Boy, when Ryan calls up Mother Nature and says give us some summer weather, I’m not sure he meant last night. On what might have been one of the hottest Wednesday nights in recent seasons the action on the field was just as hot as the temp outside. (At least the little thunder we heard pre-game didn’t amount to anything)
On Field 1 it was Team Harris vs. Team Kamrass
Roger for the winners
TEAM HARRIS 6
TEAM KAMRASS 5
In a nailbiter, TEAM HARRIS tallied two runs in the top of the 7th inning and held on by the skinniest of margins in the bottom of the inning.
MARK WEISSER pitched another gem of a game and was the hitting star too. He got a two-out two-run double in the telling inning and then escaped a two-on no-out situation in the bottom of the frame, thanks in large part to a nice play on a bunt attempt when he fielded the ball and threw the lead runner out at third base on a bang bang play.
The following hitter hit a line shot to 3B RYAN MARCUS who couldn’t/didn’t catch it, stepped on third base and completed the game ending play.
Quotes from the two participants…..
“I might be an old man out there, but I take great pride in fielding my position and coming up with clutch hits,” WEISSER said afterwards. “It got a little sticky at the end, but we hung in there and got a nice win out of it.”
MARCUS, with his small band of fans in attendance said, “All I know is I did what had to be done and only the higher up knows if I couldn’t catch it or didn’t catch it. All I know is we got the victory after battling the whole game.”
Captain GRIFF HARRIS, who went 0-3 with three line drive outs said, “I can’t buy a hit. I must start eating lunch at a different place each week until the balls start dropping in.”
The rookie captain added, “That was a big win for our guys. I tip my cap to Micah and his team for really battling the whole way. It was tough to lose a game like that.”
Kudos also go out to……STU WEINSTEIN who got a key double to help in the scoring and PAT FELDMAN who delivered a key hit at the end of the game and eventually scored the winning run.
It should be noted that FELDMAN tasted victory for the first time this season. He hadn’t played in any of the previous four wins. “I finally won a game and the jinx is over. I started to think I should have bought a voodoo doll to ward off the evil spirits,” FELDMAN said afterwards.
Also, ROGER ROSENTHAL chipped in with a big RBI, however he was gunned down at 1B on a “hit” to the outfield.
“I was never very fast in my younger years, but that was pretty bad. We won the game and that’s all that counts, ” he said while trying to get ADAM HELDMAN to buy a GIANNIS bobblehead……
Also of note, EVAN WEISSER made a great catch on a foul ball that would have made JOHNNY BENCH proud……are there players who don’t know who he was?
DEE HARRIS also played an all around good game playing 2B and RF and getting on base a couple of times……
TIDBITS….
*WES WOLF has a new job with the CINCINNATI BENGALS, similar to MARC BRAFMAN’S at the University of Cincinnati, in which he can’t bet on sports, not even in the JCC league…..
He was running his mouth before the games saying that his team would win the tournament and when I confronted him and said that I’d take the field even up, he said he couldn’t bet…….You need to ask him for further details…..
**It was nice to see JACOB BRAFMAN, the league mascot, back from whatever vacation he was on……rumor has it that he and his family were at a water polo championship in the Netherlands, but don’t quote me on that…
Speaking of Jacob, I asked father MARC if Jacob was able to play for his team if that would be an upgrade to some of his team and he said, “NO COMMENT?”……hmmmmmmm….
Also, it should be noted that JACOB’S grandparents, MARC’S parents, told a reliable source that Jacob is ready for the league…..can we have a new rule allowing pre-teens to play if ready???????
***It should be noted that BOSTONIANS COREY NORRIS and MIKE ROTHSTEIN were asked to be honorary parade routers for the city of Boston when they celebrate their most recent title…….
and finally,
****For those who aren’t following the best sport on the planet…..HOCKEY, the STANLEY CUP is now 3-2 in favor of the FLORIDA PANTHERS over the EDMONTON OILERS and yes, WAYNE GRETZKY has retired…….
Until next time…..be safe and take care and of course…..GO X!!!!!!
On Field two we had Team Wagner vs. Team Brafman
Brad for the winners:
Team Wagner run-ruled Team Brafman 17-6 on a steamy Wednesday night. The game was tight, with Brafman taking an early 2-0 lead. Wagner came back to take a 5-2 lead only to have Brafman tie it up 5-5. After Wagner went up 8-5, they added a 9 spot in the bottom of the 4th to put the game away.
The hitting stars were plentiful for the victors, as everyone contributed with home runs from Corey Norris, Michael Askin, and Brad Wagner, who returned from injury and three weeks of rehab stints in Billings, Daytona, Chattanooga, and Sharonville. The birthday boy, Mike Margolis, also provided a big hit to celebrate his 58th. Rumor has it he wanted to go to Chi-Chi’s to celebrate, but their phone line wasn’t working. Defensively, Matt Leader and Michael Askin held down the left side of the outfield with multiple putouts. Super-sub Joel “The Leopard” Buckley was flawless at SS and ended the game with a circus-type catch that took him into LCF.
Team Wagner takes on Team Wolf on Sunday with Tanny Boyle and Kelly Leak on the call.
Team Brafman takes on Team Tenenholtz on Sunday with Bip Roberts and Jacob Brumfield on the call.
For Team Brafman, Jamey Drennan hit two homers and Harry “hood” Meisner also went deep. Team Brafman looks to turn it around on Sunday.
On Field 3 it was Team Tenenholtz vs. Team Grefer
Mike “The Special One” Rothstein for the winners
The final score was 17-7 but it was closer than that. Team Rick found their bats and everyone contributed. There were solid defensive plays all around from Bryce Anslinger, Rabbi Yitz, “The other” Brian Goldberg and Jeremy “Sitting on the” Dock of the Bay all made big plays. Fink filled in and pitched well for Howie and Joel “Sparky” Fogel also contributed as a sub. Will “the Thrill” Coleman hit a homer for Grefer which may or may not have been a grand slam.
Finally on Field 4, Team Stu vs. Team Wes
Stu for the winners:
It has come to the attention of this author that Team Solomon has beaten Team Wolf 17-7 in 6 innings in the last game of the 1st half of the 2024 social season.
Even before the game, both teams were in scramble mode to field a team. Team Solomon received late news that Ken “And Barbie” Groh was not going to make the game due to an unforeseen private jet mishap. Team Wolf had to scramble to find 10 guys with 2 players missing and Steve Z on suspension. But back to the game.
This author must compliment himself. Forced into the starting pitching role. He struck out both Tyler and Wes Wolf in critical junctures of the game. This author also had a double play and a nice sliding grab in foul ground. Two other great defensive plays throughout the game. One by AJ “Heart of” Goldhoff making a diving stab of a ground ball down the 3B line and a strong throw to 1st. Then in the top of 6, Team Solomon had the very common 9-6-3 double play to keep the 9-run lead. Some people are asking if there is a starting pitching controversy with Team Solomon.
This game may have had one of my favorite moves of all-time. Team Wolf loves putting their shortstop at 2nd with lefties at the plate. Gary “Reel Big” Fisher laughed in the face of Team Wolf and switched from batting left handed to bat right handed. He laced an RBI single to the left of the new shortstop.
Huge hits were abound. David “Hasselhoff” Wertheim fought through the mental block of batting 3rd to go 4-4 with 2 of those hits with the bases loaded. Zach “Rock’em Zakem Robots” went 3-3 scoring twice. Brandon Lindsey “Lohan” had a huge triple in the 8-run 5th. Needing one run in the bottom of the 6th, Ryan “All The Small Things” Small launched a triple to left field followed by David “Past Temple President and Author” Snyder single to seal the game.
After the game Stuart had this to say, “This was a well called game featuring a lot of close plays. We didn’t run ourselves out of innings and played good defense.”
League notes
Birthdays galore this past week:
Mike Margolis, Scott “Hngry Like a” Wolf, Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley former player Mike “The Wrath of” Kahan and I had a birthday as well.
Happy anniversary to Rick, Jimmy, and Weezie’s parents, the elder Leftons. They produced about 200 years of JCC softball playing years combined
Good luck to Matt “The” Miller on his new job with Pro Camps. I will miss texting him when UC players are getting parking tickets
Somehow Bryce has gotten to play the skyline shuffle game twice this year. Last Wednesday it was his son up on the big board winning his row coneys.
David “Slim Shady” Wertheim continues his summer momentum by being on local news shows every week to promote the latest festival that Cold Iron Rentals is working. Keep up the good work, David.
Is there a bigger non-story in sports than Caitlin Clark being left off the Olympic team? There are 12 better women players than her right now. How is that so hard for people to understand?
Did you all see the video of how they built a pool inside the Lucas Oil stadium for the swimming trials? Very cool to see and somehow it seems to be working.
Remember that even though it’s a Wednesday night, Jewish night at the FCC Game is coming up. If your family wants to go, it’s a good time. And the way they are playing it should be a great night. Last night even if you don’t care about FCC the way they won was like a walk-off homer from Elly. Speaking of the Reds I’m going to let Paul Doc explain in way better detail how I feel about the Reds and more importantly their front office. Taken from his blog today:
The more I read what the Reds say about themselves and the season they’re having, the more I think they’re OK with their OK-ness. It’s the sort of willful delusion-ing that wears on a fan who experiences more losing than winning and has experienced it for three decades.
I’m sure players and management don’t mean to sound self-satisfied. Every self-laud comes with the obligatory, empty and obvious “we gotta do better.’’
Only, they aren’t doing better. No matter what they say.
“I thought we played really well on this trip, but we didn’t come away with as many wins as we wanted to,” pitcher Nick Martinez said, after allowing the game-winning homer in the 8th inning at Pittsburgh Wednesday. That L dumped the Club into last place, where it has been for a total of 19 days since May 17.
Oh, bullspit.
Martinez’ tiresome assessment sounds sane compared with the pronouncements of Nick Krall, published today in the Enquirer:
“I’m excited about what we’ve done and what we’ve set out to do. Build a sustainable winning organization. I feel like we’ve made good progress.’’
On April 24, the Reds were 14-10. They’re 21-29 since.
“Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez have done really well in their roles.’’
Montas is 3-5/4.62. The Reds are 4-9 in games he has started.
As a starting pitcher, Nick Martinez is 0-3/7.86. Teams have hit .348 against him in that role. Yes, he has done well as a reliever, especially in the role as Designated 2nd Guy Outta The Bullpen on Bullpen Days. Every championship aspirant simply must have one of those guys.
“I’m really excited about where we are.’’
Last place.
“We’ve got to continue to move forward.’’
So do ants at a picnic. What does that mean, exactly?
Such crapola.
I don’t think Krall is deliberately insulting your intelligence. He’s saying what he must. The result is the same, though. Krall-speak is a practiced mix of mandatory public confidence and requisite cover-your-assness. Gobbledy meets gook in the office at Great American Small Park.
Maybe Nick’s right. Perhaps three months from now, I’ll need a fork and spoon for my words. That’d be cool, or at least different. But I’m not a mind reader and the Ouija board is in the shop. If I could predict the future, I’d be in a sports book in Las Vegas, not in an office in my house.
We react to what is real, and what is real is the sustained and practiced history of bad. Since 2014, the Reds are 172 games under .500. They’ve had two winning seasons, 83-79 in ‘21 and 82-80 last year. (Sorry, I don’t count the 31-29 bastard season of 2020. The Little 60 was fraudulent, any way you sliced it.)
Finally as you know by now Willie Mays died the other night. While I am too young to have watched him here are a couple of my favorite stats:
He is the only player in baseball history to have hit a homer in every inning from the 1st all the way through the 16th. His homer in that 16-inning game came against Warren Spahn who was battling Juan Marichal in that game. Keep in mind both pitchers were still in the game at the time. Crazy
Mays is one of three players along with Hank Aaron and Ted Williams to hit 20 home runs for the same team in his 20’s and 40’s.
His average WAR was 9.5 for 13 years! He is also the only player to win four home run titles and 4 stolen base titles. and finally he had seasons where he led the league at some point in the following: hits, runs, homers, triples, stolen bases, average, obp, slugging, total bases and walks.
I’d say he was the best of all time. Now for next week we can discuss who is now the greatest living player. For my money, it’s Glenn Braggs…
See ya Sunday