Ron Blumberg, who managed the Beit Shemesh Blue Sox championship team in last year's inaugural Israel Baseball League (IBL) season, said the IBL may not return to action until next year. He revealed that financial problems may force the league to take a one-year break this summer, which is the Sabbatical (Shemittah) year.
Speaking at a New York area annual sports event, Blumberg added that "baseball would do extremely well" in Israel. Also present at the event was Art Shamsky, who managed the Modi'in Miracles, which lost to the Blue Sox in the championship game. He said the only thing he regretted in the IBL was that his team lost. Shamsky praised the launching of baseball in Israel. "The fact that we started up something and to be a part of that initial experience was great," Shamsky said. "The fact you were playing baseball in this holiest of places was very, very special."