After a long dark offseason, it’s finally time for softball. Of course, the weather gods are smiling on us this Wednesday (A day we can’t play), so be prepared to bring your wet suit next Saturday since I’m sure it will rain.
It’s that time of year when hope springs eternal for all nine teams and we are ready to get back onto the field and play some ball. With the draft over, here are some news and notes from the off-season.
Congrats go out to David “D-Sol” Solomon for his new job at the Holocaust Center.
Congrats to Scott “Dire” Wolf on the wedding of his son, Freddie.
Keeping it in the Wolf Family, a big shout out to Duffy Wolf on his amazing pictures that were on display at HUC this winter. Keep up the great work, Duff.
When we all see Fink this year, remember to give him a pat on the back as his dad (a former pitcher in the league) died this offseason.
Did you know that Reds farm hand Evan Kravetz pitched for team Israel in the WBC, and our own, Kevin Youkilis, was the teams hitting coach?
At each UC basketball game, we pick a lucky student who gets to shoot for loot and at one game our own, Cam Kirzner, was picked. Needless to say, Cam is a much better shortstop than a three-point shooter. (But he is still the best Skyline Chili man at games).
And finally, if you are ever fortunate enough to get a phone message from our own Roger Rosenthal, be prepared to sit and sit and sit and sit to listen to it. This offseason he has left me messages up to two minutes long! Who has time to talk to Roger for that long, let alone sit and listen to a two-minute message? How about, “Mr. Brafman, it’s Roger, call me back.”
And now, onto the draft and the pre-season preview.
The draft, as usual, was a fun evening of laughter, arguing and of course good-hearted ribbing as the 9 captains got together for their annual soiree.
You can tell which captains prepared for the draft by what they brought with them. Marc Brafman and Stu Solomon had notebooks, Wes Wolf had a laptop computer (and Scott Wolf), Brad “The Human Rain Delay” Wagner had 15 mock drafts, a big board like Mel Kiper and three cell phones to keep tabs on all the players and the Lefton’s had a player ranking for all 100+ guys. The Grefer brothers brought beer.
It was good to see former captain, Mark Weisser, still at the draft this time as sergeant-at-arms. He oversaw moving the draft along while also quelling any in-fighting about what color shirt each team got this season.
You know it’s softball season when Mike “The Special One” Rothstein is complaining about the umps before the season even starts.
A big shout out to Mike Creemer for coming through. Unlike recent seasons, scorebooks and concessions cards were handed out before the season. Well done, Mike.
And now onto the team previews:
Team Brafman:
Team Brafman picked the tag team of Griff and Dee Harris. “The call was simple,” Brafman said post draft. “I’ve never played with them and one of my favorite things about this league is playing with new guys every year (except me picking Eric Gruen… that happens every year).” Team Brafman’s top of the order seems to be built for speed with Griff, Joel Buckley and Gruen. Newcomer and Cincy native, Jamey Drennan, rounds out that speed as Brafman expects big things from his rookie infielder. With cagey vets like Jeff Weisbrot, Steve Eppstein and Todd Wasserman filling out the rest of the lineup, Team Brafman looks to make life tough on the rest of the league.
Micah Kamrass went against his normal “Team Bachelor Party” mode with guys like Zach “Mr. Mellow” Mayer, Jeff Finkelstein, Adam Heldman and the Margolis package (Michael and Ben) on his team. “I wanted a wide net of guys for this season, and I think I got that. What should be a good middle of our order with David Solomon, Bryce Anslinger, and the newcomer, Jordan Skinner, I am confident that we can win this year. I know I’ve got one of the best pitcher/catcher tandems in the league and I’m excited to get out on the field and prove it.”
Defending league champ, Stu Solomon, already complaining about the makeup of his team before the draft, started hopes to pick up where he left off last night. With some serious lumber in the order (Tyler Stansbury, Harry Meisner, Stu and Ryan Silverman), this team follows the pattern Stu started last season. “I plan on beating teams by hitting and hitting and hitting. Plus I’m playing with my bro who I hope is more Brett to my Aaron Boone than Mike to my Barry Larkin. And since I picked the Commish he gets to hear me whine about my team all season which really is a double win for me.”
Team Lefton drafted well. The Loon package, with Anton and his nephews, Peter Brownell and Matt Leader, give Lefton youth and huge upsides. “We love to draft families,” Jimmy said post draft. “When Anton and his crew were on the board, I had to take a shot with them. ‘The Hebrew Hammer’ Ryan Baum, Handsome Sam Castellini and Dr. Bob Pelberg give us some leadership and pop at the bottom of the order. Plus, we get the ‘Dr. of Style’ David Weil, who will add some levity to the team.”
Team Grefer drafted some of the best value picks of the draft. A very fast top of the order with David “Slim Shady” Wertheim and Adam “Never met a shirt with sleeves that I liked” Cronstein at the top of the order will set the table for the big bats of the Grefer’s and some big rookies like Landon Krantz and Jon Ruben. “It’s not often we get a rookie pitcher in this league and Danny and I are excited for the chance to showcase Jon Ruben as he comes in with a lot of experience in the Frontier league. Of course, having the cagey vet, Rick Tenenholtz, behind the plate will help us this season.”
Team Zawatsky lived up to his name of Team Z by drafting every player whose last name starts with or has a Z in it. “Just because we were always last in line at school doesn’t mean we are going to be last in line this year in softball. With guys like Pat ‘Sunshine’ Feldman, Ryan ‘the half man gang’ Marcus (he’s lost weight) and great pitching by Ken Groh I know we are going to be there at the end of the season. Gregg Harris will keep us all loose and it’s not often I get to play with three other guys whose last name is Z (son Eli, Eric Zied and Zach Zakem), we will be ready to take on the rest of the alphabet this year.”
The Wolf family was back this year with captain Wes taking over. If nothing else this will be an interesting bench with guys such as Pete “The Straw that Stirs the drink” Soltesz, Mr. Talkative, Mike Askin, and Mike Gray all on the same team. “We plan on being combative both on the bench and on the field,” Wes said. “Hopefully, the 20 Creeger kids on the bench will make our guys behave themselves. Not to mention, we have the best moustache in the league in rookie, Dan LaCerva. That has to count for something, right?”
Brad Wagner comes back as a captain after a few years off. “I liked running the draft instead of being on this side of things,” Wagner said during the draft. But you won’t know it by his team. From Josh Rosen and Cam Kirzner, he has speed and very good defense. Taking the living legend, Howie Schwartz, as his pitcher will only add to this powerful team. Rookies John Spears and Ian Conwell round out this team that will be a tough out all up and down the order. “I’m pleased with my team Brad said afterwards. While I might get 3-4 strikes called on me in MLB, I’m glad that there is no pitch clock in JCC softball. I need all the strikes I can get,” Wagner said.
Finally, Team Fogel took rookie, Brandon Wronker and then took some power with Scott “Why can’t we be” Friend, and Jason Esterkamp. Then they went with the “we are family” approach with the picks of rookie, Matt Miller, and Shorty Adams, who aren’t related but in the Jewish world are uncle and nephew. “Why not draft my roommate and his uncle? We can talk UC basketball while we play each week. What’s wrong with that? If nothing else, it will drive Roger crazy.”
See everyone next week. Let’s hope for nice weather.