JERUSALEM, Israel – An American woman who comes from a baseball family received an unlikely calling in Jerusalem. She’s introducing America’s national pastime to Israeli youngsters. In a country where soccer is king, Callie Mitchell is throwing a curveball.
Mitchell told CBN News, “I met with a woman in the Jerusalem municipality in the athletic department and showed her a diagram of a baseball field, and she was like, ‘Oh, that looks like a fan.’ I told her it was a diamond… she started to understand why a rectangular field just doesn’t work for our sport.”
Mitchell leads the Jerusalem Lions, a baseball program for kids ages 5 to 18.
In her family, the business of baseball goes back 90 years. Her great-great uncle was signed by Branch Rickey, the same person responsible for signing baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in the major leagues.
Mitchell recalled, “And from that time on, we’ve had four generations of men. Nine, total, play professional baseball. My dad has had the longest-running career: 51 years as a player, coach, and manager, and he just recently retired.”
Her father, Jerry Narrown, caught behind home plate before spending decades leading players with teams such as the California Angels, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Texas Rangers.
For Callie, that meant growing up at Major League ballparks, surrounded by a love for the game and a family of faith.
“I grew up going to Baseball Chapel Bible studies on a regular basis that really helped shape my faith growing up. They would have Bible studies at the ballpark, and when my dad was coaching in the minor leagues for a few years, we actually hosted Bible studies at our house.
After marrying a Jewish man and moving to Israel to raise a family, Mitchell felt she needed to leave baseball behind.
“I thought I was laying down baseball on the altar – like Abraham, Isaac on the altar – and that if the Lord was going to give it back to me, he would,” she told us.
And that He did. After October 7th, 2023, the date of the Hamas massacre and kidnappings near Gaza, the man running Jerusalem baseball stepped down. The program had fewer than 30 children and needed someone willing to step up to the plate.
“He said, ‘So, who’s going to be the next R.D.’, which means regional director of Jerusalem Baseball. And as soon as he said it, I heard, ‘It’s you.'”
And that’s when this baseball mom took the field.
“I felt like the Lord said it was my job. And I’m really glad that I heard so clearly from the Lord, too, because it’s been an amazing blessing. But it’s also been so much work. It’s been plowing a field full of rocks,” she noted.
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In Israel, even finding a field and bats and balls can be a challenge. Sporting goods stores here don’t stock baseball equipment. Some of her family’s major league connections came out of the bullpen to help.
Yankees First Baseman Paul Goldschmidt, a friend of her father, pitched in with cash.
Mitchell remembered, “And he said, ‘12,000 for 12 tribes.’ And what’s really fun about that is the neighborhood that we’re in here in Jerusalem, it’s Baka. And one of the things that Baka is known for is that all of the streets in Baka are named after the 12 tribes (of Israel).”
Her dad helps, too. During her visits here, he often starts with the basics: how to throw a ball and grip a bat.
One of the kids, Kobi Greenwald, likes playing first base. “It’s very athletic, like stretching for the ball and getting hops. Some like sliding home the most.
Levi Levine, the father of one player, observed, “He’s a little competitive, a little, maybe too much. So, he really wants to score and slide and do all that. But he does slide a lot – ruins all his pants.”
Through it all, the players learn teamwork.
Moshe Abbett, one of the players, remarked, “I love that it’s like a great team sport, and that you really get to play with the rest of your team. And it’s not just it’s not just one person that contributes to the game. It’s, it’s each and every player that makes a difference.”
The program now includes 75 kids, more than double the number when Mitchell started. Her scoreboard counts more than hits and runs. She’s seen friendships flourish, and hospitality abound.
She noted, “As someone who’s a Gentile, someone who’s a Christian, they’ve all welcomed me into their families. I go to bar mitzvahs. I go to school with them for different family events.”
America’s national pastime brought it all together.
“I want them to see that my faith in Yeshua is something that shapes my character and also gives me confidence and hope to dream big and to go for big goals,’ Mitchel said. “Because I worship a big God and I know that he’s capable of doing big things.”
Perhaps the biggest thing is a family legacy coming full circle from America’s major leagues to a baseball diamond in Jerusalem.
“They’re so excited about it. They all see it as the extension of the family story,” she said of the kids and their families. “My dad has actually said that he believes that our 90 years as a Narron family in baseball were leading up to this point where we could do it together as a family in Israel.”
