Back in 1989 our guy Billy Joel sang “We didn’t start the fire; No we didn’t light it but we tried to fight it.” Little did we know that Harry Truman and Doris Day also couldn’t breathe the air at Triple Creek last night. I’m sure Ryan wasn’t expecting to be talking to the JCC about postponing a game due to smoke in the air, but here we are. But hey, at least it didn’t rain.
Let’s get to the action.
On Field 1 we had Team Lefton vs. Team Wolf Machine.
Wolf won again…Question for league historians has there ever been a team that has run the table?
On Field 2 it was Team Stu vs. Team Grefer
Stu for the winners:
It was a thrilling, and at times contentious, pitchers duel between Team Grefer and Team Solomon. Team Solomon was able to get hits when it counted winning 5-3 in a very nice defensive game by both teams.
The scoring started when Stuart “Everyone’s Favorite Captain” Solomon laced a triple in RCF. Ryan “All Smiles” Silverman tattooed a line drive to the wall for a HR. Team Grefer scored 3 unanswered runs until the bottom of six when Zach “The New Guy” Collins hit a single up the middle to tie the game up. After an Alan “The Salsa King of the Midwest” Lessure strike out, Adam ” Dirk Diggler” Teiitelbaum laced a single up the middle scoring the go-ahead two runs.
Defensively, Team Solomon was just solid. Great pitching from Mark ” Grand Poobah” Weisser. He fielded his position with agility and speed. Big shoutout to Tyler who was battling a back issue and still made a great defensive play at 3B.
Alan Lessure continues to be a clubhouse spark with his wonderful insights and commentary. Alan after the game said “I’ve caught a lot of games and I knew their pitcher was getting tired and we needed to take advantage.”
Team Solomon looks to continue their winning ways next week against Fogel.
On Field 3 we had Team Team Kamrass vs Team Zawatsky
Micah for the winners:
Team Kamrass defeated Team Z 9-1, in a game that was one out away from being a shut out. Fink was unhittable, and also made a few nice plays in defense. Ben Margolis had the hit of the night with a home run to left center, also scoring Jordan Skinner who was on his horse. Scott Raskin had the web gem of the night with an over the head basket catch on a ball to no man’s land robbing Pat Feldman of extra bases. Micah Kamrass went 4-4 on the night.
“This was a fun one,” said Captain Kamrass. “We’re clearly America’s softball team and we’re ready to take down Team Wolf next week.”
And finally in the game of the night, Team Brafman vs. Team Fogel on Field 4
Marc for the winners:
In a very VERY Well played game Team Brafman came off the mat late to beat Team Fogel 8-7 on a bases loaded walk off single by Jamey “The Rookie” Drennan. Team Fogel started out hot scoring 7 runs in the first two innings and played lights out defense behind Dan Green. It wasn’t until the 4th inning that Team Brafman got on the board with back to back hits from Brafman and Alex Kraus. A two run homer by Dee Harris cut the lead to 7-5 in the 6th where it would remain until the bottom of the 7th. To get to that point Team Brafman really turned up the defense. Eppy at one point retired 11 straight Team Fogel players thanks to Eric “The Mouth of the Midwest” Gruen at first, Joel Hallelujah” Buckley at SS , the “Hebrew Hammer” Ryan Baum in RF and JZ in his last game as sub in RC throwing out a runner (who will remain nameless) at first base with the hardest throw of the season.
In the bottom of the 7th Alex Kraus led off with a single, was bunted to 2nd by Eppy and scored on a single by Eric Gruen. Griff Harris then doubled in Buckley to tie the score and after a walk to JZ Jamey ended it with a single. A great team win for our guys Brafman said post game. I couldn’t be happier. Two other notes…this game featured both top of the orders being retired in order in the same inning and Eppy getting a 3-pitch inning.
Team Brafman looks forward to getting “The Natural ” Jeff Weisbrot back next week vs. Team Lefton.
League Notes
Boy, you guys need to get your BS meter going when you read league notes. No, the Iron Sheik did not play in the Softball league. But league historian Roger Rosenthal did report that one time Flyin’ Brian Pillman delivered an atomic drop to the late great Jason Faust when Faust threw a ball over the backstop.
Happy birthday this week to former player Ryan Small and current rookie pitcher Jon “Rubes” Ruben.
It has come to my attention that roommates Jeremy Fogel and Matt Miller are both dating girls named Maddie. This leads to all kinds of interesting questions but nothing tops the fact that Matt is dating a girl named Maddie. Well played.
Speaking of Jeremy, congrats to JCC softball’s head sister cheerleader Brooke Fogel on getting her first job out of school.
There was a good article on Cincyjewfolk.com on the softball league. here is the link https://cincyjewfolk.com/2023/06/06/the-battered-boichiks-of-softball-competitive-camaraderie-since-1945/
Team Brafman super sub, Jacob “JZ” Zeidenstein should know that his mom can still track him on her cell phone. So JZ, be warned when you have a Maddie of your own your mom will know if you don’t come home that night..
Danny Grefer somehow survived the weekend at Bonnaroo and he reported that the highlight of the weekend was seeing the Foo Fighters and then DJ Shaq at 2 or 3 AM spinning records in the DJ Tent. Well done, Danny. Not many of us could hang for that long at a concert.
Speaking of concerts since most of us aren’t old enough to remember when the Beatles played at Crosley or The Cincinnati Gardens, we will just have to watch the craziness that is the Taylor Swift concert this week. I will make sure to get with Scott Wolf for his full report next week.
For those of you that are A) married and B) ever had to stay at home while your wife worked, I would encourage you to read this story and do the opposite. (Jeremy and Matt learn from this clown so when you two have a double wedding with the Maddies you won’t follow his lead) https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2023/06/21/stephen-f-austin-bowling-coach-resigns-relationship-with-athlete/70341506007/ As Jon Spears told me, I must have re-read this story 10 times and I laugh every time.
In this week in the Reds, from the always entertaining Jason Stark from the Athletic here are some numbers from the Elly cycle game:
He went from home to third in under 11 seconds! I don’t know about you, but it might take me a minute and a half to sprint from home plate to third base these days, even if I got in “I-might-hit-a-triple” shape. But it took De La Cruz only 10.83 seconds to do this.
De La Cruz did more than merely the single/double/triple/homer thing in this game. He also drove in four runs and stole a base. According to STATS, he’s the first player ever to do all of that during a cycle since RBIs became an official stat in 1920.
Not bad for a rookie who might end up being the 4th best rookie on the Reds this year. I have no idea where this team came from or how they continue to win with some of the worst starting pitching I’ve ever seen (Except for Abbott) but I don’t care. Keep it going, boys!
Finally this week in Roger. you have to be REALLY scraping the bottom of the barrel when you are posting XU women’s bobbleheads from players that haven’t been there in at least 10 years. Who is after those? This comes from a guy whose son was THRILLED when my mom found him a Mat Latos and Homer Bailey bobblehead in her closet yesterday, so what do I know.
See ya on the field on Wednesday!