I have been teaching Sports Management courses at Touro University’s Lander College for Men for a number of years. When I first saw the large field and baseball diamond in the rear of the college building, I thought of the most famous line in the movie Field of Dreams, which is, “If you build it, they will come.” I knew that I had to start a baseball team at Lander College for Men.
This was not a simple task. I first had to create a Baseball Club and recruit students to join the club. I then created a Baseball Physical Education class. This was three years ago, in 2022–23. I asked students in my various Sports Management, Sports Marketing, Sports Analytics, and Business Ethics (Sports) classes if they had played high school baseball or Little League. We started with a group of fifteen players who came to tryouts and practice. We went to a local batting cage when it was cold. We could not play on the Lander field because foul balls would land in the neighboring street and possibly damage cars. We practiced and played intra-squad games at a local softball dirt field.
We were fortunate that former Dean Sokol was supportive, since he had once played in a Little League. Athletic Director Irv Bader was also supportive, funding our equipment and trophies. The players wanted to compete against other schools and teams.
Beginning our third year, I decided it was time to launch our first-year varsity season. With the blessing of our new dean, Dr. Henry Abramson, a former ski instructor, I began to schedule games with small colleges and universities. I also had to find a regulation home field with a pitcher’s mound. There were none in Queens, where Lander College for Men is located. Using my connections, I was able to find a field—American Legion Field in Canarsie, Brooklyn—as well as an organization of college umpires. Our initial season would have eight games, four home and four away, during the months of February, March, and April 2025. I hadn’t counted on February and March being filled with snow, rain, and freezing weather that limits one’s ability to practice and play outdoors. Our home field was constantly flooded. The weather was terrible. I discovered why teams in the Northeast play their first few games in Florida or the South.
I started the season with 12 players, a student manager, and myself as coach. I tried very hard to recruit an assistant coach to help me, but those who were qualified were not available. Hopefully, next year I will find someone. Very quickly, we grew to 14 players and two student managers.
Our first two games in February were canceled because of terrible weather. We then played Monroe University JV—one home and one away game. We played the away game while it was snowing. We lost both games. We played never having practiced on our regulation field.
We then got rained out with Dominican University JV, and Lehman College canceled their two games with us. As our games with Vaughn College, scheduled for the end of April, were approaching, we finally got to practice on our home field. We pitched off a mound, hit live pitching, and practiced fielding. We looked like a team.
We were scheduled to play Vaughn on Friday, May 2, but with rain threatening, we rescheduled for Thursday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m. at our home field. Every one of our players except one showed up.
The Touro University Baseball Team defeated Vaughn College 12–0 with an all-around team effort. Eli Penn started and pitched four shutout innings. Three-year player and captain Yosef Azoulay called an outstanding game as catcher and threw out a Vaughn runner at second trying to steal. Third baseman Eli Nagel led off the game with a hit and did not stop hitting all game. Assistant captain Ari Gertz stole multiple bases and even stole home. Brothers Azriel and Noam Zimerman played solid defense, with the former hitting one of the deepest shots of the day and closing the game.
Mordy (Momo) Gelertner hit one of the hardest shots of the day, knocking the glove off the third baseman. Third-year student manager Ben Dickman finally got to be part of our first win. Everyone played and everyone contributed, which shows what this team is capable of doing.
And it only took three games for us to win our first game in Touro University Baseball history. The Touro University Baseball Team at Lander College for Men is looking forward to a greater season next year. We hope to play two games in the fall and ten games in the spring. We hope to upgrade our field to be a full regulation college field. We will then be able to practice and play regularly. More to come.
Coach and Professor Ira Jaskoll has coached baseball at the yeshivah high school and Little League levels. He also teaches Sports Management courses at Touro’s Lander College for Men and consults with most local minor league baseball teams and the New Jersey Devils on their Jewish Heritage Games.
