors also reflect Shamsky's stint with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, and hopes that IBL officials had of creating a rivalry between the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox (similar colors to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

) and the Miracle. In the inaugural draft in 2007, the Modi'in Miracle selected with the first pick Aaron Levin, an infielder from

Cuesta College Cuesta College is a public community college in San Luis Obispo County, California. History The first community college in the San Luis Obispo area was founded in 1916 as a San Luis Obispo High School division. It lasted until 1919 with the Uni ...

. Pitcher

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

, then 71, was the last player chosen by the Miracle. "His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league," said Art Shamsky, who manages the Miracle. "It's been 41 years between starts for him. If he's rested and ready to take the mound again, we want him on our team

"Koufax Drafted By Israeli Baseball Team"
''

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

'', 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2007-07-09. Koufax declined the offer to join the team.

Stadium

Located in

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Gezer, Gezer Field was home to the Miracle as well as the

Roster

Footnotes

External links

Official site of the Modi'in Miracle
Baseball teams in Israel Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut {{europe-baseball-team-stub