Author: The Commissioner

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Game Results: September 30, 2020

Note from the Commissioner’s Office
By Rick Tenenholtz

We have come to a completion of the regular season and tournament in an unprecedented year for JCC Softball.  I want to thank everyone involved for their cooperation.  You will see below that I have a lot more to say about this year, but I want to give a special thank you to Marc Brafman.  Since Roger Rosenthal’s retirement from journalism and decision to focus on the used bobblehead market, Marc has taken on the role of coordinating the blog and he has done a fantastic job.  We all know that his posts take a lot of time to write, but he gets them done every week without fail.  I hear about the blog from a lot of people, so I know that he is entertaining many of you.  His efforts have contributed greatly to the engagement of everyone in the league and we all owe him a big thanks. Thanks for everything, Marc and PLEASE keep it up!


September 27 Recap
By Marc Brafman

On a picture-perfect Sunday morning, the final day of the 2020 softball season took place at Triple Creek Park. While this is one year to remember, let’s all take a second to once again say thanks to Rick, Mike, and the rest of the JCC staff (plus the umps and the staff at Triple Creek). We knew this was going to be a challenging year and we all met it head on with limited interruptions and problems. Thanks to all of the guys that played this year. Can’t wait till next season…

Now onto the games:
It was a final 4 that no one saw coming…
on Field 2 it was Schwartz vs. Brafman and on Field 4 it was Weisser vs. Loon:

Take it away Taylor:

Game 1:

Team Schwartz took on Team Brafman in the semifinals and jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the 1st before surrendering 9 runs due to some shaky defense. Schwartz continued their offensive output over the next few innings regaining the lead and extending it to 17-9. The offense was led by the Schwartz brothers, sub Ryan Baum, Eric Goldstein, and more. In the bottom of the 4th, Brafman rallied, led by a mammoth home run by Sam Hecht, cutting the score to 17-16. Brafman made the pitching change from Scott Wolf to Tyler Wolf, but the Schwartz offense couldn’t be slowed. Randy Broyles helped his cause with a big two-run double, adding a bit of cushion. Taking a 24-18 lead to the bottom of the 7th, Randy shut it down and the game ended with a catch by sub Steve Zawatsky against the fence in foul territory. Team Schwartz completed the 3-game season sweep of Team Brafman and went from last place in the regular season to advancing to the championship. Those with Schwartz to win it all future tickets at 25-1 were ecstatic and debating whether to hedge or ride the hottest team in the league.

Brafman would like to add the following: We had a great season and I really enjoyed coaching my guys. From the Wolf family, to cagey vets like Andy Heldman and Mike Creemer and the Natural Jeff Weisbrot to younger players like Zach Zakem and my two rookies Sam “The Hitman” Hecht and Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley.  We had a great time playing each week. We gave it our all every game which, as a captain, is all I can ask for. Thanks, guys for a great season. Can’t wait for next year. 

Weisser vs. Loon recap:

All we know is that Weisser laid the wood to the imposing Loon team winning 18-4. When asked for a comment post game, Rick Tenenholtz said, “We hit the ball hard but right at them and they hit the ball all over the place.” We just couldn’t keep up. 
 
Game 2: The Finals Team Schwartz vs. Team Weisser:

Team Weisser finished their game while Team Schwartz was still in the 4th inning. After an hour plus of sitting around, Team Weisser had tight legs. However, they jumped out to a 3-1 lead behind a lazy bloop double by “LVP” Griffin Harris, and an inside the park homer by David “Eminem” Wertheim. Mark Weisser had team Schwartz on their toes early, but Todd Wasserman started a big inning when he ran out an infield single. Big hits then came by the Schwartz brothers, Adam Cronstein, Harry Meisner, and more. Schwartz took a 7-3 lead. It didn’t last long as Team Weisser fought back plating 5 runs to retake the lead and go up 8-7. They later pushed the lead to 11-7 behind key hits from Brad Wagner, Scott Friend, and Dee Harris. Weisser had control until the top of 6 when David Solomon blasted a deep triple that landed right before the fence. The rest of the lineup followed David up with hits (except for the captain when he grounded out to the pitcher with bases loaded) but the team had his back and they scored 6 runs to take a 16-11 lead. Harry Meisner had a clutch catch in the outfield as he caught it while back tracking and falling to the ground and the top of Team Weisser’s lineup was held to two runs. Adam Cronstein hit a 2-out triple in the top of 7 and later scored, extending the Schwartz lead to 17-13. Evan Weisser hit a 2-out triple as well in the bottom of 7 and Weisser was one batter from flipping it back to the top of the order to put a real scare into Team Schwartz, but Randy Broyles got a big final out to end the game and complete an unforeseen, astonishing championship run. After the game, Team Schwartz popped champagne and dedicated the game to injured most improved player of the year nominee Ben Rodriguez. In a post-game interview, captain Taylor Schwartz said, “In my first two years as captain, my team came in last place in the regular season both times, so winning this COVID Championship is extra sweet. Tanking does work after all.” Now if you will excuse me, I have to hop on my hourly zoom call with Leon to catch him up on my life. He misses me…

League notes:

Get well soon Jerry “Doc” Kirzner who had back surgery this week. He reports that he is up and walking around and while a little sore is already getting ready to play next year. 

Congrats to Tyler “Big Bad” Wolf on his engagement after our game on Sunday. 

Now I will admit that I might take some liberties with the league notes each week but what you are about to read is word for word from this past week Adath Israel newsletter. Former Player and stepdad to David “8 Mile” Wertheim, Josh Lisman is our temple President. I will set it up this way. Josh was talking about how he had never met anyone who owned a Sukkah until he met David’s mom when they started dating.  She asked him to come over and help set up their family Sukkah back in 2007. This was the first time that David and his sister Sarah had dinner with Josh at their house. Here is where I will let Josh tell the story:

“After tucking them into bed for the first time I “left” promising to be back in the early morning. Before they (David and Sarah) were allowed out of their rooms I snuck downstairs gave the dog a treat and went out the front door. After about 90 seconds I knocked on the door and Marla let the kids open the door. They were over the moon that I got up so early to see them. Neither noticed the similarity in my outfit from the day before.” So, congrats to David “8 Mile” Wertheim for finding out what his mom and (now) stepdad were up to all those years ago while he slept in the Adath Israel newsletter. Maybe that explains his hair. Also, single guys – go to Temple and look for any single moms or ladies who own a Sukkah: it might be a way to get lucky…

Finally this week we are going to end with a quick interview with our esteemed Commish, Rick Tenenholtz, who I thought deserved the final note of the year (You’re safe this week, Roger). Rick’s answers are in red and I know I say it most weeks but thanks again to Rick and Brad for all the behind the scenes work you guys put in this year to make this season happen. For a couple of hours each week we could all forget about COVID, the election, work, what to do with our kids, etc. and have fun together. 
 
1. What have been the biggest challenges this year? 

Dealing with all of the impacts of COVID-19 has clearly taken this role to a new level.  We started with an incredibly fast registration in January.  The league was full in about 2 weeks.  We did all of the planning as we would for a regular season and then COVID hit.  For a couple of months, we were in limbo and nobody knew whether we would be able to play. Once we were given a green light to proceed, we had to rethink how the league would work…who was in and who was out, how many teams, who would be captains, what would the rules be, etc.  A lot of people who have been a part of this league for many years had to make a tough decision as to whether or not to play this year.  Once those decisions were made, we were able to move forward. 
 
I have been pleasantly surprised by the cooperation of everyone playing this year.  There were some less than desirable rules we thought were necessary to be able to make the league work, the most notable of which is the mask rule.  I don’t know anyone who enjoys wearing a mask, but the league was not going to work without them.  Too many people expressed a concern about playing, especially with the close contact at home plate.  Fortunately, we found a way to make it work with minimal disruption. 
               
Without question, the few COVID positive cases we had were the most difficult and frustrating part of the season.  Fortunately, everyone emerged healthy and we were able to finish the season.
 
I can’t end this answer without pointing out a few people who have been instrumental in making this season happen.  First, in addition to our prior-season captains, Anton Loon, Joel Fogel and Mark Weisser stepped up when this league needed them to captain teams this year.  Their contributions have been huge.  Second, Brad Wagner and I have each other on speed dial.  All I have to do is say, “Hey, Siri, call the Commissioner Emeritus.” In addition to Brad, Mike Creemer and Ricky Lefton have helped me to figure things out in this bizarre year.  Finally, I have had a lot of one-on-one discussions with the members of the commission (Brad, Ricky, Adam Cronstein, Anton, Marc Brafman, Gig Franklin and Mark Weisser).  We have all been working hard to get to the finish line.
 
2. What’s been your favorite part of being Commish?  

The pay and benefits!  Seriously, there are so many things I have enjoyed.  I love getting to know all the new players each year.  I love hearing from the many people who love playing in this league and do so much to support it.  Maybe most importantly, I love trying to do everything I can to make the league more fun for everyone.
 
3. What rule changes if any would you like to see down the road?  

There aren’t many because we try to address rule changes each year.  The biggest area of concern for me is probably the sub rules.  They are somewhat arcane because we try to address so many issues.  We need to allow subs, but we want to prevent teams from gaining an advantage by using subs.  The obvious solution is that everyone needs to block off every Wednesday and Sunday from April 1 through September 30.  How hard is that?
 
4. What do you think the future of the league holds? How can we all do our part to continue to bring in new guys?  

I think the future of this league is very bright.  There is a reason people play in this league for 50+ years. We have a good group of guys who continue to bring in others. If you don’t believe me, ask our umpires.  They love being involved in our league because of the quality of the people.
 
Regarding new guys to the league, I would encourage the young guys to invite their friends.  Also, when you hear about someone new to the city, ask them to sign up for softball.
 
5. What are the biggest challenges we face as a league?  

I think the biggest challenge we face each year is creating as much parity as possible.  One of the best things about this year was the parity.  Every team could beat every other team.  The commission has tried many things over the years to create parity, some of which work better than others. I believe that two crucial elements for parity are quality captains and a level of pitching talent that is relatively consistent from team to team.  If you really want to make a mark in this league, learn to pitch.

6. How would you like your term as Commish to be remembered? 

I have the good fortune to have a lot of very good predecessors, so my goal in coming into this role was to not screw it up.  There are so many players in this league who are former commissioners.  They all do their best to be caretakers of the league, and they provide a lot of good advice.  When my term is up, I’d like the players to think the league is fun and well run.


Stay safe everyone. Keep those masks on and don’t worry, there will be some more league notes this off season. 

Marc
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Game Results: September 24, 2020

Tournament update

by Rick Tenenholtz

The tournament semifinals and finals will be held on Sunday, September 27 at Triple Creek Park.

The semifinals will start at 9:30 AM.  On Field 2, Team Brafman will host Team Schwartz.  On Field 4, Team Loon will host Team Weisser.

The finals will be played on Field 4 about 15 minutes after the completion of the first games.

Good luck to everyone!

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Game Results: September 24, 2020

September 23 Recap

By Marc Brafman
What a night of softball last night on Triple Creek. We had an upset win, and two walk-off hits including one in extra innings. Let’s get to the action.
On Field 1 it was Team Weisser vs. Team Lefton: 
Mark Weisser reports in:
 
Team Weisser jumped out to a 5-1 lead as a result of stringing several hits together including a solo HR by rookie of the year candidate, Josh Rosen. Team Lefton, with Eppy on the mound, struck back to tie the game at 5-5 with timely hitting by Brandon Guttman, Jimmy Lefton and Michael Rothstein. In the top of the 6th Team Lefton took the lead with a big double by sub Jeff Finkelstein. The lead stayed at 8-5 due to tremendous catch in deep RC by Griffin Harris off of the bat of Jimmy Lefton.
 
In the bottom of the 6th, Team Weisser tied the game at 8-8 as a result of a two-out bases loaded double over the left fielder’s head by Evan Weisser. “I couldn’t be more proud of my son,” Mark said. It almost makes me feel bad for trying to trade him to Team Fogel for Brad Gallop earlier this year…almost. 
 
Team Lefton failed to score in the top of the 7th due to Weisser’s new hand sanitizer pitch. “Look, Eppy and I are older and we can’t have this ball being touched by all the young guys all game. So now instead of hiding it I just squirt some on my hands on the mound and boy does that make the ball dance.” In the bottom of the seventh David “8 Mile” Wertheim (3 for 3 last night) singled and was driven in by a GW triple by Griffin “Benedict Arnold” Harris to deep LCF for the 9-8 win. 
 
It was a well-played game by both teams. Team Weisser moves on to play Team Loon on Sunday.
On Field 3 it was Team Schwartz vs. Team Groh
Pinch hitting for Taylor “May the” Schwartz be with you is Adam Cronstein:
In the top of the first Team Schwartz came out hot. The game started off with 5 straight reaching base including super subs Mitchell Evans and Mark Tenenholtz who went a combined 6 for 9 on the night. The rally was capped off by a 2-RBI double off the bat of pitcher, Randy Broyles. 
In the bottom of the inning Team Groh came out and scored 2 runs of their own but were stymied by solid defense highlighted by an excellent over the shoulder, running snow cone grab on a DEEP shot to left field by sub Dan Green making an appearance for team Groh. Cronstein remarked that he needed to remind the young outfielders that we middle aged guys can still chase down balls with the best of them, and that he was doing everything he could to maintain his status in the field since he was pushed out of his normal position by Mark T who was subbing for captain Taylor Schwartz who was enjoying a nice little vacation in the Arizona desert. Dan Green, who was making his first appearance of the season was heard saying that he just wasn’t interested in coming out to sub until the playoffs when the games actually mattered. 
In the top of the 2nd, Team Schwartz mashed another 6 runs starting off with hits by Eric Goldstein and Corey Schwartz along with Harry Meisner bashing a ball that almost left the park until the team batted around in the inning. Pitcher Randy Broyles kept team Groh off balance in the bottom half of the inning and holding them for no runs. 
Ken Groh held Schwartz scoreless in the next 2 frames and got off the mat scoring 1 in the 3rd before exploding for 7 runs in the bottom of the 4th.
Both teams were held scoreless in the 5th in part due to Corey Schwartz making a gutsy throw home to nail a runner at the plate with a great tag placed by catcher David Solomon.
Team Schwartz then plated 3 in the top of the 6th. Mark Tenenholtz and Randy had RBIs in the inning but the big hit in the inning came off the bat of Eric Zied to knock in a streaking Broyles who slid in just under the tag at home to give the team a much-needed insurance run putting them up 12-10.
Closing out the game in the 6th and 7th inning was no small feat. The play of the night came in the 6th inning by 1B Todd Wasserman, who had 2 huge hits himself on the evening including a smashed double that rolled to the wall in center field. On the play Wasserman made a back handed scoop that Joey Votto would have been proud of on a 1 hopper by Mitchell Evans to end the inning.
The victors held on in the 7th holding 2nd half champs Team Groh scoreless to earn a spot in the semifinals Sunday morning where they will meet Team Brafman. “I’m just glad that me not being there and having a “true” #1 like Mark Tenenholtz there helped us win,” Captain Schwartz said. I’ve been telling everyone for 3 years now that I’m not a 1, never mind that I’m hitting over .600 this season or playing an amazing SS week in and week out.”
Finally, in the game of the night on Field 4 Team Fogel and Team Brafman clashed
In a game that started late due to no umps (A huge shout out to Gary Grefer and the Commish for helping out), Team Brafman won on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 8th by Andy “Speedy” Heldman 10-9 or maybe 9-8 one of those two. 
In a pitchers’ duel from the first inning Mike “Go Cubs Go” Gray and Brandon “The Bird” Wolf kept both teams off the scoreboard. With some very good defense by the tag team of the Fogels (Jeremy who we come to expect each game and Joel who ran about 2 miles to make a great catch in the gap) and Weston “Hungry Like a” Wolf  who saved at least two runs with diving plays up the middle the score was close throughout the game. An opposite field home run by Chris Kunkel in the top of the 6th and a Triple by sub Matt Brodof in the top of the 7th gave Fogel a two-run lead heading into the bottom of the 7th. That is where team Brafman came off the mat for the first time. With two outs Jeff “The Natural” Weisbrot doubled. Tyler “Big Bad” Wolf singled him home to cut the lead to 1. After a Brandon Wolf single, Capt. Brafman blooped a single into short center to drive in the tying run but a very heads up play and throw by Rabbi Yitz who made a perfect throw to the plate to nab Wolf to keep the score tied. 
After a scoreless top of the 8th, Team Brafman was back up to the plate. As darkness started to fall Team Brafman started their second come back of the night. All season Mike “Flash” Creemer has called the bottom of the Brafman order the “Spleen” and they came up big tonight. With one out Sam “the Hitman” Hecht beat out an infield single. Duffy Wolf then moved him along to second with a clean single of his own. Zach “The Wild Horse” Zakem singled again to load the bases. Andy “Speedy” Heldman then singled up the middle (his second hit of the game) to drive in Hecht with the winning run. “I was just trying to help out my team,” Heldman said post game. I know I’m not Carl Lewis on the bases, but I was running as hard as I could to first and I was just glad that I was able to hit it hard.” This is the first post season win ever for Capt. Brafman and he thanked his team for removing the Marvin Lewis comparison to his coaching record. “Anytime you can remove yourself from being compared to Marvin Lewis that is a huge monkey off my back. I’d like to thank The Wolfs, Rookie of the Year Joel Buckley, and the rest of my team for a great win. As usual it was a total team effort.” In defeat Joel “Sparky” Fogel had this to say to his team: I had a great time being a captain for this group of guys. We had an impressive group of vets and rookies including my own Rookie of the Year candidate in Adam Knecht. We gave it our all every game, but we just came up short tonight. I’m looking forward to next season already.
Team Brafman looks to break their own two game losing streak to Team Schwartz on Sunday.
League Notes:
Once again a huge thank you to Gary Grefer and the Commish, Rick Tenenholtz for being the umps out on Field 4 for the Fogel/Brafman game. Thanks guys.
For the past couple of weeks Jeff “The Natural” Weisbrot has listened to music during warmups. While he claims it is the soundtrack to Rocky IV, I believe it is really a dentist’s podcast hosted by Tim Watley. 
I have no idea what type of car Joel “The Wrath of” Kahn drove up in last week but whatever it was it really impressed my 8-year-old son, Jacob. So, Joel if you are trying to impress little boys with your cool car, consider it done.
This has nothing to do with our league but how great was Trevor Bauer last night vs. the Brewers? When is the last time any Cincinnati athlete in any sport backed up his talk with a performance like that? Also, can someone look into the whereabouts of Taylor “Willie Mays Jr.” Trammel is these days? Thanks.
This has nothing do with our league, Part 2: On the flip side, are we seeing AJ Green turn into Joey Votto 2.0? I know he hasn’t played in 2 years but it sure didn’t look like AJ could get rid of his shadow on Thursday night, let alone the Browns. I sure hope I’m wrong about the Votto comparison (who, it should be noted, hit a huge homer last night) but so far not so good.
I Caught up with Dr. Bob this week for Where Are They Now. He told me he has taken up biking, that his favorite current athlete is Tadej Pogarcar and that he is really excited to get back into the league next year. He reminds everyone to keep their mask on and wash their hands. 
Finally, in What Roger has learned since he can’t play softball: While Roger grew up in Cincy, he somehow isn’t a huge Reds fan. That hasn’t stopped him from constantly calling the Reds Hall of Fame and the team to produce a line of bobbleheads of some of his favorite players from years past. “How many more Big Red Machine bobbleheads do we need? I’ve been actively trying to get the Reds to make bobbleheads of players the fans really want. So, if you’re with me please continue to call the Hall of Fame for these players:
Eddie Milner
Gary Redus
Brad “The Animal” Leslie
Paul Householder with his arm extended to give Johnny Bench the most awkward high 5 in history after Bench’s homer on JB night
Kal Daniels (with complete DL history included)
Bo Diaz (complete with detachable satellite dish) 
Chris Heisey sitting on the bench
Drew Stubbs trying to bunt with the pitch behind him
Jimmy Haynes (OK, no one wants his)
Co-Co Cordero 
David “Stormy” Weathers walking the bases loaded
The first 4-person bobblehead in history of a Private Eye, Dusty Baker, Corey Patterson and Willy Taveras, because the only way that those two guys should have been playing is because they had naked pictures of Dusty (or his daughter). 
A special Mother’s Day set since the only person that would want any of these guys is their moms: 
Chad Mottola
CJ Nitkowski
Brandon Larson
Ty Howington
David Espinosa
Dustin Mosely
Chris Gruler
Kyle Lotzkar
Nick Travieso
Nick Howard
Phil “Bust” Erwin
(Special bonus extra credit if you can name what all of these guys have in common)
And finally…
That Jewish catcher that had one great game last year and then was never heard from again. 
Hope to see everyone Sunday.
Stay safe Mask UP!
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Game Results: September 17, 2020

 

September 16 Recap

By Marc Brafman

 

A great weather evening for softball last night as we finally got the last week of the 2nd half of the season finished. 

 

Brad “The Human Rain Delay” Wagner leads off for Team Weisser:

 

Weisser beat Schwartz 12-6 or 12-7.  Brad Wagner came in like Michael Lorenzen in a spot start and took care of Team Schwartz allowing only one walk over 7 innings.  Great defensive plays by Scott Friend, David Wertheim, Evan Weisser, the father/son combo of Griff/Dee Harris, and Ben Margolis.  Big hits by Team Weisser came from Mike Margolis who crushed a 2-out, 50 ft blooper to start a big rally late in the game, the Harris Family, James “Not Worthy” Swan, Wagner, Brian “opposite field” Goldberg, and David “8-Mile Reject” Wertheim.  Commissioner Tenenholtz is checking the record books as his predecessor may be setting a record for triples in a season like his Great, Great Uncle Honus.  The Commissioner Emeritus was asked after the game about it and said, “My ass is too slow and those should be homers. The off-season will be spent doing speed drills with parachutes, ankle weights, and verbal motivation from Scott Wolf.”   

 

Team Weisser is trying some new superstitions heading into the tournament as David Wertheim is sporting a Marshall Mathers’ hairstyle and Griff Harris is now a preferred customer at Shlomo’s Fool’s Gold and Pawn with his recent purchases hanging from his neck.  

 

Team Schwartz had big hits from their usual suspects of Adam Cronstein, Randy “Tex” Broyles, Captain Schwartz, and Harry “Hood” Meisner(s).  Team Schwartz’s key defensive play was a fantastic throw by the Captain to nail a tagging Ben Margolis out at the plate.  The league wishes B-Rod a speedy recovery after a shoulder injury.   

 

Great to see some legendary fans at the game last night.  Dave “Mays & McCovey” Wernick, Steve “We’re done using that ball” Ostrow, and Mark “Boychick” Gordon.

 

Over on Field 4 it was a battle royal between Lefton and Loon. Jimmy picks up the action for us:

 

Just a typical JCC game on Field 4 last night. Team Lefton led 20-5 in the 5th and then held on to win 24-14…yes, held on as Loon came off the mat and scored 9 in the fifth causing a brief meltdown for team Lefton, which regrouped and scored 4 in the next inning off Fink pitching in relief. “Fink has a future on the mound similar to Jose DeLeon,” Jimmy said after the game. Anton reports that had Rick Lefton been able to lift it he would have chucked the big gatorade jug onto the field like Sweet Lou during his 5th inning Lefton meltdown. Luckily cooler heads prevailed because we needed to continue the game and a game called on account of a puddle of gatorade would not have gone over well with Commish Rick.

 

Finally, in the game of the night on Field 1 first place in the 2nd half was on the line as Team Groh battled Team Brafman:

 

Ken reports first: 

 

In the top of the 1st, Sam Castellini and Tyler Stansbury scored on a 2-out single by Groh. In the bottom of the 1st, Joel Buckley hit a lead-off homer on a liner to right field and after a few hits Brafman’s single up the middle put his squad up 3-2. After hits by Ryan Baum and Bryce Anslinger and a walk to David Snyder, Mark Franklin, who had his best career game, drove in 2 runs with a big hit to give Groh a 4-3 lead which they took to the 3rd inning. After a Adam Knecht’s RBI grounder Groh, Joel Kahn, Baum and Anslinger had consecutive hits to push the lead to 7-3. Brafman scored two to make it 7-5 which held until the top of the 5th. Team Groh batted around for the 1st time all season and when the dust settled led 13-5. Joel Kahn’s 3rd hit and 4th RBI gave Groh a 14-5 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th. Team Brafman plated 3 in the frame and Groh got two back in the top of the 7th after an Anslinger walk and a Snyder single batting left handed. Mark Franklin drove in his 4th run of the game after hitting a line drive off the pitcher and Anslinger diving into home. Marc Simons’ sac fly made it 16-8. After the 1st 2 guys scored in the bottom of the 7th, Team Groh recorded the win and the 2nd half title. Great defensive plays were made by Kahn snagging a short hop (#6 on top 10), Weisbrot who made a great catch to end an inning with the bases loaded (#4 on top 10) and Tyler Stansbury had his own diving catch that hit #2 on ESPN list but #1 came in the bottom of the 1st with Marc Simons going over the fence in foul territory to snag a ball! My team always gets after me for my lack of pregame speeches to psych them up so I gave them 4 words before and throughout the game…”Don’t Ring the Bell”!  

 

Brafman chimes in that he was proud of his team’s effort and wishes that we could have fielded a little better during the game. Big hits by Sam “The hitman” Hecht, Duffy Wolf, and a stolen base by the always fleet of foot Mike “Flash” Creemer helped us stay in the game. A tip of the Yarmulke to Team Groh for winning the 2nd half. 

 

The post season is here, and this is who everyone is playing next Wednesday, September 23 at 5:45 PM (home team listed first):

 

Team Loon (1) is on a bye for the first round:

 

Groh (2) vs Schwartz (7) on Field 3

 

Brafman (3) vs Fogel (6) on Field 4

 

Weisser (4) vs Lefton (5) on Field 1

 

 

 

Brad mentioned it above, but it needs a second mention that David “8 Mile” Wertheim does look like a reject from the Slim Shady music videos.

 

As most of us know baseball legend Tom Seaver passed away last week. Scott Wolf has one of the coolest memories of Seaver as he was at his no-hitter vs. the Cards, kept score, kept his ticket stub and his game program all framed around a Hall of Fame autographed picture of Seaver. A very cool piece that Roger has been trying to buy off him for years. 

 

For those of you looking for a good place to eat during the week check out the new BBQ outdoor menu from the J-Cafe. Chef Drew “Cobra Kai” Brown will serve you up some nice kosher meats and teach you how to crane kick your neighbor all at once. (Editor’s note…for those of you with Netflix check out the show Cobra Kai. It’s really good) NO MERCY

 

Our thoughts are with Mike Rothstein and his family this week as his mom passed away last week. May her memory be a blessing, Mike. 

 

We have a special 2nd time catching up with this week with Dave “The Minister of Fun” Cohen telling me he is pulling a Frank Costanza and moving into Del Boca Vista, Florida. “I’ve traded in my P&G gear for the latest in the Jimmy Buffett line of clothing and I plan on making my way in the canasta tournaments and those guys better watch out on the shuffleboard courts. Without playing this year my arm is ready to push those round tiles down the court.” We wish Dave well this upcoming Nov. when the Rummikub world finals hits Del Boca Vista.

 

Finally, in what’s Roger been up to this week: It’s a very exciting week for Roger as the Reds have teamed with Kroger for fan appreciation week. At select Kroger locations starting this weekend you can get a Sonny Gray or Trevor Bauer bobble head. Roger will be camped outside each of these Kroger locations with his local girl scout troop asking people to go in and buy a bobblehead for him. People are used to seeing girl scouts outside of Kroger selling cookies. Well I figured I could use them to help me get people to buy bobbleheads at the same time. No one wants to buy anything from me. They just look at me, but cute little girls they can sell ice to an Eskimo.

 

Have a happy and safe new year’s everyone (And thanks for Rabbi Yitz for blowing the Shofar last night)

 

Stay safe. Mask UP.

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Game Results: September 3, 2020

 

September 2 Recap

by Marc Brafman


Sorry for the late post today everyone but better late than never right?

 

We had two games last night due to COVID popping up in our league again. Get better soon, JZ and everyone remember to keep your mask up and wash your hands.

 

On field one it was Team Loon vs. Team Fogel: 

 

Team Loon clinched the number 1 seed in the upcoming tournament as they strung together a number of hard-hit balls in the top of the first inning Wednesday night against Team Fogel. “We came out strong in the first inning,” Anton said. Lucky for us it was enough to carry us to victory. Fink, Mark Tenenholtz, Zach Hiudt and the Commish, Rick Tenenholtz, all contributed at the plate.   Team Fogel’s defense faltered a bit and the result was 7 runs in the first, as Team Loon batted around.  Fogel came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame.  Team Fogel scored a few more runs on well-placed hits up the middle and drives into the outfield gaps, but were unable to develop the big inning to match Team Loon. “You know after that 7-run first inning, we really won the game,” Joel Fogel said post game. “We outscored Loon 3-2 the rest of the way.”  Team Fogel was led by Jeremy Fogel who had an opposite field HR, but he also had a questionable hit by pitch which resulted in some outfield chatter by Loon, Mark Tenenholtz, and Mitchell Evans. The trio was wondering why Jeremy drove all the way from downtown to get hit by a pitch. Perhaps it was slow reflexes and he couldn’t avoid the 18 MPH pitch.

 

On defense the Loon outfield of Mitchell “Skip to My Lou” Evans, and Mark “The Big House” Tenenholtz, Anton and Joe Ahlers all made nice plays to keep Fogel at bay.

 

This observer (Keith Kombrinck) was impressed with the consistent velocity from Mike Gray. It was a challenge to hit him, but our big guys managed it. 

 

Special thanks to super sub Marc Brafman for filling in at 2B. While he wasn’t explaining why MLB hitters need to learn how to bunt to beat the shift, he found some time to make a run-saving diving stop which was reminiscent of his days as starting 2B for the Finneytown Wildcats. (if someone can tell me why Winker, Votto and Moose can’t lay down a bunt when no one is covering that side of the infield, I’m all ears) 

 

It should also be noted that neither Jamie nor Mike Gray gave up 23 hits in this game.

 

With the win, Loon moves to 3-2 and 8-3 overall.    

 

Over on field 3 in a bit of an upset, Weisser crushed Groh 15-0 to set up a battle between Groh and Brafman for the 2nd-half title next week.

 

Multiple hit games from David Wertheim, Griffin Harris, Scott Friend, Dee Harris and Josh Rosen (strong candidate for rookie of the year). Editors note: this is the best rookie class of guys in my 6 years in the league. Keep it up, fellas 

 

Flawless defense and the 24th JCC career shutout by Mark Weisser along with Scott Wolf’s steal record are sort of like Negro League records where Josh Gibson is said to have hit over 800 homers. Does anyone really know? But the legend is better than the facts. 

 

Even giving up 15 runs, Team Groh also didn’t give up 23 hits 

 

League Notes

 

Before we get into the fun of the week one update. I know that many of you are upset that we keep changing the schedule or that we might have a double header before the kickoff of NFL Sunday. Please know that Rick and Mike are working with Triple Creek to get in as many games as we can in before it gets too dark and anyone else in the league gets sick. Thank you for your flexibility 

 

It’s a big week in the league alumni club of guys celebrating wedding anniversaries: Howard Goldwasser, Zach Meyer and Pat “Sunshine” Feldman. Happy anniversary, guys!

 

Speaking of Pat, this week he is our guest in catching up with: I’ve started a new job with a startup company and am enjoying that very much. We have stayed pretty low key this summer and my Dad and I miss playing. We should be back better than ever next season. I also did get my hair trimmed once or twice but the man bun is still in play for next season.

 

Big shout out to Stu Solomon for starting a new job and his own company. Way to go, Stu.

 

Last week I mentioned that Brian “Yogi” Monk’s son’s bar mitzvah was at their house. Little did I know that Brian was recovering from COVID at the same time. I’m happy to report that he is doing much better and unfortunately COVID didn’t cure his love of the Yankees. 

 

Let this be a cautionary tale for all of us guys. Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley’s mom and my mother-in-law are best friends from way back. The other day, they were together, and I got a text from my mother-in-law asking me if Joel was behaving himself in the league this year because his mom was asking. So guys, just remember our Moms are always out there checking up on us…

 

Has anyone ever figured out how David “BP” Snyder changes so fast at the field. No sooner was his game over last night than I look over and he showered, changed his clothes and looked ready to go mooch off Eppy at the Silver Spring House. He’s like David Spade in Tommy Boy changing clothes on the airplane. How’s he do it?

 

Last night Adam Wolf (son of Scott) subbed for Team Fogel and had a couple of hits. The question we all need to ask is who will have more family members in the league, the Wolf’s or Rabbi Yitz, once his 6 boys are old enough. 

 

Finally, this week in the news someone bought a Mike Trout one of a kind Rookie card for 3.93 MILLION dollars (and no it wasn’t Roger) but with Roger’s help my crack JCC research team did find some other JCC rookie cards:

 

Did you know that Ron “Kiss from a” Rose’s rookie card was in the same pack as the famous Honus Wagner card? Like Honus, Ron didn’t like his card being in a tobacco card set so he had his switched to Manischewitz wine. 

 

Gig Franklin’s card was included in the 1965 Topps traded set since he was part of the famous trade when the Reds traded Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas. Gig was the player to be named later in that trade.

 

Ben “B-Rod” Rodriguez’s card is pretty unique as he is sliding down the golden escalator in Trump Tower that President Trump came down in 2015.

 

You have all heard of game used jersey cards. Well, Eric “Spuds” Zied’s card is filled with dirt from his infield practice 

 

Taylor and Corey Schwartz’s card looks like the famous picture of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly from the movie, Step Brothers. The only change is that Leon “The Bull” Seserman is in the background crying because he’s not the one hugging Taylor.

 

This year, Eddie Gallop’s card has him and his family in masks and PPE gear. 

 

“Handsome” Sam Castellini’s card is water proof.

 

Evan Reisenfeld’s card comes complete with a map and watch because he seems to have a hard time finding Triple Creek on time.

 

Jason Faust’s card will for now on glow in the dark so cars can see it at night


Both Mike “Flash” Creemer’s and Tyler “Bryce Harper” Stansbury’s cards come with a small comb so that we can all hopefully grow hair like they have. On the back, instead of their stats it has hair grooming tips.

 

Stay safe this weekend guys. Keep those masks on.

 

Marc