April 28 Recap
By Marc Brafman
Before we get started with the blog, I’d like to publicly state that I couldn’t have been more wrong about last night. Driving to the game in the rain, standing in the rain, bitching about the rain while we were at the fields, I thought there was ZERO chance we were playing. And I let everyone know it (including Rick) what a waste of time it was for us to be out there. But as I found out last night, when he’s not going around town being Handsome, Sam Castellini can read a weather report. As he informed me “I’m a lifeguard for a living and I know my way around the weather app.” From about 5:45 on he told us that the rain would stop at 6:15 and he was spot on. So, I will admit to being way off on the rain and I couldn’t be happier we played. Commish, sorry for being a loud pain in the ass.
Now onto the games
On field 1 we had Team Groh vs. Team Kamrass: Groh won 15-9
Eppy came out firing and Kamrass got the jump on Team Groh to lead 5-1 after 2 innings. In the 3rd, rookie Zach Michelson (3 hits and 2 runs) led off with a single and the hits just kept coming as Brodoff, Groh, Simons and Baum all drove in runs as Groh took a 6-5 lead which they never relinquished. Super sub, Mathew Brodoff, drove in two more runs with a triple in the 4th as Groh extended the lead to 9-5. Brodoff had 4 hits and drove in 7 runs in the game! Kamrass fought back as the score narrowed to 10-8 heading into the 7th inning but with one out consecutive hits by Anslinger, Beckett, Wasserman and Michelson broke open the game and both Fogels also crossed the plate as Team Groh built a 15-8 advantage. Kamrass was robbed by what captain Ken Groh called “one of the best catches I’ve ever seen made from the past (and future) defensive player of the year, Jeremy Fogel.” Missing was Jeff Weisbrot who tore a ligament in his knee and will miss a couple of months. Groh added, “Our permanent sub, Jack Cohen, tore a ligament in his foot and is also out for a while.” Coach was very happy to not get rained out!
On field 2 it was Team Solomon vs. Team Lefton. Lefton won 15-5
Team Lefton continued their strong start by defeating Team Solomon 15-5. Everyone contributed on offense. Chris Kunkel had two big hits driving in 4 runs. Team Lefton also flashed the leather with great plays from Scott Friend in LF, Brian Goldberg in RC and a game ending, diving stop by Dee Harris at SS. Game Ball was presented to Chris Kunkel for his hot bat and key hits. Also, the entire Lefton team tipped their cap to Stu for an amazing catch he had in the game.
On field three we had Team Schwartz vs. Team Grefer. Grefer won 9-5
Team Grefer defeated Team Schwartz 9-5 behind great pitching from Howard Schwartz and solid defense behind him. Wes Wolf had a triple and a home run. Tyler Wolf had 3 hits as well. Gary Grefer had 2 hits and threw out two runners attempting to steal second base. Sub, Dan Green, played a great game at third base.
Finally on Field 4 it was Brafman vs. Team Weisser. Brafman won 17-7
Behind the continued hot hitting of Ben “Raindance” Rosenberg (who went 4-4), Rabbit Yitz and Mark “Big Blue” Tenenholtz, Team Brafman poured it on early and late to defeat Weisser 17-7. Brafman jumped out to an early 5-0 lead with RBI hits coming from Jeff “Delino DeShields” Fink, a sac fly from “Macho Man” Andrew Gage, a huge bases clearing triple from Rabbi Yitz and an RBI single from Brafman. Always nice to get the bats going early to put the pressure on the other team Brafman said post game. Not to be overlooked in the hitting was some fine defensive plays by the Commish, Rick Tenenholtz, who fielded a spinning bunt and stepped on home to force out a run and by Eric “The fastest man in the league” Zeid who made a great over the shoulder catch at 2nd base and “Pretty Boy” Mitch Evans who made all the plays at 3rd. Sam “The Hit Man” Hecht, Zach “The Wild Horse” Zackem and Alan Lessure also contributed at the plate. The one play Brafman would like to point out is when Mark Tenenholtz airmailed the infield, the backstop, the tree behind the plate and the first row of cars with a throw from LC. Said Mark post game, “I honestly thought I was throwing that ball on a line and it just sort of slipped.” Not since The Mad Hungarian Jason Faust threw a pitch over the backstop has there been a throw like that. Team Brafman improves to 2-0.
JOSH “MR. CUB” ROSEN and STEVE “ZZZZZZ” ZAWATSKY continued their hot start to the season at both the plate and in the field…..
Z made a heads up play on the first batter in the opening frame, MITCHELL EVANS, when he backed up a bad throw to first base and gunned him out trying to advance to second base……Afterwards, the veteran catcher said, “I always back up plays at first base, but this is the first time that I’ve thrown someone out trying to advance. I bet the scouting report is now out, that I back-up bad throws.”
Also, of note, first round pick, DAVID “MR. ALL-WORLD” WERTHEIM, smacked a double, but missed first base by a country mile……..first base coach ROGER “MR. BOBBLEHEAD? ROSENTHAL noticed it, but didn’t say anything until the next pitch was thrown…..”I mentioned it to Marc (first basemen/captain MARC BRAFMAN) after the next pitch and he didn’t make a big deal out of it.”
The Bobblehead King added, “My point is, the first baseman should be checking to see if the runner tags the base or not. Marc was NOT doing his job.” (Brafman replies-the umps have enough trouble calling balls and strikes I am not worried about a missed first base)
League notes from Roger:
STEVE “MR. WINGMAN” EPPSTEIN had two guests in attendance as his son, DAVID, and his lovely wife, NIVEA, came in from DC to see if the elder EPPSTEIN still had it……the verdict is still out…….
**JIMMY LEFTON, the lawyer, and brother RICK LEFTON had it out in a discussion whether the presidential election should be decided by electoral votes or popular votes…..who do you think won that one?
Staying with sports……congrats go out to the XAVIER women’s golf, tennis and swimming teams for capturing the BIG EAST titles…..way to go LADY MUSKETEERS!!!!!…..and I don’t care who gives a damn!
Brafman league notes:
A HUGE congrats to Tyler Wolf and Urban Blooms for being a big part of the Bengals’ jersey release hype video. If you’ve seen it, Joe Burrow and the boys are sitting in front of a big wall of plants and T was the one that set that up. Congrats, buddy. (One Bengals or NFL note) Does anyone REALLY CARE that much about the draft to sit in front of the TV from 8 till midnight tonight? Do you care who the Packers take or the Seahawks? I get it if you’re a Bengals fan like me you want to see if they go with Chase or the guy from Oregon, but can’t I read about this tomorrow and it will be the same as wasting all this time watching it tonight? Is Trevor Lawrence going to suit up tomorrow for the Jags? I have never understood why the draft is such a big deal.
Keeping it in the Wolf family, I am jealous of Brandon Wolf, who actually got to see a live concert at Red Rocks last week. Let’s hope we can get out to Riverbend this summer.
One more music note…earlier this week was the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead Playing a show at the Fillmore East with the Beach Boys. No word on if Uncle Jessie was playing the congas with the Beach Boys.
Keep the Leftons in your thoughts as Rick’s sister-in-law, Sarah, who a number of us know is battling cancer. She is a real warrior.
In a couple of weeks, both Corey “I see your Schwartz is as big as mine” and “Pretty Boy” Mitch Evans will be moving away for new jobs. Good luck guys. We’ll miss ya.
From this point forward we are now required to refer to Mike Rothstein as “The Special One.”
Eric Zied would like to mention that the Jewish Committee on Scouting will be marketing veterans’ graves at Covedale Cemeteries at 10 am on May 16. If you want to help, see him on Wednesday at the field.
Kudos for Gary Grefer for staying in shape in the offseason by playing winter ball down in the Mexican league. He was one of the few guys that Jose De Leon struck out, which the Reds TV guys keep bringing up as proof that he can pitch.
If you or your family are looking for the best Jewish baked goods in town, make sure you check out the website for Sweet Butter Bakery. Order your Friday night dinner pastries now!
Finally what blog post would be complete without this week in the Rogerland. Twice he asked me if I had an extra Wyoming Cowboy hat. When I said I could check the team store, he said, “No, I’m only interested in game used ones.”
See ya on the field next week. Let’s hope for no rain.
Marc