June 8 Recap
By Marc Brafman
Mother nature looked like she once again was going to be against us last night but at the last moment she said, “Nah, let’s see how the guys do.” (it should be noted that unlike last week when astute meteorologist Alan Lessure told Jacob and me that the rain would pass quickly because “it was too cool to rain,” he was right about last night).
In a weird twist last night, every double header was a sweep
Over on field one it was Team Weisser vs. Team Groh
Roger files his team’s reports:
GAME ONE…..
TEAM WEISSER……10
TEAM GROH…………9
summary…..
In a thrilling ending, TEAM WEISSER, trailed 9-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning and the bottom of the order was up……things didn’t look good.
LARRY ‘THE DOC” NEWMAN started things off with a single and after the dust had cleared, they scored seven runs with key hits up and down the order including the game winner off the bat of EVAN “CAPTAIN’S SON” WEISSER….
“I had all the confidence in the world that I was going to come through in the clutch. Growing up, I always saw my father (MARK WEISSER) come up with big hits and I didn’t want to let him down,” Evan said afterwards.
“I also knew that if I didn’t come up and end the game, my father would have had to go at least one more inning in the heat and I don’t think I would have gotten my allowance for the week.”
After the winning hit, the team BIG mouth, ROGER ROSENTHAL came up to the younger WEISSER and said “I love you. I love you. That was a huge hit! I love you. I love you.”…..weird!
*In summary, the team never quit despite being down the whole game and having to come back against all odds against a pretty damn good pitcher in KEN GROH.
GAME TWO…..
TEAM WEISSER…..10
TEAM GROH………..8
summary……
In the nightcap, the victors from game one, were trying to avoid a mental letdown and fell behind early, but came back with vengeance to take a commanding 10-3 lead going into the latter innings, but things got a bit testy as TEAM GROH mounted a rally to pull within two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, only to fall short.
Again, it was a team effort with DAVID “I AM THE MAN” WERTHEIM playing on a bum leg making some dazzling plays at shortstop and STEVE “ZZZZZ” ZAWATSKY coming up with a huge two out, two run hit….
It should be noted that two players, WERTHEIM and ROSENTHAL, resembled a MASH unit at the end as both were playing injured and doing their best.
Afterwards, they were both able to leave the field on their own power, but their status is questionable for next week.
WERTHEIM, the recent Ohio State graduate, will probably be ready to go. As for ROSENTHAL, he had to forgo STEVE EPPSTEIN’s chicken wings after the game, to go home and ice his knee while watching the TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING clinch their second consecutive STANLEY CUP. Yeah, I know…it’s hockey!
On Field two it was Team Brafman beating Team Schwartz in both games (Team Capt. Brafman can’t remember the score in either game but does know his team won)
In the first game the offense started slowly but came around late as Mark “Big Blue” Tenenholtz hit a two-run homer over the fence. Pat “Sunshine” Feldman had 3 hits and Fink also contributed a couple of solid knocks. Rick “The Commish” Tenenholtz also legged out a few infield singles all the while bemoaning his lack speed. The game was delayed for a few minutes as Zach “The Wildhorse” Zakem broke 2nd base when he slid into it on a slide. We did get the answer of how many Jewish guys does it take to fix a base out of it, though. On defense, Rabbi Yitz made every play in LF, Zakem made a very nice catch at 2nd and Capt. Brafman while not being able to dig a throw out of the dirt made 4 catches at first. “I was proud of our hustle and team spirit,” Brafman said post game. “We got our butts kicked two weeks ago and this was a nice bounce back game.”
In the nightcap, Team Brafman started off where they left off on both sides of the ball. Ben “Raindance” Rosenberg, The Macho Man Andrew Gage, Rabbi Yitz and Eric “The fastest man in the league” Zied all had big knocks to go along with Fink, Feldman and the Commish who continued his hot hitting. On defense, Zied made 3 straight putouts in his one inning on the mound and the “Hitman” Sam Hecht made a very nice catch in RF to close out the game. Not to be overlooked is the bench coaching of Alan Lessure, who helped a couple of guys (including me) with some helpful tips on hitting Jamie. “I might not be Mark or Fink on the field but I can help the team in other ways.” Rabbi Yitz got the combined game ball for his outstanding fielding in LF and his hitting and baserunning. We missed ya, Yitzy! If Capt. Brafman’s Alabama math is correct, Team Brafman goes for the 1st half title in two weeks vs. Team Loon.
Over on Field 3 it was Team Solomon vs. Team Loon
Stu checks in for the winners.
Game 1: Score 13-11 Solomon Game 2: 7-6 Solomon
We welcomed back Phil (Lesh) Ganson to the team after several weeks off recovering from gallbladder surgery. He impressed his new teammates by going 5-6 between the two games.
In game one, every player on the team had at least one hit, highlighted by Tyler Stansbury’s 3-run home run (over the fence). Another great pitching performance by Dr. Mike Gray. He had a 4-pitch 1st inning which was the fastest half inning I have been a part of. Evan Gildenblatt had a very nice play in RF. The game was not as close as the score indicates. Loon scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning from a failed diving attempt by the captain.
Game two was a real nail biter. Team Solomon had a few defensive miscues, allowing 4 runs in the first. After the first inning, our defense tightened up and only allowed 2 more runs in the remaining 4 innings. Defensively, it was the Dan Gilbert and Michael Askin show recording several critical outs throughout the game. We scratched our way back into the game scoring two in the first and two in the third. Down two in the fifth, Evan Gildenblatt started us off with a leadoff triple over the LF head. Next up, Askin hit a sharp double scoring Evan, I hit a seeing-eye single between 3rd and SS to score Askin and tie the game. Stansbury came up to the plate and smoked a triple off the wall in right, scoring me from 1st.
Finally on Field 4, the hottest JCC team in years was back at it as Team Kamrass beat Team Lefton.
Micah checks in for the winners:
Team Kamrass extended its winning streak to five in a row with a sweep of the double header against Team Lefton. The dynamic duo on the mound of Eppy and Kombrink continued to pound the strike zone, and the defense was top notch. David Solomon had two web gems (one at catcher and one at first base) and also crushed a triple over Griffin’s head. He hit the ball so hard that Team Lefton decided to intentionally walk him the next at bat to load the bases for Jared Kamrass, who made them pay with a big hit.
Making his season debut, Mike Creemer also had a web gem when he laid out to successfully make a tag at first base. Captain Micah Kamrass also had a nice over the shoulder catch to rob Scott Friend of extra bases.
“Everyone hit, the pitching was great, and the defense was lights out,” said Micah Kamrass. “After a slow start, the talking heads began to count us out, but we believed in ourselves. Now we are in first place in the second half standings.”
A tip of the cap to opposing Captain and pitcher, Jimmy Lefton, who hit two home runs over the fence. They were absolute rockets.
League Notes:
Two weeks ago, I mentioned the very cool story about Griff Harris designing cleats that Tejay Antone was going to wear in a game. Well, before he went back on the DL, not only did he wear them in a game but Griff and his grandfather got a shout out during the TV broadcast. Well done, Griff.
It’s not often that you can say congrats before the birth of a kid, but on Monday Ben “Raindance” Rosenberg’s wife is getting a planned c-section. It’s kid #3 for Ben and this one is a future JCC softball player as it’s a boy. Congrats, Ben.
A tip of the cap to Ryan Hi-Ho Silverman for this story. For those of you who have been to Chicago there is a hot dog stand in Lincoln Park called The Wiener Circle. It is known as a great late-night place to go eat when you’ve had a few too many. One of the house specials is their chocolate shakes (which is basically the big black ladies behind the counter flash you while you wait for your food). Because we are a PG blog here I can’t show you an example of it but here is what it looks like from the side of the counter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSZR5ezDjsY. The point of this story is that Ryan got a mutual friend of ours to order a chocolate shake and she had no idea what she was about to see. Well done, Ryan.
I need your help, sports dads. If you don’t mind…if your son or daughter plays sports…any sports…and are in elementary or middle school, please e-mail the name of the league they are in, and the coach or league director’s name. mbrafman14@gmail.com. I want to get them involved with our future Bearcats program this year at UC. Thank you.
Sam “The Hitman” Hecht will be happy to deliver the best Jewish Baked goods in the city to the field for you each Wed. Visit sweetbutterbakerycincy.com and place your order.
For you music fans out there I highly suggest you check out the movie called Summer of Soul which is in theaters right now. A very cool look back at “Black Woodstock” which took place in Harlem in 1969. Man, to have been alive to see Sly and the Family Stone in their prime….
Congratulations go out to proud papa, SCOTT WOLF and his son, FREDDIE, a former softball star in his own right, as he announced he’s getting married to a UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN girl…..doesn’t get much better than that….well maybe if she was a XAVIER girl…..
Roger ads a couple of notes:
How about this?…….HOWARD WASSERMAN told me last week that three in his high school graduating class have been mayors of Indianapolis……
Finally, GRIFFIN HARRIS was seen trading a Cincinnati Reds bobblehead to ROSENTHAL before the game. What did he get in return? An autographed picture of former Reds second baseman, BRANDON PHILLIPS. Good deal?
And a final finally, I wonder if DAVID WEIL thinks DAVID BELL still stinks as a manager? The Reds are playing pretty damn well, eh? (I will be happy to answer this question for ya Roger) No manager worth his salt pitches to the other team’s best hitter with a base open like Bell did on Tuesday night. Also, and I know he (bell) can’t pick his players, but he sure can tell the front office not to get them. As long as Cionel Perez is on the roster, the Reds are not serious about winning and Bell, by putting him in, isn’t serious about keeping his job. Other than that, he is doing a nice job.
Speaking of the Reds…
As we get to the All Star Break, it got me thinking about which guys in our league could help the current Reds with some advice for the 2nd half of the season.
For example, Howie can teach the majority of the Reds bullpen how to throw strikes since when they enter they can’t seem to find the strike zone.
Ronnie Rose can teach Tucker Barnhart how it is to catch really fast pitchers like he is going to do when Hunter Green makes the show. If Ron can catch Howie all those years, he could for sure teach Tucker a thing or two.
Before he cut his hair, Pat Feldman could show Jonathan India about proper baseball hair management.
B-Rod could sit down all of the Reds Latino players and explain the countries immigration policy to them.
Mike Rothstein, who I’ve been told thinks he can teach anyone to hit in 2 short lessons, needs to get his butt down to GABP and work with Geno who can’t hit or field at all this year.
In a switching roles Nick Castellanos can teach Pete “The anti-Charlie Hustle” Soltesz how important it is to run out balls put in play.
Jeremy “Hamilton” Fogel will be happy to teach Shogo how to trot around the bases once Shogo hits his first homer.
This is a new one, but what wasn’t reported about Sonny Gray stripping off all his clothes after the 4th inning of his start yesterday and putting on a fresh uniform to “start fresh” was that he got that idea from Fink who does it each week in the bathroom at Triple Creek.
Eppy and Keith both can continue to tutor Wade Miley on the art of making guys look bad at pitches that couldn’t break glass.
While he hasn’t done it as much this year, Zach Mayer should teach Votto how to argue with umps without getting thrown out.
Scott Wolf, the all-time JCC steals leader really and I mean REALLY needs to work with Jessie Winker, who might be the worst base runner I’ve ever seen, and that is hard to do since Joey Votto has been on the Reds for 10+ years.
Taylor Schwartz needs to get on the phone and talk to Nick “Mr. Tin” Senzel about what it’s like to be the #1 pick and best player on the team when Senzel gets off the DL in 2-3 more years. (From one #1 to another, right Taylor?)
Proving last night that he is no easy out Jimmy Lefton can continue to work with Joey Votto on his launch angle and make sure he is driving the ball like he has been.
David Weil and Billy Kahn should take over the role of Nick Krall since they both would do a better job of constructing this team than he did.
Ben Rosenberg should talk to Vald Gutierrez about tattoos and why it’s never a good idea to get one on your neck.
Tyler Stansbury could certainly teach the Punisher that there is more to baseball than just hitting homers.
Have a nice week, everyone.
See ya on the field next week!