Shlomo Lipetz

Shlomo Lipetz (Hebrew: שלמה ליפץ‎; born February 11, 1979) is an Israeli baseball player who pitches for Team Israel.[1] He is also Vice President of Programming and music director at City Winery in New York City.[2]

Shlomo Lipetz שלמה ליפיץ‎
Israel national baseball team
Pitcher
Born: February 11, 1979 Tel Aviv, Israel
Bats: Right Throws: Right

He was on the Israel national team for Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He also pitched for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, which Israel won to qualify to play baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Early and personal life

Lipetz was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel.[3][4][5] His parents, Aharon and Debra Lipetz, are graduates of New York University.[4] Lipetz has a brother, Gaby.[4] He now lives in Brooklyn, New York.[6]

Baseball

Early years, college, and Israel Baseball League

Lipetz started playing baseball at an early age, having gotten hooked on the game in 1986 on a trip to New York in which he saw the New York Mets play.[7] At age 10 he represented Israel at the Little League World Series preliminaries at the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.[8][9][10] He attended Ironi High School in Tel Aviv, Israel. There, he competed in baseball, basketball, soccer, and track.[4]

While serving in the Israel Defense Forces, Lipetz received the "Outstanding Athlete" status allowing him to continue to train and compete while serving in the military.[11][5]

Following his army service, Lipetz played baseball for San Diego Mesa College for two seasons. He walked on to the team and became the second native-born Israeli to play college baseball in the United States, after pitcher Dan Rothem.[11][12][9][4][5] While in college, he improved his fastball from 66 mph to 88 mph.[9]

Transferring to the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) his junior year on an athletic scholarship, he led the Tritons staff with a 2.84 ERA, and was 5-0 with 3 saves in 24 relief appearances;[12][4] Lipetz walked just 3 in 38 innings. In 2005, the senior went 2-4 with 7 saves and a 4.42 ERA as UCSD's closer.[13][9]

Following college, Lipetz continued his baseball career in New York in semipro leagues.[9] He also played a short pro season in Mexico, and as a semi-pro in the independent Pedrin Zorrilla Baseball League in Brooklyn.[5][10]

He played for the Netanya Tigers in the 2007 Israel Baseball League season. Lipetz led the league with a 0.98 ERA, while recording 30 strikeouts, and walking only three.[14]

European Baseball Championship

In the 2010 European Baseball Championship qualifiers, in 2008, Lipetz led Team Israel in wins going 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA.[10] Lipetz did not play during the first game, against Bulgaria.[15] During the second game, Lipetz allowed three runs in a relief inning against Croatia.[16] In the third game, against Serbia, Lipetz threw 2.2 innings in relief, giving up 1 earned run on 6 hits.[17] During the fourth and final game, against Lithuania, Lipetz tossed a 10-inning, 4-hit complete game to beat Lithuania 2-1.[18] He led that qualifier in victories and tied for second in strikeouts.[19]

During the 2012 European Baseball Championship qualifiers, in 2011, Lipetz pitched in 3 of the 5 games. Lipetz beat Georgia in the opener pitching 7 innings and striking out 9.[20] Lipetz did not appear in the second game, against Great Britain, or in the third game against Lithuania.[21][22] During the first game of the home/away finals against Great Britain, Lipetz pitched a complete game shutout, giving up 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out fives.[23] Later that same day, Lipetz started again, pitching an additional 4.1 innings, giving up one earned run on 6 hits, while recording 4 strikeouts.[24] He threw a total of 214 pitches in the doubleheader.[25]

Lipetz started once during the 2016 European Baseball Championship C-Level qualifier in 2014, shutting out Slovenia while striking out 10.[26]

He again pitched for Israel in 2015 as part of the B-Level qualifier, for the 2016 European Baseball Championship.[27] Lipetz did not appear in the opening game of the qualifier against Belarus.[28] During the second game, against Poland, Lipetz pitched one inning of relief, allowing two runners on via hit by pitch, and allowed an unearned run on a balk, however was still credited with the win.[29] Lipetz threw a complete game against Austria giving up 1 run on 5 hits and striking out 8.[30] Lipetz did not appear in the fourth game, against Lituania.[31] Lipetz relieved Dean Kremer in the final game, against Sweden, with a 5-3 lead, two on and one out in the 8th and was able to retire the side while giving up 1 run, and gave up an additional 5 runs to make the score 9-5, ending the qualifier with a 2-1 record.[32]

He pitched for Team Israel at the 2019 European Baseball Championship.

World Baseball Classic

Lipetz was one of three Israelis to play for the Israel national baseball team during the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifiers, with Dan Rothem and Alon Leichman, however Lipetz was the only one to see playing time. He appeared in one game, relieving David Kopp with a 7-0 lead in the 9th versus South Africa, Lipetz recorded only 1 out giving up 2 runs on 3 walks, giving Lipetz a 54.00 ERA.[33]

Lipetz was again on Israel's roster for the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifiers, as the only native Israeli on the team, with Dean Kremer as the only other player holding Israeli citizenship.[34][14] He did not pitch in the qualifier, as Israel qualified for a spot in the main tournament.

Lipetz was on Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic main tournament in March 2017.[35]

Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament

Lipetz also pitched for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, which Israel won to qualify to play baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[36] In the tournament he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 0.1 innings, securing the last out of the tournament for Team Israel.[37] Commenting on the team's reaction to the realization that they will be competing at the 2020 Olympics, he said: “We all have goosebumps.”[38]

Music director

Lipetz works at City Winery in Soho in New York City, where he serves as the Vice President of Programming and books music for their seven locations.[8][6][9][39][40] Lipetz began working at City Winery in 2008 with its founding.[41]

References

1. "Shlomo Lipetz", milb.com.
2. Sophia Hollander (July 29, 2012). "The Rise of Israeli Baseball Starts in N.Y.", The Wall Street Journal.
3. "Shlomo Lipetz Stats, Highlights, Bio," milb.com.
4. Mark Oshidari and David Wahlstrom (2005). 2005 UC San Diego Tritons Baseball Media Guide
5. "Hear it from the Players: Kremer and Lipetz," האיגוד הישראלי לבייסבול, September 2016.
6. Jason Stromberg (September 27, 2012). "Israel fulfills diamond dreams," Sun Sentinel.
7. Annmarie Fertoli (March 10, 2017). "From Music to the Mound, One New Yorker's Search for Baseball Glory," WNYC.
8. "Shlomo Lipetz"
9. Haim Handwerker (July 26, 2011). "Baseball Profile Serving Wine With a Curveball; Israel's European dreams rest on pitcher Shlomo Lipetz, a sabra living in the Big Apple," Haaretz.
10. Kate Feldman (April 19, 2017). "How Shlomo Lipetz and Team Israel Brought Baseball Back to the Promised Land," The Hardball Times.
11. Alex Simon (July 26, 2016). "Israeli Pitcher Won’t Let Go Of Baseball", Baseball America.
12. "San Diego Mesa College Baseball Program History", gosdmesa.com.
13. "UC San Diego Baseball Individual Career Records"
14. Jonathan Mark (September 14, 2016). "The Greatest Jewish Team — Ever; Israel returns to World Baseball Classic," The New York Jewish Week.
15. Israel vs Bulgaria (Jul 07, 2008)
16. Croatia vs Israel (Jul 08, 2008)
17. Israel vs Serbia (Jul 09, 2008)
18. Lithuania vs Israel (Jul 11, 2008)
19. "2008 European Championship Qualifiers"
20. GEORGIA vs ISRAEL (Jul 26, 2011)
21. ISRAEL vs GREAT BRITAIN (Jul 27, 2011)
22. ISRAEL vs LITHUANIA (Jul 28, 2011)
23. ISRAEL vs GREAT BRITAIN (Jul 29, 2011)
24. GREAT BRITAIN vs ISRAEL (Jul 29, 2011)
25. Barry Bearak (September 19, 2012). "Wanted: Jewish Ballplayers," The New York Times.
26. "European Championship C-level 2014 (SLO)"
27. European Championship B, 2015 Vienna (AUT)
28. Israel vs Belarus (Jul 27, 2015)
29. Poland vs Israel (Jul 28, 2015)
30. Israel vs Austria (Jul 29, 2015)
31. Israel vs Lithuania (Jul 30, 2015)
32. Sweden vs Israel (Jul 31, 2015)
33. Israel 7, South Africa 3
34. Israel Roster
35. David Adler (February 8, 2017). "Israel brings MLB experience to 1st WBC main draw; Vets Davis, Feldman among team members with Major League credentials,", mlb.com.
36. Scott Barancik (2019-09-13). "Moving on up". Jewish Baseball News. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
37. "Pitching," olympicbaseball.wbsc.org.
38. Ken Rosenthal (September 23, 2019). "Rosenthal: A stunning, tear-filled conclusion for Team Israel, with inspiration and history". The Athletic. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
39. Deborah Speer (June 14, 2018). "Shlomo Lipetz Talks City Winery 3.0 (And He Doesn't Mean His Earned Run Average)". Pollstar. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
40. Eric Schucht (October 28, 2019). "City Winery, a New Venue in the Fashion District, Hosts Israeli Talent," Jewish Exponent.
41. "City Winery; Our Team; Shlomo Lipetz, Vice President, Programming," citywinery.com.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB