Basketball and soccer are the two most popular sports in Israel by a long shot. If Callie Mitchell, an American-born Jerusalem resident, Evangelical Christian, and mother of four with boundless energy, has anything to do with it, baseball may soon be creeping up on those sports.
Thanks to her knowledge of and passion for the sport affectionately known as America’s Pastime, baseball’s popularity is already growing in Jerusalem and in the Holy Land.
“There is much more interest in baseball than people realize,” Mitchell tells In Jerusalem. “Baseball has the potential to be associated with Israel.”
Mitchell has been connected to the sport in Israel, first as a baseball mom for many years, and now as the Jerusalem regional director for the Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) and director of the Jerusalem Lions Baseball nonprofit.
In these capacities, she has helped introduce baseball to Jerusalem residents from age five through adult. She is involved with many of the day-to-day nuts-and-bolts issues of running a baseball program in Israel, and she has big plans for its continued growth.
Can baseball become Israel's pastime?
Mitchell says that, in 2023-2024, fewer than 30 participants were in the Jerusalem league which tried to field four teams. One of her sons had been playing for 11 years, since the age of four, so she had a unique window into baseball in Jerusalem and Israel.
All it took was one meeting for Mitchell to quickly go from parent observer to active leader of Jerusalem baseball.
“At the end of the 2023/24 season, I was invited by the director and coaches to what I thought would be a bigger meeting. It was actually just them, and the director informed me that he was stepping down. He said, ‘It’s you!’” She quickly learned that two of four coaches would not be returning and that she would need to rebuild the staff and the youth and adult leagues.
Mitchell playfully shares about when she started in her new role: “I came in as a mom who had been in the program. I asked, ‘What did I feel was missing these past 10 years?’” She recounts starting with improved communication, a social media presence, and transparency.
“We had 12 baseballs when I took over. I wanted the parents to see that their fees went to what their kids were doing!”
Mitchell immediately sought to increase funding to purchase additional equipment. Through crowdfunding and later more systematic fundraising, she acquired four batting helmets for each of six teams: “It was as simple as putting my heart into it and caring – like a garden that needs tending and weeding.”
Mitchell’s efforts are paying off. Last year, 75 people participated in Jerusalem baseball, and recently, over 90 people attended an open house. She expects 20 more people to sign up this year.
Mitchell has not only expanded numbers but also pathways to baseball, offering opportunities for new players as well as for those with a great deal of experience.
One key to her success has been listening to the parents. As an example, some parents reported that they signed up their children for baseball without realizing most games would involve travel outside Jerusalem, to places such as Efrat, Gezer, Beit Shemesh, and at times Tel Aviv and Ra’anana.
“I try to listen to people and see what they want and take their ideas seriously. I keep a list of their suggestions. I take feedback seriously,” she explains.
Mitchell now dreams of building a field and training facility in Jerusalem: “It will have an adult regulation field, Little League fields, an indoor training facility with batting cages, a weight room, and a space for infield practice.”
She envisions the complex hosting international tournaments where participants and their families can visit Jerusalem attractions such as the Old City and Hezekiah’s Tunnel. “Jerusalem is a great destination for international tournaments!”
'Baseball has been life from the womb'
Mitchell also imagines a day when players who grow up playing baseball in Israel could play college baseball in the United States, get drafted to Major League Baseball, and then return to Israel to continue giving back to baseball in Israel.
She is more than just a dreamer. She is a doer with passion and impeccable, lifelong baseball credentials that provide her with tools and connections to help her realize her Israel baseball goals. She elaborates on her somewhat hard-to-believe baseball credentials.
She cannot even remember her first baseball game or baseball memory. “Baseball has been life from the womb. It was always home for me!”
She reports, “I went to a baseball game every day of my life, from the day I was born to the day I moved to Israel (in 2009).”
Mitchell humbly shares that nine of her relatives – many with the surname Narron, including her father, Jerry Narron – have played and coached in the major leagues in the past 90 years!
“The first was my great-great-uncle, Sam Narron, drafted by Branch Rickey!” she shares, referring to the baseball executive and manager who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson in 1945.
Even Mitchell’s small talk is laced with baseball references.
She nonchalantly mentions that “Bob Boone [former MLB catcher, manager, and four-time All-Star] and the Boone brothers were my friends,” and she recounts hanging out with young A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, when he played for the Texas Rangers from 2001 to 2003 – when her dad, a longtime Rangers coach, was appointed interim manager in 2001.
Mitchell and her four younger siblings spent their childhood summers on the road with various MLB teams, and she recalls how thrilling it was to overhear her father on the phone with general managers as she grew up.
Mitchell admires her father, who she says has been a highly respected role model on and off the field: “My dad had a 51-year career, and everyone respected his character.”
Narron was an MLB catcher for three teams from 1979 to 1987. In his first season, he was backup catcher to Thurman Munson and became starting catcher the day after he died in a plane crash in August 1979. Three months later, Narron was traded to the Seattle Mariners, until being released in March 1982.
The California Angels signed Narron, and he spent a few seasons in the minor leagues. The Angels released him in April 1987; the Mariners signed him again, then released him.
Narron retired as a player in 1989 and coached for and managed several teams, including the Orioles, Red Sox, White Sox, Rangers, and Reds. He also served as third base coach for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic and as a coach at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Mitchell is particularly proud of her dad’s connection to Israel and to baseball in the Holy Land.
“He really loves Israel because of his own faith,” notes Mitchell. Like her father, she is deeply religious. “One of the biggest moments of his career was coaching in Israel.”
Yet, he always maintained his humble, respectful nature. “If there were an Israeli or Jew who needed his spot [on Team Israel], he would have stepped down.”
Her dad’s connections in the baseball world have already helped Callie in her work with baseball in Jerusalem. When she took over as director, Mitchell says, “I started the season with less than 12 balls until boxes arrived as a donation from my dad. He also gave us a set of catcher’s gear. He helped me get started.”
Jerry Narron also came through after Callie’s storage shed was flooded. Jerry’s dear friend Paul Goldschmidt, a first baseman and former teammate on the Arizona Diamondbacks, covered the cost of a new shed.
WHILE MITCHELL spends a lot of time setting up systems, dealing with logistics, and even using her architectural training to devise plans for a new baseball complex, she stresses that “the kids are the main focus of the IAB right now.”
At the same time, she hasn’t lost sight of the importance of getting young Israeli players to the next level: “We are really focusing on baseball in Israel. We want to make Israel baseball Israeli again, so local guys can play on the national team and represent Israel.”
For Mitchell, the journey to feeling more like an insider in Israel has not always been easy. In certain ways, she is “between” communities: “Since I’m not Jewish, I sometimes feel like I’m on the outside watching all the cool kids at a party.”
Most of Mitchell’s close friendships have been within the strong, present Evangelical Christian community in Israel, yet many of her experiences differ from theirs. “Most of them are here on visas, but I’m an Israeli citizen.”
Her children plan to serve in the IDF, following in their father’s footsteps.
Fortunately, Mitchell feels baseball has helped her feel more like an insider.
“Taking on the regional director position for Jerusalem baseball has made Israel home for me in a new way. Rather than life here feeling so foreign from my background, everything has finally converged. The baseball community has provided so many friendships and helped me to feel Israeli and like I belong.”
Mitchell is pleased that she has had so much support along the way. “The IAB president, Ari Varon, has been a huge source of encouragement to me. He’s helped me see that the value I bring to IAB is more than the proximity I have to Major League Baseball. It’s how baseball shaped me as a person.
“One time, I said something about how baseball is my second language. He lightheartedly corrected, ‘It’s actually your first language.’ I really appreciate that he values my perspective on baseball and also how baseball influenced my worldview. It’s been an honor to work with him this past year.”
The admiration is mutual. Varon says that “Callie Mitchel brings an incredible combination of energy, vision, and, most importantly, the ability to turn ideas into action. She is the engine of baseball development in Jerusalem and represents the standard we want our regional directors across Israel to aspire to.
“She is building from the ground up – bringing the youngest children into the game, developing players through every age and level, strengthening the Jerusalem Lions community, and creating a pathway toward high-level baseball.
“And she is thinking generations ahead, including a vision for a baseball stadium in Jerusalem that could stand proudly alongside professional facilities anywhere in the world. She isn’t simply growing a baseball program; she is building the future of baseball in Israel’s capital.”
Despite her successes, Mitchell continues to aim even higher – sometimes taking away from the credit she deserves. She paraphrases US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who often points out that Israel has more Americans living abroad than any other country in the world (approximately 700,000 people). Mitchell adds, “We have Americans but not baseball!”
Mitchell is certainly doing her part, and she acknowledges that her efforts are “bearing fruit.” There is potential for ongoing growth.
Mitchell even sees baseball as a useful tool for promoting aliyah among American Jews. She says that “all olim bring something” from their country of origin to Israel: “American Jews bring a lot – education, and often wealth. They can also bring baseball into the country.”
She concludes, “The presence of baseball in Israel will help anchor American olim to Israel and maybe even draw them to come! It is like the Field of Dreams – if you build it, they will come!”