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