LIPETZ Shlomo

General
FAMOUS LAST OUT
In the final game of the Olympic qualification tournament in Italy, with Israel winning 11-1 in the last inning against South Africa, coach Eric Holtz made a pitching change. Lipetz came on the field to make his debut in the tournament and got the last out for Israel to win the game and secure qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Holtz said he turned to Lipetz because of his commitment to baseball in Israel. "Shlomo was born and raised in Israel," Holtz said. "He has put in over 30 years into the growth and development of this programme. He played on fields that did not exist. Soccer fields transformed into some sort of diamond. He exemplifies what we are trying to show and prove to the youth in Israel. That if you work hard and put your time in, that even homegrown Israelis have an opportunity to do something special. Given the right opportunity there was no question that he would hold the baseball at the end of the game. He's special to the team and he's special to the kids in Israel." (olympics.nbcsports.com, 23 Sep 2019; WBSC YouTube channel, 22 Sep 2019)

OCCUPATION
He is vice president of programming and music director at City Winery in Manhattan, NY, United States of America. He was one of the co-founders of the winery in 2008 and is in charge of organising concerts and productions at the venue. (citywinery.com, 01 Sep 2019; LinkedIn profile, 23 Oct 2019)

VETERAN PLAYER
He played baseball at Diego Mesa College in 2001 and then went on to play in 2002 at University of California San Diego. He later played for the Netayna Tigers in the professional Israel Baseball League during its one and only season in 2007. He continued a short professional career in Mexico, and has since played in several semi-professional leagues around the United States of America. (baseball.org.il, 01 Sep 2016, LinkedIn profile, 23 Oct 2019; baseball.org.il, 01 Aug 2019; tht.fangraphs.com, 19 Apr 2017; baseball.pointstreak.com, 22 Jul 2019)