April 20 Recap
By Marc Brafman
Mother Nature FINALLY smiled on us last night as the season started three weeks late. After a very nice tribute from Howie, Ken Groh and Jeff Weisbrot talking about our friends Ron Rose and Jason Faust, it was time for the games to start.
On field 1 it was Team Brafman vs. Team Grefer. (Brafman won 12-11)
Team Brafman took control of the game early and broke out to an early lead. The top of the order led the way with Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley, JZ, Fink and Anton producing the big hits. “Handsome” Sam Castellini and Marc Brafman also drove in runs. While Grefer chipped away, they could never get closer than a couple of runs. But things changed for Grefer in in the top of the 6th. Big hits from Zach Michelson, Gary Grefer and others tied the score at 10. When Team Brafman failed to score in the bottom of the inning, Grefer took their first lead of the game in the top of the 7th, 11-10. With the top of his order up Capt. Brafman felt good about their chances going to the bottom of the 7th. “While I was disappointed we couldn’t hold our big lead, I was 100% confident we’d pull through.” And that is what they did. JZ led off with a double, and after an intentional walk to Anton, who had been 3-3 at the time, Fink hit a LOOOONG ball into the gap in RC that Kyle Grefer ran down and made a nice play on. Both runners advanced on the catch. And this is where the game got interesting. Believing that Capt. Brafman was a lesser hitter than Sam Castellini, Grefer walked Castellini, setting the stage that every boy dreams of. That’s right, I was up with the bases loaded tying run on 3rd go ahead run on 2nd. And just like everyone dreams about, I hit a medium fly ball to LC which was caught. JZ tagged up at 3rd to tie the game and when the ball got past the catcher Anton scored the winning run for Team Brafman who won 12-11. “Do we even celebrate a win like that,” Eric “The Mouth of the Midwest” Gruen said post game? “I guess I have to go pat Capt Brafman on the back for at least hitting the ball in the air.” Besides the offense, team Brafman also won this game on defense with Sam “The Hitman” Hecht, David “Lenny Harris” Snyder, “The Mayor” Todd Wasserman and Alex Kraus all making nice plays.
“A good overall team win,” Brafman said post game.
Over on field two it was Team Rosenthal vs. Team Kamrass (Kamrass won 16-15 in 8 innings)
Roger checks in for the losing team first:
KUDOS GO OUT TO……the entire team for not quitting, but players of note are the following….
*JAMES “THE ROCKET” SWAN who led off and got on all, but once and played a stellar outfield…..
*RAFI “MAN MOUNTAIN” GOLDFARB who played a stellar SS and got some key base knocks….
*DAVID “MR. POSITIVE” SOLOMON for playing well behind the plate and keeping the team in an upbeat mood…..
*JIM “PRICE GUIDE” BECKETT for a huge hit in extra innings…….(Brafman notes Price Guide Beckett is a great nickname. Well done, Roger)
QUOTES after the game……
CAPTAIN ROGER ROSENTHAL…..
“I wasn’t happy about the final score, but was happy about how we fought back the entire game and put ourselves in position to win.”
“I wish I could have a DH (designated hitter) the whole season for me. I stink at the plate.”
“I’m not one to argue with the umpire and blame him, but there was a horrible call that led to five runs. If I get fined, that’s ok. I’ll just have to.”
GARY FISHER…..
“Am I in or out?”……this is in referral to whether he was in the field or not.
And now from winning Capt. Micah Kamrass:
In a game that likely set a JCC Softball record for the oldest combined age of the two pitchers, Team Kamrass edged Team Rosenthal by 1 in a game that took an eighth inning to decide.
Eppy was in mid-season form. In addition to strong pitching, he hit well and even went first to third on the base paths.
The Tenenholtz men ate their Wheaties. Mark ripped one over the fence, and Rick had a big blast over the heads of the outfield.
Adam Heldman and Riley Able played a great outfield and had some key hitting at the top of the order.
Danny Gilbert returned to shortstop and made some great plays in the field and added some big hits.
Scott Raskin made his league debut with a few nice hits and a strong glove at third base, and Mark Levine returned after a long hiatus from the league and did some damage at the plate.
Eric Goldstein anchored the defense at first base.
Jason Esterkamp and Jared Kamrass were both missed and will make the team stronger next week.
“It’s nice to start the season in first place in the standings,” said Captain Micah Kamrass.
A tip of the cap goes to Team Rosenthal for making us really earn the win. Howie somehow continues to age better than Tom Brady does.
Field 3-Team Z vs. Team Weisser-Team Z won 10-0. Blog update pending
Field 4
Team Fogel took on Team Solomon. Fogel won 17-13
Team Fogel took the field in Week Three (one) eager to get in the win column in the managerial debut for the second Fogel captain in the family. The bats came alive early and stayed active often with strong showings from top to bottom through the lineup. Jamey had a strong showing on the mound and was backed by a robust defense from all positions. Through and through, it was an impressive showing from the Men in Navy Blue. A strong performance from Bob “The Professor” Feldman propelled the offense forward with a clinical showing of how to hit, driving in what seemed to be every run on a muggy April night. When Pat Feldman was asked if he was surprised by Bob’s performance, he had this to say.. “Not one bit. Bob taught me everything I know out in the backyard with a fungo bat and a tennis ball.”
Please send your thoughts to Andrew Gage who had to leave the field in the fifth inning yesterday after a bloody nose. Team Doc expects to have him back at full strength next week. It was a back-and-forth game between Fogel and Solomon with Fogel coming out on top by a score of 17-13. The Men in Navy Blue are hopeful to keep the bus moving next week.
Stat of the game:
· Jamey is halfway to his season-long pitching prop of 2 strikeouts, getting one in the season open
Stu Solomon had this to say post game:
A hard-fought game against a wonderfully coached team. There were a lot of positives and a few negatives for team Solomon.
We had several great defensive plays throughout the game. A nice diving catch by team captain and ” heart and soul” of the team, Stuart Solomon. A great diving stab to his right in RCF from Jeff Weisbrot. For those unaware, he was drafted in the 5th round because he is old and washed up. And finally, a great diving play to knock down a ball and make the out at first from Tyler Stansbury. Corey Norris had a great pitching performance, but there were too many errors to keep the game close.
On the offensive side of the ball, we have to start with Tyler. He hit a monster two-run homer to Left Center Field. Dan Green, our spiritual guru and the only mortgage broker I would ever use, had several hard hits. Corey Norris helped himself with two hits as well.
Rookie of the Year Watch: Ryan “the One Man Gang” Marcus had 3 hits and 3 RBI’s and handled 3rd base well. While he is a good player on the field, he is even better person off the field.
League notes:
As Ryan pointed out last week one of our guys is hurting this week. Zack “The Wild Horse” Zakem lost his dad last week to cancer. Zach has been on my team the last two years, and I got to know his dad a little when he would come and watch us play. A really nice guy who will be missed at Triple Creek. We are all thinking of you and your family, Zach
David “The Doctor of Style” Weil had a very interesting point on social media this week. The powers that be in Cincinnati who are in charge of restaurant week sure picked a great week for it. Out of all the weeks of the year they picked a week that has not only Passover, but also Ramadan in it. So, I’m sure the restaurants in Cincy are packed with people this week. Well done, city.
Congrats goes out to Pete “The Straw that Stirs the Drink” Soltesz on the birth of his daughter earlier this week. Congrats, Pete.
While he might be distracted from following the 4th or 5th best college football team in the country OSU full credit goes to David “Slim Shady” Wertheim for his continued great advice on things to do in Cincy on Doc’s TML blog each Wed. This weekend he suggests we go out to Moonbird to check out the band Doghouse or is it go to the Doghouse to check out the Band Moonbird? Either way, keep up the good work David.
While this has nothing whatsoever to do with David “D-Sol” Solomon, I’m mentioning it anyway. His sister Abby, who most of us know is the Director of Camp Livingston, took time out of her day on Sunday to walk around camp with me and my daughter Maya who, to put it mildly, wanted nothing to do with going to sleep away camp. That is until after she took the tour. Now she can’t wait for the summer and for camp. If your kid is on the fence about going away, talk to Abby and she will set them straight.
Please keep Rick Lefton and his wife Betsy in your thoughts and prayers. Betsy’s sister has been battling cancer for a year or more and is now entering hospice
My Reds update this week is they stink and this entire mess can be traced back to the end of the 2013 season. If you’d like to listen to me rail on them, find me next week. That said I’m super excited to see Hunter Green in person tomorrow night.
Finally, like Ryan mentioned I will be sharing stories about Ron Rose and Jason Faust all year. This week, Joel Fogel shared one of the funniest Faust stories this morning, and I was on the field as Jason was my pitcher when this happened. We were on field 4 a few years ago and Jason showed up exactly at 6:15 when our team was taking the field. He pulls up, gets out of his car with an extra large UDF milkshake and runs straight to the pitchers mound. He puts the shake on the ground, picks up the game ball and realizes he doesn’t have his glove. He picks up his shake, starts drinking it and yells to a few fans that were in the bleachers behind the backstop to get his glove. He tries to chuck his keys to them but they don’t clear the backstop. He then ran, picked up the keys and went to his car. He also safely secured his milkshake on the bench. In a nutshell, that’s Jason. He will be missed!
(in my memory of this story, he got out of the car with it still running but Joel’s version is right)
See everyone next week!