Baseball comes to Israel, and the sportscasters are wondering how to translate the game lingo into Hebrew.
Puzzled broadcasters calling the first professional baseball game in Israeli history struggled with rendering baseball lingo into the holy tongue of Hebrew.
After a valiant effort at translating some of the terms, they gave up — lacing their broadcast with Hebrew-accented versions of ball, strike, out, majors, pitcher and base hit.
And of course, the AP gets it wrong.
There were no peanuts, no Cracker Jack, no “Star-Spangled Banner.†Three thousand fans cheered Sunday as the Modi’in Miracles beat the Petah Tikva Pioneers, 9-1.
When fans stood for the ‘National Anthem’, they didn’t take off their hats, as they do in the US, because this was Hatikva, not the Star Spangled Banner. But no matter the song, fans are always hungry. They bellied up to the concession stands to buy food, and there was plenty: chicken wings, onion rings, French fries, salads, chicken nuggets and of course hot dogs and hamburgers. There was potato chips and caramel pop corn too, as well as Israeli favorites like Bamba, a peanut-flavored snack.
This is my favorite quote:
To develop local talent, Baras hired Dan Duquette, the former general manager of the Boston Red Sox, to be the league’s director of player development.
“It’s a proud day for Israel because this is the first professional game in 5,000 years,†Duquette said before the game.
Yeah, after forty years of wandering in the desert, the ancient Hebrews just weren’t in the mood for a nice little pick-up game once they found the Promised Land. But hey, with the many thousands of American expats, it’s time.
Most of the fans, over 90 percent, were either Americans who moved to Israel and became Israeli, or were children of American-Israelis. Many have lived here a long time, but have never given up their love of the sport.
“It’s great to see baseball in Israel, something I was waiting for for a long time – 15 years,” said Paul Stark, who came from Ma’aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, to take in the game. “You used to have to listen to short wave radios, now we can see it live. It’s probably around class A level, maybe a little below it – but it’s better than nothing!”
Stark said the game has evolved beyond the borders of America, and will help Israelis learn about that broader world.
Actually, it would help Israelis learn more about Americans. Most of the rest of the world doesn’t care about baseball. Except Japan and Cuba.
And here’s my second favorite quote:
“How do you say ‘Go Modi’in’ in Hebrew?” one Israeli teenage girl asked her friend.
“Go Modi’in,” was the reply.
Yep. Lots to learn.
You can go to the IBL’s website for more information.
Go Beit Shemesh Blue Sox!
Well, if we borrow (carefully) from local soccer lingo, it would be “Yalla Modi’in!”
Baseball is mentioned in the Bible, however. Rebecca walked with a pitcher at the well. Samson struck out the Phillistines. Gideon rattled the pitchers. Ruth became famous because of what happened in the field. In fact, the universe was created in the big inning.
Baseball, the run and returns, the shape of the field, even the rules, is a very kabalistic game.
Especially the Infield Fly Rule.
Perhaps there is an Ivrit translation of George Will’s “Men at Work.”
chsw
Delta Airlines has an ad campaign for the Atlanta Braves called “Bringing the Braves to the World”. The radio ads are called “Language Lessons for Braves Fans”. They are translations of things you might hear at the ballpark in different languages – Japanese, Russian, Italian, Hindi, Greek, Hebrew, and I don’t remember what else. They are really funny. You can play them on Delta’s site http://www.delta.com/marketing/braves/index.jsp# #4 has the Hebrew translation of “Are you playing baseball or swatting flies?”. #6 is how to say “Jeff Francoeur is my main man”. I love it that they have two in Hebrew. It just makes me smile every time I hear them.
Micheal, yes that and the dropped third strike rule. But not the designated hitter.
Most of the rest of the world doesn’t care about baseball. Except Japan and Cuba.
Latin America loves baseball as does Taiwan.
Because Spanish uses Anglicisms for baseball, I don’t see why Hebrew couldn’t do the same. For example, in Spanish, strike is usually just “estraik”. Home run is “honrón”. Pitcher and catcher are “pÃtcher” and “cátcher” respectively.
There’s no Hebrew equivalent of the “tch” sound in English. Or the “ch” in “chapter.” Tough to Hebraize.