Holy Land Hardball

Holy Land Hardball (2008) is a documentary film about the founding of the professional Israel Baseball League in 2007.

Holy Land Hardball
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Brett Rapkin Erik Kesten
Produced by	Brett Rapkin Erik Kesten
Starring	Ken Holtzman Art Shamsky Ron Blomberg
Edited by	Brett Rapkin Erik Kesten
Music by	Jeremiah Lockwood[1]
Distributed by	SnagFilms
Release date	January 19, 2008 (2008-01-19)[2]
Running time	83 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Synopsis

Boston bagel maker Larry Baras, who had no sports management experience,^[3] wanted to create a professional baseball league in Israel. He recruited former Jewish major leaguers Art Shamsky, Ken Holtzman, and Ron Blomberg as team managers in the Israel Baseball League.

Film festivals

It premiered at the Silverdocs AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival and was shown at many other film festivals.^[2]

Reviews

Fandango said of Holy Land Hardball:

An entertaining documentary, showing a side of Israel far from the news headlines - one of peace, normalcy and discovering the joys of the great American pastime.^[4]

Indiewire says of Holy Land Hardball:

All things considered, Kesten and Rapkin respect their subjects to the point where "Holy Land Hardball" functions as a warm portrait of people guided by spiritual unity and athletic ambition.^[5]