JCC Softball Cincinnati

Another nice night at the fields on Wednesday as we wrapped up the regular season (finally) with a doubleheader.  Congrats are in order to Team AJ for winning the first half of the season and for Team Groh for winning the second. they will battle it out for the regular season champ on Wednesday. Meanwhile Team Brafman will take on Team Simons in the dreaded play-in game also on Wednesday night. Reminder that Big Gig will generously once again buy wings for all of us at the Spring House. So even if you aren’t playing, hope to see ya out there on Wednesday.

On Field one we had team Brafman vs. Team Silverman

Team Brafman won the first game 5-3 and Team Silverman won the night cap 11-6. With the win in game two Team Silverman avoided the play-in game. 

On Field two in a preview of this weeks title game Team Groh played Team AJ

Roger for Team Groh:

TEAM GROH 8

TEAM GOLDHOFF 1

After losing the continuation of the first half and in a “must” win game in order to win the second half, TEAM GROH, put together perhaps their best game of the season….. 

With the victory along with victories by TEAM KRANTZ and TEAM FOGEL, the second half ended up in a three way tie with records of 6-2 and the tiebreaker was awarded to TEAM GROH with run differential being the deciding factor…….

Everybody contributed both on offense and defense, but without a doubt the story of the game was the ageless wonder, STU WEINSTEIN, in a game that NOLAN RYAN would be proud of.

“I pitched well, but the defense behind me made all the plays and that made it a lot easier, “WEINSTEIN said while signing autographs after the game.

The one defensive play that stood out was an unbelievable catch in right field by CHRIS KUNKEL that saved a couple of runs. Also, DAN MCGRATH was a vacuum cleaner in LCF as he made all the plays.

First to KUNKEL, “I knew I had to hustle to the ball and wasn’t sure I’d make the play, but I was determined to help the team and the rest is history, “

Second to MCGRATH, “I just want to be the best out there and help the team in any way I can. I got some good jumps on the ball and the rest was easy.”

With the victory, it sets up a rematch with TEAM GOLDHOFF with the regular season championship on the line.

“Give credit where credit is due. Stu pitched a hell of a game and I tip my cap to him,” team captain AJ GOLDHOFF said afterwards. “We get them next week in a winner take all and it should be a great game, but I have confidence in my team that we’ll bounce back in a big way.”

TEAM GROH captain KEN GROH stated afterwards, “We played well on the defensive side. Of course STU pitched a hell of a game, but I think we have more in the tank, especially on the offensive side, including me. With that being said, I expect we’ll get their best shot next week, but we’ll be ready.”

Rumor has it that TEAM GROH will be spending the night before the game dining out at an exclusive not-to-be-named steak house and then off to a not-to-be-named hotel to prep themselves for the game……STAY TUNED.

NOTES…..

STAR SIGHTINGS…..Former JCC softball star, STEVE OSTROW……he looks like he could still go out there and play……

FOOD FOR THOUGHT……Since one MARC BRAFMAN can talk sports, here’s my take on a few things…..

The CINCINNATI REDS aren’t out of the playoff picture quite yet……as of this writing, they trail by five games in the wild card race, however seven teams are ahead of them…….the five games ain’t much, but the seven teams are….

The UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI men’s basketball team is winning games this summer against weak competition……I remind you they beat the eventual NCAA champ, MICHIGAN last season in an exhibition game…….as you should know, I’m a BIG Xavier fan, so the words have already started……lol

Finally, my favorite team (LOL), the CINCINNATI BENGALS, look like they made some nice moves in the offseason and look great on paper, but I do remind you that the owner is still MIKE BROWN……

Feel free to have me eat crow if my words come back to bite me…….

OTHER NOTES….

The regular season finale with TEAM GROH vs TEAM GOLDHOFF will be aired on ESPN with BOB COSTAS and TED KANTOR, former JCC star, handling the broadcast……

Tickets go on sale at $10 general admission starting Friday 8/7  at noon on the JCC website…….each fan will receive a 8 x 10 picture of former JCC star ALAN LESSURE.

On Field 3 it was Team Stu vs. Team Jeremy. Stu for the winners of one of the games:

Recap of Game 1 between Team Solomon and Team Fogel

Team Solomon had a rousing victory to end the “First Half” beating Team Fogel 12-4. 

During the first segment of this game, Team Solomon scored in the bottom of the first on a 2-run double by team captain and instigator, Stuart Solomon. The third run was an RBI on a sharp single to RCF by James Swan. Team Fogel ended up with the lead after 2 1/2 innings 4-3 highlighted by Jeremy “Spoke in Class Today” Fogel. 

Starting yesterday’s affair down 4-3 with a runner on first and no one out, Drew “Better Man” Hart laced the second of his 3 singles to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Stuart “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” Solomon roped a line drive over the LF’s head for a double scoring 1. James “Even Flow” Swan, Alex “Alive” Kraus, and Scott “Yellow Ledbetter” Raskin all singled totaling 5 runs in the inning. 

The bottom of 4 started with a walk from Adam “Corduroy” Heldman and another single by Hart led to a monsterous 3-Run slam by Kade “Animal” Carlyle. Up next stepped Solomon who hit the first pitch over Jeremy Fogel’s head and over the fence for back-to-back homer’s. This was the first time this season that Carlyle and Solomon hit back-to-back shots. 

During the bottom 5th, tempers flared due to an undisclosed member of Team Fogel ruthlessly attacking Keith “Black” Kombrink at first base. Many are saying this act occurred due to Team Fogel’s inability to handle Team Solomon’s success.

Game Two Team Jeremy run ruled Stu for the DH split.

Finally on Field 4 it was Team Krantz vs. Team Simons

Landon for the winners:

In game one, Team Krantz took on team Simons on Field 4 to finish up the doubleheader. We were already in the fourth inning of the game and I cannot remember everything that went down nearly 2 months ago. At the end of the day, team Krantz won 7 to 1. Lead off man Ryan Marcus went 3-4.

In the second game, for the first time I can remember, a seven inning game ended 1 to 0. In the top of the first, Griffin Harris hit a long flyball double that drove in Jamey Drennan who tripled in the at bat before. And that was it. No more runs were scored for 6 1/2 endings. Without a doubt the stars of the game are Jamey Drennan and Jamey Kurtzer, who pitched a combined 14 innings with one unearned run and maybe 9 hits? Bizarre game. Krantz sweeps the doubleheader.

League notes 

As Roger mentioned, the Reds are “only” 4 or so games out of the Wild Card and have passed two teams in front of them this week with their sweep of the A’s. Now there is a part of me that says the Reds will go all Cleveland Indians “Major League” and try to win to spite the front office. But then I realize that from August 28 through September 20 (almost a month) the Reds play in order Cubs, Pads, Brewers, Dodgers, Brewers, Dodgers, Cubs oh and on Sept. 22 start a series with the Braves. So let’s hold off on the World Series parade shall we?

The trade deadline: It’s not often that I am left speechless watching TV but watching the last 10 minutes of the ESPN trade deadline show and realizing that the Reds made almost no moves I couldn’t believe what I was watching. Mo Egger had the best point the other day. The Reds had three options

a) try to get better for this season

b) try to get better for next season

c) none of the above

For reasons that made no sense then and less sense three days later the Reds did nothing to improve the team this year OR next. In fact they will be a lot worse next year when Burke, Stephenson, Singer etc. leave as free agents. 

Here is Lance’s McAlister’s post after the trade deadline since he can say it better than me.

The trade deadline has come and gone. Somehow, the 2026 Cincinnati Reds didn’t get better, and the 2027 Reds didn’t get better. So what exactly did Nick Krall accomplish?

That really is a masterclass in front office failure.

What did his offseason plan of adding multiple players to 1-year deals net the Reds?

-$250K in International signing bonus space.

-A 19-year old pitcher

-A group that will walk away at the end of the season.

-Last place

Krall took a 2022 team and tore it down in order to rebuild it. Today, they are the 12th best team in a 15 team National League, given a 2% chance at the postseason.

The depths of the organizational malpractice truly are incredible.

There are 51 games left. Now what? Try not to lose 90?

It’s just so disheartening and frustrating. Exhausting.

The Angels fired their GM this season and brought in former St. Louis front office executive John Mozeliak on an interim basis. Mozeliak has gone to work overhauling the organization.

I was struck by this tweet by Sam Blum, who covers the Angels for The Athletic.

“What the Angels are doing today is unrecognizable from their method of operation, and long long overdue. If they someday turn this around, be it next year, the year after that or even 2029, today will be a necessary first step.”

For years, decades, that’s what the Reds have needed. But they’ve refused to do things differently. Refused to change the eyes on this organization. Refused to take from the blueprints of success offered within their own division. Refused to take the necessary first step.

In lieu of change, I can only take this as acceptable to the organization. That’s the galling part.

In good Reds news, if Sal Stewart is not the hands down Rookie of the Year in the NL, someone needs to explain to me how a guy leading all rookies in just about every offensive category, plus playing a decent 1st or 3rd base, isn’t the run away winner.

Last baseball note. For those that say the Dodgers are bad for baseball because they got the pitcher from the Tigers, let me remind you that the Reds or any other team could have put a package together for him. They didn’t and the Dodgers play to win. I am jealous of the Dodgers for that. 

I like what Curt Cignetti has done at IU as they were great champs last year. I don’t like his non Big Ten scheduling which now doesn’t include the always overrated Notre Dame team. Instead I believe they are playing MAC schools and Indy State. Does it matter with the playoffs? Not really, I just think it stinks.

Speaking of IU, nice of the new Purdue AD to say come to Purdue if you want to win. Win what exactly? Did he not see IU win the football championship just this past year? There are dumb comments, and then there is that.

If you have Netflix I am sure you have noticed that they have all of the Rocky-Creed movies currently on there. So for the last few weeks I have watched all 9 movies (6 Rocky’s and 3 Creed movies) so you don’t have to. My unofficial rankings of the movies

Rocky III (Mr. T and Hulk Hogan) the best training song

Rocky IV (Drago and Rocky ending the cold war)

Creed II (Also with Drago plus we get to see Mrs. Drago who looks like she is made of plastic)

Rocky Balboa (the saddest of all the movies but the best one with Paulie)

Creed

Rocky (the original is not as much about boxing as it is about Rocky and his story) somehow this movie won the Oscar over Taxi Driver, All the Presidents Men and Network.

Creed III, I actually liked the fight scenes but the plot is dumb .

Rocky II, not that its a bad movie but I don’t like it as much as the others

Finally Rocky V has to be in the running of the worst movies ever. Not Rocky movies, I’m talking worst of all time. There is nothing good about this movie. The acting is terrible, the plot is terrible, everything about it is terrible. 

Happy birthday to both James and Frannie Swan, born on the same date. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing if you share a birthday with your wife.

And happy 25th anniversary to Corey and Jodie Norris. 

See everyone at Wings Night on Wednesday.

Marc

Maybe the best night of the year for softball happened on Wednesday. With all sorts of crazy possibilities for both the first and second half championships, which will be decided next week let’s get to the action.

On Field one it was Team Krantz vs. Team Silverman

Landon for the winners:

Let’s go down to Field 1 where the fans got every penny’s worth in a game that had more twists than a pretzel and ended with the sweetest words in softball: walk-off winner.

With the score locked at 8-8 in the bottom of the seventh, Pat Feldman took center stage, lining the game-winning single to seal a thrilling 9-8 victory for Team Krantz. The boys carried him off the field like Rudy Ruettiger, and rumor has it they are putting the ball in Cooperstown.

Feldman was the definition of clutch, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and delivering the night’s biggest swing when it mattered most. Not to be outdone, Griffin Harris finished 3-for-4, including two doubles, and repeatedly came through when runners were on base. Jamey Drennan delivered an inside the park HR and went 3-3 with 4 RBIs. Brian Goldberg chipped in with a multi-hit performance as well.

Meanwhile, in the Team Silverman dugout, Ryan Silverman was everywhere. Three hits, multiple RBIs, and enough loud contact to keep the Krantz defense on its toes all night. He and Corey Norris formed a one-two punch at the plate, each collecting three hits.

Matthew Silverman flashed the power with a double and a little league homer. Andrew Gollin delivered clutch RBIs, and Anton Loon sparked the dramatic seventh-inning rally with a huge double that nearly stole the show. Team Silverman’s defense turned two crisp double plays, reminding everyone that flashy gloves matter just as much as hot bats.

34 hits in tonight’s game, 17 for each team

If you blinked, you probably missed another base hit. Team Krantz is headed home with a final season game next week against Team Simons.

On field two it was Team Brafman vs. Team Solomon

Stu for the winners

Another day, another win for Team Solomon as Team Solomon beat up on Team Brafman 16-6. 

The game was close as Team Brafman jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after 1 -1/2. In the bottom of the 2nd, Team Solomon took hold of the game and never looked back. Stuart “Fort Necessity” Solomon started the inning with a walk. He would later come around to score on a Single by Alex “Battle of Monongahela” Kraus. The inning continued with a 2-Run Double by Scott ” Battle of  Lake George” Raskin. The inning was capped off by a 3-run Home Run by Kade “Battle of The Plains of Abraham” Carlyle. 

Offensive shout outs to Zach “Saratoga” Michelson going 3-4. James “Breeds Hill” Swan also went 3-4. And Alex “Lexington and Concord” Kraus going 3-4 as well. 

Defensively, Adam “Chickamauga” Heldman made several nice plays at short, including a nice over the shoulder catch. Zach “Vicksburg” Michelson had a similar catch at 2b to end a promising inning for Team Brafman. Keith “Shiloh” Kombrinck made a nice play on an off-target throw to tag the runner at first. 

Team Solomon looks to continue its winning ways against Team Fogel in a match up which could determine regular season championship and playoff seeding. 

Capt. Brafman would like to add that Mark Tenenholtz and the Living Legend, Howie Schwartz each had 3 hits. Michael Askin also had a great game in the field.  And a tip of the cap to Kade Carlyle whose home run swing was on a pitch at his eyes that he crushed. 

On field three it was Team Wolf vs. Team AJ

Wes team won recap coming later

Finally on field four it was Team Groh vs. Team Simons

Roger for Team Groh

TEAM GROH 24

TEAM SIMONS 10????

“Why can’t we do this every game. I don’t think 24 runs a game is too much to ask for,” team captain KEN GROH said after the game in the joyous clubhouse.

The game started off like it would go down to the wire, when after five innings it was tied 6-6, however that’s when the floodgates opened thanks to a offensive explosion and some not so good defense.

The scorebook was too unreadable so if you want stats for the game, please contact GROH…..LOL

Everyone on the roster contributed to the offensive onslaught with CHRIS KUNKEL leading the way with five runs scored….DAVID SNYDER scored three runs and needed oxygen when he hit a triple to the LF fence….STU WEINSTEIN, who could have had a monster game, got some key knocks, but was thrown out twice from the outfield on would be hits….NICK O’BRIEN scored three times, but had to endure the wrath of ROGER ROSENTHAL the whole damn game.

“I’m just trying to help the kid. If he listens more to me, he’d be one hell of a player,”, ROSENTHAL said.

On the defensive side of things, WEINSTEIN pitched five solid innings before giving way to GROH. “I was out of gas plus I’m an old man,” WEINSTEIN said afterwards while being treated by the team trainer……SAM KLINKOWITZ, who again played well behind the plate and made one great play by coming out from behind the plate on a little tap and throwing a batter out on  a bang, bang play. “I’m not old enough to have seen JOHNNY BENCH play, but I think he’d be proud of that one,” he said afterwards while signing autographs for many of his fans.

NOTES…..

*Here’s hoping DAN MCGRATH is 100% come next week’s battles vs. TEAM GOLDHOFF……

*GROH made maybe the PLAY OF THE YEAR in a play at the plate when, while covering home plate, he backhanded a ball on a throw and tagged the runner…..

*Special thanks go out to BENJY KOTZIN, who hit a dinger, subbing for the team with the absence of ZACH MAYER, out for the season with an off-the-field injury.

NEXT WEEK…..the continuation of the first half game and then the second half finale………GAME WILL BE TELEVISED BY TBS with special announcers……all-time great, BOB COSTAS, and and all-time great JCC player, JERRY KIRZNER……the first 50 fans will receive get an 8 x 10 photo of future JCC star JACOB BRAFMAN…..rumor has it that the first 100 fans will get a voucher for an autograph…..GET THERE EARLY!!!!!

League notes

A lot of alumni birthday’s this week

Jacob “JZ” Zeidenstein

Tait Cunningham

Ben Sandor 

The different ways each team can still win the first and second half titles are too complicated to mention. Glad that Ryan and I who play on Wednesday don’t have to worry about it. We are in the toilet bowl on Wednesday.

It amuses me to no end that people keep comparing the Reds to the Brewers. Like the Brewers always know when to trade a player and get a great return for them before they start to go down. Well how does that fit into our current front office which is so bad that we traded for the worst hitter in baseball, have so little bullpen depth in the minors that we continue to run out guys that can’t throw strikes and are “rebuilding” again after only 3 years of a rebuild. I have so little faith in Krall that if he traded Hunter Green and got a young Tom Seaver back in return I wouldn’t believe it. This is the same front office that three years ago, when the Reds were actually good and exciting said, “We are good with Luke Weaver and only added Sam Moll.” How are these guys still in charge? 

Jacob and I went to St. Louis last week to watch a couple of Reds/Cards games. While the “best fans in baseball” talk is just that (talk) we had a great time sitting in the outfield with fellow baseball fans enjoying a nice Saturday night. One guy who was keeping score in an old school scorebook has been to over 50 stadiums between MLB and the minor leagues. Jacob and I are up to 7 which lags far behind Joel and Jeremy who have been to 29! Also, parents of younger kids, I can’t recommend enough going to the City Museum in St. Louis. It’s so much fun.  

It is good to know that the Reds lead the league in both K’s and bullpen walks. That is a good combo.

I saw today that Joe Burrow is not ranked in the top 40 NFL players. Are there really 40 NFL players better than him? 

I am going to really enjoy watching Chase Bank and Sofi and their almost 20 million dollar jersey patches as OSU and ND continue to not win the National title. I can understand the Chase bank one for OSU. They have one of the biggest brands in the country across all sports. But ND? Are they good in anything other than football? And honestly what have they won in the last 40 years? As much shit as I give OSU fans, they are a great program which in the history of college football have never really had a down time, which is amazing. Even Bama had the dark years of 1996-Saban (of course the time I was at school). 

Have you ever wondered where Roger gets his stuff for his website? Apparently he has a “guy” that goes all over the city and buys books, cards etc. How does one become that guy? That sounds like a fun job. 

See everyone on Wednesday night.

Marc

It was a nice morning for softball on Sunday as I believe that is 3 weeks in a row we got in without weather being an issue. Strike up the band on that.

In the early games we had Team Silverman vs. Team Simons. 

Mark for the winners:

On a muggy Sunday morning Team Simons locked horns with Team Silverman with only 9 players and missing their pitcher and catcher.  The game was a back and forth affair highlighted by great defensive plays by both teams and solid pitching by Zawatsky for Silverman and Simons pitching for his squad. The game went the distance and ended the 7th inning knotted up at 10. Team Simons was able to squeeze 2 runs across in the 8th and held on for a gritty 12-11 win. 

And in the other early game it was Team AJ vs. Team Fogel

AJ for the winners

 Another great win for Team Orange as we took out Team Fogel 9-5 in a really well fought game. Due to the Sunday conditions we did play this as a good ole fashioned 9-9 baseball game.

We went up 4-2 early on hits from Harry Meisner, Mike Gray, and Ian Segall and from there it was really a pitchers’ battle. Mike Gray and Jimmy Lefton were both pitching great and everyone was having trouble getting hits.

In the bottom of the third we went up 6-2 with big hits from super sub Chris Kunkel and Todd Wasserman. And after Fogel fought back to make it 6-5, we broke it back open with more hits from Todd, Harry, and super sub James Swan.

All in all another fun game and we look forward to playing Team Wolf again on the 29th.

In the mid-morning games Team Groh took on Team Brafman

Marc pinch hitting for Ken for the winners

Team Groh won 13-2 or something like that. Team Groh all hit the ball well with sub David Wertheim (who I believe has subbed against Team Brafman 5 times this year) had 3-4 hits and played his normal stellar defense at SS. Stu Weinstein pitched a good game with the help of an odd strike zone for both teams. Nick O’Brien also had a couple of hits for Team Groh. For Team Brafman sub Griff Harris went 3-4 and Michael Askin made a great catch in RC to turn a double play. Also thanks to Dr. Bob who pitched a better game than the score would indicate. 

Finally it was Team Wolf vs. Team Stu 

Wes for the winners

Team Wolf beat Team Solomon 8-6. In a Sunday afternoon game where both teams didn’t have their starting pitchers, the game somehow stayed as a low scoring affair. 

After a back and forth game Team Wolf took the lead 8-6 with a four run fifth inning on a hit parade featuring big hits by Tyler Wolf, Pat Feldman and Mike Rothstein. 

In the top of the seventh, team Solomon started off hot by getting their bottom two guys in the order on base, including a Keith Kombrinck right field double. It’s bases loaded with no outs and things are looking bleak for team Wolf, when a would-be sac fly is hit to left field and a baserunning mistake at third base turns it into a double play. Now it’s two outs, first and second, with Kade Carlyle up, who already had a homer in the game. He hits a sharp ground ball into the short-third hole. Wes Wolf makes a diving stop, and gets the force out at third to end the game. 

All credit to Scott Wolf, earning his first complete game pitching W in his illustrious JCC career. 

League notes

Please keep Mark and Rick Tenenholtz and their family in your thoughts this week as Rick’s dad passed away over the weekend. 

Happy birthday to the following:

Danny Meisterman

Joel “the Wrath of” Kahn

And orthodontist to the stars, Jacob Stadiem

If someone can explain the logic of the Reds trading Hunter Green in the next week I am all ears. Why would you pay Chase Burns all that money only to turn around and trade your “ace” (when healthy) who is under team control for a few more years at a nice discount? Don’t you at some point need to identify the core of the team that you are trying to build around? I would think Hunter would be that guy. Since Krall has botched at least two rebuilds, I have ZERO faith he will make good moves here.

Can you imagine after the NBA finals or the World Series a fight happening on the field? That is what happened after the World Cup finals on Sunday, and while I’m sure it’s a big story somewhere, it doesn’t seem to be that big a deal around here. Weird.

Of course last night was the best weather we have had on a Wednesday all season. I guess honoring the destruction of the temple 2,000+ years ago prevents us from playing ball. But man sitting at the FCC game all I could think of was wow what a night.

Anyone else ready for college football? 

And finally Roger called me the other day to inform me that he keeps his bobblehead prices consistent with ebay in case you were wondering. I still think he should pay us to take the Hayes gold glove bobblehead off his hands but that is just me. 

See everyone Wednesday night.

I was told it was another hot night on Wednesday, so with that said let’s get to the games.

On field one Team Wolf Beat Team Silverman. The recap will be up soon

On Field two Team Krantz took on Team Brafman (minus Brafman)

Landon for the winners:

Norm Frankel put on an offensive clinic, driving in three runs on three hits as Team Krantz was victorious over Team Brafman 14-4 on Wednesday.

Team Brafman struck first in the opening frame, with Mike Askin lifting a sacrifice fly and John Spears adding an RBI single to take an early 2-0 lead.

Team Krantz answered immediately. Pat Feldman delivered a two-run single to tie the game before Frankel gave Team Krantz a 3-2 advantage they would never relinquish.

The game broke open in the second as Team Krantz erupted for six runs on seven hits. Everyone hit, and Howard Goldwasser got in on the act with a big RBI single to keep the rally alive!

The offense never let up, piling up 20 hits in the win. Dee Harris, Jamey Drennan, and Frankel each recorded three-hit games, while Pat Feldman, Yitzi Creeger, Brian Goldberg, and Capt Crunch Krantz added multiple-hit performances. .

For Team Brafman, Mike Askin led the offense with two RBIs while going a perfect 2-for-2. Askin, Mark Tenenholtz, and Spencer Scruggs each finished with two hits, Tenenholtz with a liner down the RF line that led to a stand-up triple. Joel Buckley chased a pop up into left for a sliding catch to save a couple runs and wowed the crowd.

Team Krantz gets a bye on Sunday and will rest up for a rematch with Team Silverman in two weeks.

On Field 3 it was Team Solomon vs. Team Simons

Stu for the winners:

 Its the Secret World of Alex “Mack” Kraus drove in four runs on three hits to lead Team Solomon past Team Simons 17-16 on Wednesday. Kraus hit an inside the park home run in the sixth inning, scoring three runs, and singled in the third inning, scoring one.

Team Solomon collected 25 hits and Team Simons had 25 in the high-scoring affair.

Team Solomon got on the board in the top of the first inning after “Motor” Kade Carlyle hit a sacrifice fly, and James “Lynn” Swan singled, each scoring one run.

After going down 4-2, Team Solomon jumped back into the lead in the top of the third inning after  “The” Carlyle “Group” doubled to center field, Swan singled to left field, Kraus singled to center field, Steve “McQueen” Zawatsky singled to center field, and Zach “Preppy” Michelson singled to center field, each scoring one run.

Team Solomon added three more runs in the top of the fourth inning on five hits. Adam “Andy” Heldman singled, scoring one run, and Carlyle homered to center field, scoring two runs.

After going down again, 13-11, Team Solomon flipped the game on its head in the top of the sixth, scoring five runs on five hits to take the lead, 16-13. The biggest blow in the inning was an inside the park home run by Kraus that drove in three.

A ground out by Keith “Van Horn” Kombrinck gave Team Solomon the lead, 17-16, in the top of the seventh.

Team Solomon amassed 25 hits in the game. Swan went 4-for-4 at the plate to lead Team Solomon in hits. Michelson, Heldman, Solomon, Daniel Meisterman, Seth Berland, and Zawatsky each collected multiple hits for Team Solomon. Swan stole two bases. .

Defensively, Brandon Lindsay “Graham, RIP” had two big catches in RF. Kade “ROY” Carlyle had some very nice running catches to help secure the win. 

And finally on Field 4 it was Team Fogel vs. Team Groh

Jeremy for the winners

Team Lox took on Team Groh on Field 4 in another heated battle during the dog days of summer. Early returns had this one painted as a pitchers duel, but Team Lox ended up winning in emphatic fashion, plating 13 runs between fifth and seventh inning offensive explosions to take the game 15-4.

The early innings were all defense from both sides, with leather flashing in the infield and outfield. Key plays by Nick O’Brien at shortstop kept Team Lox off the board early, and a vital double play turned by Brad Wagner and Eli Gould stifled rallies for the opposition. After a tough defensive inning, Team Groh tacked on two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-2 lead into the later innings.

As it often does for Team Lox, things clicked in the fifth when a seven spot went up on the scoreboard. The rally was fueled by a leadoff single from Ian Conwell, moments after he nearly dented the third base coach’s shins with a screaming foul ball. Eli Gould followed with an inside-the-park blast, a lesson learned from last week when he tripped over third base trying to leg out a would-be round-tripper. Mark Franklin followed with a line shot that split the gap in center field. The inning was capped off by David Wertherhammerstein lacing one to the warning track in left, clearing the bases.

After a shutdown inning from their southpaw ace, and with runners on the corners and two outs, El Capitán stepped up and hit a towering shot to the right-center field fence. It clanked off the base of the wall and turned into an inside-the-park home run, followed immediately by another inside-the-parker from Wags to cap off a strong offensive night for the Lox.

Right after that, Jumbo Lefton gave one a ride to the warning track in right-center. It looked like it was gone, but the commish, on his birthday, no less, tracked it down. Whether it was heat exhaustion or the heat of the moment, he then chucked the ball 50 feet into the woods, never to be seen again. When you keep having to chase the ball to the wall, sometimes you just can’t help yourself.

Quote of the night comes from Will Coleman, who should’ve earned a hustle single but was instead ruled out on an objectively bad call. He turned to the first base coach and muttered, “They just keep getting worse.”

Team Lox moves to 11-2, hoping the fun isn’t over yet.

Reminder we play this Sunday But NOT on Wednesday, July 22.

League Notes

Happy birthday to the following

The Commish, Adam Cronstein 

Former players

Riley “the Big Man” Abel

Eric “Jeter” Goldstein

A quick update from Zach Mayeron the state of his leg. He still can’t put any weight on it, and gets around on either crutches, a scooter or a wheel chair. He hopes to be back up and running by the spring to play again. Get well soon Zach, we miss ya!

I will really miss the World Cup when it’s over on Sunday. While I could take or (mostly) leave MLS and the Premier league, I do love country soccer. I’ve really enjoyed watching it and the video of the Argentine announcer losing his mind after the 2nd goal on Wednesday is worth looking up. Other than “Messi” and “GOL” I have no clue what he is saying, but I can close my eyes and hear Dan Hoard saying the Bengals are CHAMPS or Tommy T saying there goes a deep fly to LF by Sal and the REDS WIN! A boy can dream, right?

Count me on board on the Reds signing Burns to his extension. Now they have to go and get a team around him, Green, Elly and Sal while they have them. It just goes to show how bad our front office really is when you have two true ace pitchers and two really good guys in the field and your team stinks as bad as the Reds do. 

If you are a music fan, I can’t stress enough that you need to go to Red Rocks. I was out there last weekend to see the Avett Brothers (and 84 year-old Graham Nash who still can sing) and man it was as amazing as you would think. My wife, Shana, who HATES concerts was so impressed with it that she said she would even consider going again. Not that I’m rushing out there anytime soon. It really is an amazing place to see a show. So if you can head out there. 

As I mentioned above we are off this upcoming week because of a Jewish holiday. As luck would have it my Rabbi Shafrin  from Adath sent an e-mail explaining it. Our Jewish calendar is an incredible, complex reflection of our own journeys through the year, with highs and lows, times for gathering together or retreating into privacy. This coming week, we experience the very lowest emotional and spiritual point in the Jewish year: The holiday of Tisha B’Av.

Beginning Wednesday night and continuing into Thursday, the holiday of Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, originally commemorated the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples in Jerusalem, and has come, throughout the last 2000 years, to also mark the dispersion of the Jewish People, persecutions and antisemitism, and expulsions from countries too numerous to list. It is one of only two major fast days, meaning it lasts a full 25 hours, from sunset to sunset.

Last but not least, we all need to talk to Roger about his pricing on this years Reds bobbleheads. $30 for Hayes and Steer? $25 for Marte? they should all be $10 

See everyone Sunday. Fingers crossed it’s not raining. 

What is this you say? Two straight weeks of no rain! Adam might have finally made peace with Mother Nature. 

On field 1 we had Team AJ vs. Team Simons. AJ has the recap:

Another great team win for Team Orange as we took out Team Simons 10-4.

The game started extremely fast because no one could score until the 3rd inning. In the top half of that third though we had 2 outs and then the rally started. I hit a triple, Ian Segall hit a triple, Tyler Stansbury doubled, and Harry Meisner hit an RBI single to bring the game to 4-0.

We got it to 6-2 in the 5th with more hits from Zach Zakem, Stansbury and Meisner. and then in the 7th with the score 6-4 another rally started toward the bottom of our order. Todd Wasserman, Michael Heldman, Zach Zakem, and I all got on, and then Segall, Stansbury and Meisner brought us in to bring the score to 10-4.

I would also be remiss not to mention another great game pitched by our horse Mike Gray.

We look forward to our bye next week and then getting back out there for the final stretch ot the season.

On Field 2 it was Team Fogel vs. Team Wolf

Jeremy for the winners:

Heading into the Wednesday bout with Team Wolf, Team Lox was 1-2 in games not started by Jimmy Lefton — but that didn’t matter to Brad Wagner, who took the ball and gave up just 6 runs over 7 solid innings. Wags got plenty of help from a sharp outfield defense, most notably Ian Conwell, who anchored down the right side with several key plays.

Good defense has been a theme all season, no matter who’s on the mound, and it proved vital again on Wednesday as the bats stayed quiet through the first four frames. Crafty veteran Mark Weisser kept hitters off balance, working through the order twice while stranding runner after runner.

After Team Wolf plated 5 in the top of the 5th to take a 6-2 lead, the tide turned for the Lox bats. Sparky Fogel and Dave Wertheim sparked things at the top of the order, as usual, and the hits kept coming from there. Key knock after key knock kept the line moving, and the inning was capped by a huge two-out triple from Eli Gould — who may have had designs on an inside-the-park homer before tripping over himself 10 feet past third base. Will Coleman kept lacing line drives all over the field and playing gold-glove defense at first, helping Team Lox pick up their 10th win of the season.

On field 3 it was Team Krantz vs Team Groh

Roger for the winners:

TEAM GROH 17

TEAM KRANTZ 12

In what might have been the gutsiest victory of the season, TEAM GROH defeated TEAM KRANTZ, 17-12, in a wild affair.

“It was nice to overcome that one bad defensive inning and put it behind us and come away with a win, ” team captain KEN GROH stated afterwards.

Hitting stars were aplenty with BRYCE ANSLINGER leading the way as he drove in five runs and also played great defense, making one of the sweetest plays you’ll see when, while playing 2B, he fielded the ball with a runner on first, tagged the base with his glove and while on his backside, threw to 1B to complete a double play……”I’ve practiced that play ever since tee ball many years ago and I finally got to do it in a game,” ANSLINGER said afterwards while signing autographs for the fans in attendance.

GROH and sub, TAIT CUNNINGHAM, playing against his cousin, PAT FELDMAN, each had four hits along with ADAM CRONSTIEN, RYAN “ATOM” BAUM, DAN MCGRATH and CHRIS KUNKEL each collecting multiple hits. Also, SAM KLINKOWITZ, started a big rally with a key hit and was once again, solid behind home plate.

Defensively, DAVID SNYDER turned a nice double play in to thwart a rally, while NICK O’BRIEN, under the guidance of coach ROGER ROSENTHAL, played a solid SS (minus one play….lol)…..STU WEINSTEIN, still going strong at 70 years old, played a solid game at 1B.

All was not great as the team’s spiritual leader, ROSENTHAL had to be helped off the field due to an injury while running to first base.

“I was more embarrassed than anything. Not only did I fall once, but I fell twice. What a klutz I am. I was happy we won the game without my mighty bat and solid defensive playing,” he joked afterwards.

The victory kept TEAM GROH in the hunt for the second half with a few BIG games still to come……STAY TUNED!

Next up is a revenge game vs. TEAM FOGEL. 

The game will be carried on FOX OHIO (if they still exsist) starting with the pre-game show at 6:00 p.m. with first pitch at 6:15 p.m. BOB COSTAS will be doing the play-by-play with former JCC star ALBERT WEISBROT doing the color as well as singing the NATIONAL ANTHEM. The first 500 fans will receive an 8 x 10 photo of former star, STEVE “MR. WINGS” EPPSTEIN.

Finally on Field 4 Team Silverman vs. Team Stu

Stu for the winners

Stuart “MVP” Solomon drove in five runs on four hits to lead Team Solomon past Team Silverman 15-6 on Wednesday. Solomon singled in the first scoring two, doubled in the second scoring two, and tripled in the seventh scoring one.

Team Solomon won thanks in part to eight runs in the first inning.  Kade “Klubnik” Carlyle doubled, scoring one run, Solomon singled, scoring two runs, James Swan “Dive” hit a sacrifice fly, scoring one run, Brandon Lindsay “Davenport” singled, scoring one run, and Danny “McBribe” Meisterman hit an inside the park home run, scoring three runs.

Team Solomon added two runs in the second. Solomon doubled to center field, making the score 10-3.

Solomon earned the win for Team Solomon. The pitcher surrendered 16 hits and six runs over seven innings, striking out one and walking two. Howard Schwartz took the loss for Team Silverman. The starter went six and one-third innings, allowing 11 runs on 18 hits, striking out two and walking none.

Team Solomon amassed 22 hits in the game. Zach Michelson, Alex Kraus, Drew Hart, Swan, Carlyle, Adam Heldman, and Meisterman each collected multiple hits for Team Solomon. Team Solomon didn’t commit a single error in the field. Solomon had the most chances in the field with three.

Defensively, Team Solomon played a very solid game. Huge catches by Brandon Lindsay “Graham” and Danny “Boy Cane” Meisterman. Danny had the defensive play of the game. Former Commissioner and real estate mogul Ryan Silverman hit a sharp grounder just to the left of 2nd base. Danny was able to secure the grounder, step on second and “Jeter” a throw to 1st. 

League Notes

It is just a matter of time when the Reds promote a Spencer Steer “He will play all nine spots on the field in one game” promotion. Tonight (Friday vs. the Cubs) he is playing CF for the first time ever. Maybe he played it in high school but not in college, or the pros. Good luck with that. 

Also on the Reds, of course the first game I go to without Jacob all year they hit 4 homers in an inning.

The World Cup is so much fun to watch even with the US out. I have loved everything about it. The fans, the weird chants, Mexico losing, the English announcers. Now if we can only figure out a way for the US team to be any good we would be onto something.

Is there anything more Cincinnati than when UC, XU, Dayton and OSU make a fun announcement that they are playing basketball games at the Linder Tennis Center the first thing everyone says is I’m sure it will rain, not what a cool event! I for one think it will be a lovely evening out in October for outside basketball. What could possibly go wrong?

This week marked the 30th anniversary when Hulk Hogan turned on the fans and started the NWO. Jon Ruben and I might be the only guys that care about this but I can still remember going insane when he dropped the big leg on the Macho Man and the fans started throwing garbage into the ring. You fans can SHOVE IT! 

If you guys want to go, next Thursday at the JCC there is going to be a movie about the Israel baseball team. Check out the JCC website for more details. 

Have a nice weekend everyone

Marc