July 29 Recap
By Marc Brafman
It was a full night of softball for only the second time all season last night, and what an eventful night we all had.
On field one, Team Weisser defeated Team Schwartz 14-4. With the score knotted at 2-2, Team Weisser exploded for 9 runs in the 5th to put the game away. The usual suspects of David Wertheim and Griff “Benedict Arnold” Harris had big hits, but the big blow came from an unlikely source as Ben Margolis had a bases clearing double. Meanwhile, the crafty vet Mark “Eddie Harris” Weisser kept team Schwartz off balance all night with his usual combination of suntan lotion, WD40 and Burt’s Bee’s lip gloss making the ball dance all night. “Our team motto is whatever it takes to win we are going to do,” Weisser said last night as he nearly slipped off the bench post game. “We play to win…”
On Field 3, making their return to the league Team Anton beat Team Lefton 15-10 to remain undefeated. The key hit in the game came after Jimmy intentionally walked Loon to load the bases for Matt Brodof who promptly cleared them with a double to deep left. Team Loon kept trying to pull away but Lefton kept pecking away at the lead. Mark Tenenholtz hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of 6 to provide some breathing room, and Jamey shut the door in the 7th to secure the W. “It was great to be back out there,” Anton said. “I’m happy to report that I’m healthy (as is my family) and I look forward to driving our team to the first-half title.”
Finally, on Field 4 Team Brafman defeated Team Groh 18-8. As has been their MO all season, this was a total team effort from Team Brafman, which had all 12 guys get at least one hit. The big blows came from the Wolf Pack as Weston “Hungry Like a” Wolf, Duffy “Howl at the Wolf(pack)”, and Scott “Dire” Wolf all came through with big hits. None though were as big as Tyler “Big Bad” Wolf who had a 3-run homer to break the game open in the top of the 7th. Not to be overlooked, Brandon “The Bird” Wolf pitched a very good game and most impressively kept Tyler “Bryce Harper” Stansbury from doing his normal thing at the plate. While I love the thunder at the plate that the Wolf’s bring each game I’d be remiss not to mention a couple of other guys that contributed last night. Andy “Snow Boots” Heldman dropped down a perfect bunt single to drive in a run, Sam “The Hitman” Hecht had two RBI’s by simply putting the ball in play and Zach “The Wild Horse” Zakem also had 3 hits. “Those plays are just as important as the hits,” Brafman said. Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley continues his sterling play at 3rd base for Team Brafman and is making a strong case for the Gold Glove.
League notes:
Like all college students that have been forced to live at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, none are as ready to move out as Griff. First, he trades in his Bearcats black and red for the Scarlet and Grey of OSU, but he told me last week he is ready to move out. “Sure it’s nice to have all of my meals provided for me, my laundry done, my car gassed up, free TV with all of the channels paid for and a clean bathroom, but come on! I’m moving in with a couple of guys who have a futon and I’m told ramen noodles are really good 6 days a week…”
A tip of the JCC ball cap to Scott “You’ve Got a” Friend in Me who saved his family and house from potential disaster when he smelled out a fire that had started outside his house a couple of weeks ago. Everyone is fine and the house is still standing. Way to go Scott.
Editor’s note… a couple of weeks ago I incorrectly referred to Drew “Kung Fu” Brown as Drew Hayes. Sorry about that slight Drew.
Brandon Wolf is leading his best life by knowing guys with boats. If you want to watch some solid boat videos, I suggest you check out Brandon’s Facebook page.
“Handsome” Sam Castellini is one of the few non-Jewish guys in the league (it’s amazing we let him hang around with us). This week he is going to get a full dose of what we all live with when the brigade of Jewish moms (full disclosure…it will be led by my wife) bombard his inbox at the JCC with requests to keep the outdoor pool open a couple of weeks later than normal. Sam, take it from us…good luck with that…
Jacob Stadiem, orthodontist to the stars, recently posted a picture on his page with JCC softball legends Stu Solomon and Michael Kahan bragging about his work on their teeth. Of course, because of COVID we will have to take his word for it since all 3 of them were wearing masks. Although let’s be honest, any cosmetic work on Stu would be an improvement.
Speaking of Stu, in this week’s Catching Up With I’ll let Stu himself explain what he’s been doing this spring/summer without softball:
This spring/summer has been interesting. On April 4th, my daughter, Anna Elizabeth was born. This was in the early stages of the pandemic and it was just eerie. I had been at home, alone, self-quarantining due to working in the healthcare field in anticipation of her birth. After she was born, I took off a week of work to be with everyone. Once I had to go back to work, we felt it was safest for me to live at my parents’ house for the foreseeable future. I spent 7 weeks at my parents only seeing my family on our porch. It was not the most ideal situation but a few days after I moved home, there was a positive case at work. Luckily, I hadn’t unpacked completely and left to stay at an Air BNB until we got our negative results.
Since that point, we have been free and clear. I am at home with my family. My daughter, who is almost 4 months, sleeps pretty well through the night. Instead of softball for my social and physical outlet, I have been playing more golf. The rest of the summer will be spent watching sports start, then stop, then start again.
Thanks for sharing Stu glad everyone is healthy and safe
And finally, in this week’s What has Roger learned this week since he’s not playing softball: The only two countries in the World where you can’t buy a Coke are Cuba and North Korea due to the US trade embargo. Interestingly, Roger does report that you can buy bobbleheads of both Castro and his brother Raul, and Kim Jong-Un would be happy to sell you one in or out of the box.
Stay safe everyone. See ya on the field next week!