Author: Rick Tenenholtz

It was a hot and muggy night at the fields, and the action met the heat. Normally we get right to the action but some stories need to be the lead, and this is no question one of those. It has come to League Note’s attention that former player and son of current captain, Jimmy Lefton, Alex “Big AL” Lefton got a “Reds 2021 World Champions tattoo on his rear end. Unlike the Iron Sheik being in the league, this is 100% true (Jimmy has the picture). Somehow this has something to with Barstool Sports and followers on social media. I have no idea. I do know that both Jimmy and Laurie are very proud of him for his dedication. 

Now onto the action:

On Field 1 we had Team Grefer vs. Team Wagner

Team Grefer laid the wood to Team Wagner by run rule. When asked for comment post game, Captain Wagner said we had to ask twice if the bats Grefer was using were legal. That says it all. Here’s Kyle for the winners:

We beat team Wagner 18-2 in 5 innings. After some rough offensive performances lately, the bats woke up in a big way. Everyone was hitting last night but the key performances were Joey Huidt, David Wertheim and Adam Cronstein all hitting inside the park home runs, and Howard Goldwasser with a bases clearing double to left field.

Jon Ruben pitched a great game and helped himself out with a triple to center field. The defense was also on point with only 1 or 2 errors.

We look to build some momentum off this win for the final 3 weeks of the season.

On Field 2 it was Team Fogel vs. Team Solomon

Stu for the winners:

Is Team Solomon the hottest team right now? 

Team Solomon won a great overall game against Team Fogel, 11-8. It was a back and forth game with Team Solomon taking an early lead on a 2-Run homer by Tyler “MVP” Stansbury. After being down after 3, Harry “Hercules” Misner roped a double off of the wall in LCF with the bases loaded, clearing the bases.. According to Statcast, the ball had a 115 mph exit velo. Team Solomon was down 2 going into the top of 7. Harry and Tyler both got on via single and walk. Stuart ” Captain of the Year” Solomon hit a flare into RCF scoring 1 and Ryan ” Commish For Life” Silverman roped a single scoring Tyler and Stu. Sub Stevie Z came up with a clutch single to right scoring Ryan. Team Solomon scored 5, going up 3 and were able to retire the top of Fogel’s line-up in the bottom of 7. 

Great pitching by Mark “Doyle Brunson” Weisser. And a huge put out by (K)Evan “Logan” Weisser in the top of the 7th, throwing out Dan “Everything is so” Green.

After the game, Super Sub Steve Zawatsky had this to say, ” Great Team Win. Its great to play with such a great team like Team Solomon.”

Team Solomon looks to continue its winning ways next Sunday without the heartbeat of their team, Andrew “5th Rounder” Solomon. 

And Roger for Team Fogel:

TEAM SOLOMON    12

TEAM FOGEL           9

Not much to say except……another frustrating loss for TEAM FOGEL as they couldn’t protect a two-run lead heading to the seventh inning.

Kudos do go to SCOTT “SHORTY” ADAMS who had two hits and made two nice catches in right field.

It should also be pointed out that DAN “DANNY” GREEN was thrown out for the first time on a bunt. Kudos to EVAN WEISSER for making a nice play….

TEAM FOGEL hopes to break a modest two game losing streak next week vs. TEAM WAGNER and veteran pitcher HOWARD SCHWARTZ…….

NO quotes this week as the media was not allowed in the locker room after the game.

“I’ve got a job to do to report on the game, but also would like to talk to the players and captain. What am I going to use for my story?,” Team reporter ROGER ROSENTHAL said while being escorted out of the locker room area.

One player, MATT “MATTIE MILLS” MILLER said, “We’re not in a good way at this time and words were said in the locker room that can’t be repeated.” He added, “It’s like the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team locker room after a loss to XAVIER UNIVERSITY.”….oh my!!!!!……..STAY TUNED!!!!!

TIDBITS…..

*The friendliest guy in the league for my money is TODD WASSERMAN, but he’s got a bit of a dilemma on his hands…..

He wants to buy another SEAN CASEY bobblehead to add to his collection, but wife GRETCHEN is against it. She thinks he has too many as it is……who wins this one?

**JACOB BRAFMAN, son of MARC BRAFMAN, is quite a baseball player and rumor has it that he may jump ship from TEAM BRAFMAN to TEAM FOGEL for the “right” price. ROSENTHAL might be put on waivers and they would be able to pick up another player. How would that set in the BRAFMAN house?

***And finally, speaking of the younger BRAFMAN, a huge UC fan (he has to be), finally gave in and said that if XAVIER UNIVERSITY was the only school to give him a sports scholarship he would attend the rival school. How would that set in the BRAFMAN house? (The elder Brafman said that Auburn would be the only school he wouldn’t let Jacob attend) 

On Field 3 Team Lefton took on Team Brafman

Team Lefton battled all game and came away with a 15-12 win. The top of their order (Matt Leader, Anton, Peter Brownell and Jimmy) I think went a combined 100 for 100. “We got ’em on, got ’em over and got ’em in pretty well,” Lefton said post game. “I was proud of the way we played. On defense, Peter saved the game twice in the bottom of the 7th with two great plays. A backhanded catch and then a long throw from the hole to give us the win. “Handsome” Sam Castellini in RC also made 3-4 big catches. And David ‘BP’ Snyder hit a triple for us which was a big hit earlier in the game.”  

For Team Brafman it was nice to have “The Natural” Jeff Weisbrot back in action. Kudos to Ryan “The Hebrew Hammer” Braun for a good game in LF and, as always, Griff for his outstanding hitting and defense. And special mention to Jamey “The Rookie” Drennan for turning two 5-3 DPs to keep Team Lefton at bay.

Finally, on Field 4 it was Team Kamrass vs. Team Wolf Machine

Weston for the winners:

Team Wolf rose to the occasion tonight in a big game with Team Kamrass by defeating them 12-2 in a 5-inning run rule. 

Led by another incredible pitching performance by Mike “50 Shades” of Gray, Team Wolf got out to their patented hot start, with four runs in the first, highlighted by a leadoff triple by Michael Askin and an RBI single by Pete Soltesz. 

After two runs in the first, Mike Gray shut down the potent team Kamrass offense, allowing only one hit in the last three innings. Team Wolf played strong defense all around with an error-free game. 

Going into the top of the fifth up 5-2, Team Wolf scored 7 runs led by Rabbi Yitz’s two-run homer, who is fully back after the first of many, many son’s weddings. Duffy Wolf then built the lead to 10 with a big two-run single. Scott Wolf was seen standing on the bench cheering for his brother, yelling “Booooo yaaaaaa!!!!”, after the play. 

Special shoutout to Brian Goldberg for his game-clinching two-run double last week in another Team Wolf win. 

League notes:

Happy birthday to former capt Taylor “May the” Schwartz be with you from Chicago

Last week Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley and his wife went away for the first time since his daughter was born. He claims that he missed her very much while they were away. As all parents know, you might miss them but not MISS them that much. But it sounds good on social media, Joel.

If you would like to help Alan out in his garden please reach out to him next week. He is looking for help.

Sad news to report…former player Brian Monk’s father-in-law died following a battle with cancer. Our thoughts are with Brian and Molly 

Last night I met Todd “The Mayor” Wasserman’s wife for the first time. She informed me that I was A) full of BS when I told her that Todd played a good game (he did) and that B) no one on my team listens to me when I am barking out instructions, which also sounds about right.

Let’s all hope Ken Groh has a speedy recovery from his broken ankle and calf. Either way it sounds very painful. Get better soon, Ken.

Scott “Dire” Wolf on Friday went to Taylor Swift. He reports that while he still views his first time seeing the double bill of Color Me Badd and Paula Abdul better than this one,  Ms. Swift did bring the goods all night. When asked which album he dressed up like, he said Red, of course.

How amazing is this Reds team? They have more stolen bases so far this year than they did all of last year. They have won 7 straight road series for the first time since the Big Red Machine and they could easily have 4 of the top 5 rookies for Rookie of the Year voting. And for those of you that think Votto is washed up and has no value, Will Benson has credited Votto with helping change his swing. 

in this week in Roger if you are in the market for a 2022 Reds calendar, he is your guy. Roger also is very upset with the news that the Cyclones are now an affiliate of the NY Rangers and not the Buffalo Sabres. Why? You’ll have to ask him.

Back in 1989 our guy Billy Joel sang “We didn’t start the fire; No we didn’t light it but we tried to fight it.” Little did we know that Harry Truman and Doris Day also couldn’t breathe the air at Triple Creek last night. I’m sure Ryan wasn’t expecting to be talking to the JCC about postponing a game due to smoke in the air, but here we are. But hey, at least it didn’t rain.

Let’s get to the action.

On Field 1 we had Team Lefton vs. Team Wolf Machine.

Wolf won again…Question for league historians has there ever been a team that has run the table? 

On Field 2 it was Team Stu vs. Team Grefer

Stu for the winners:

It was a thrilling, and at times contentious, pitchers duel between Team Grefer and Team Solomon. Team Solomon was able to get hits when it counted winning 5-3 in a very nice defensive game by both teams.

The scoring started when Stuart “Everyone’s Favorite Captain” Solomon laced a triple in RCF. Ryan “All Smiles” Silverman tattooed a line drive to the wall for a HR. Team Grefer scored 3 unanswered runs until the bottom of six when Zach “The New Guy” Collins hit a single up the middle to tie the game up. After an Alan “The Salsa King of the Midwest” Lessure strike out, Adam ” Dirk Diggler” Teiitelbaum laced a single up the middle scoring the go-ahead two runs. 

Defensively, Team Solomon was just solid. Great pitching from Mark ” Grand Poobah” Weisser. He fielded his position with agility and speed. Big shoutout to Tyler who was battling a back issue and still made a great defensive play at 3B.

Alan Lessure continues to be a clubhouse spark with his wonderful insights and commentary. Alan after the game said “I’ve caught a lot of games and I knew their pitcher was getting tired and we needed to take advantage.”

Team Solomon looks to continue their winning ways next week against Fogel.

On Field 3 we had Team Team Kamrass vs Team Zawatsky

Micah for the winners:

Team Kamrass defeated Team Z 9-1, in a game that was one out away from being a shut out. Fink was unhittable, and also made a few nice plays in defense.  Ben Margolis had the hit of the night with a home run to left center, also scoring Jordan Skinner who was on his horse. Scott Raskin had the web gem of the night with an over the head basket catch on a ball to no man’s land robbing Pat Feldman of extra bases. Micah Kamrass went 4-4 on the night.

“This was a fun one,” said Captain Kamrass. “We’re clearly America’s softball team and we’re ready to take down Team Wolf next week.”

And finally in the game of the night, Team Brafman vs. Team Fogel on Field 4

Marc for the winners:

In a very VERY Well played game Team Brafman came off the mat late to beat Team Fogel 8-7 on a bases loaded walk off single by Jamey “The Rookie” Drennan. Team Fogel started out hot scoring 7 runs in the first two innings and played lights out defense behind Dan Green. It wasn’t until the 4th inning that Team Brafman got on the board with back to back hits from Brafman and Alex Kraus. A two run homer by Dee Harris cut the lead to 7-5 in the 6th where it would remain until the bottom of the 7th. To get to that point Team Brafman really turned up the defense. Eppy at one point retired 11 straight Team Fogel players thanks to Eric “The Mouth of the Midwest” Gruen at first, Joel Hallelujah” Buckley at SS , the “Hebrew Hammer” Ryan Baum in RF and JZ in his last game as sub in RC throwing out a runner (who will remain nameless) at first base with the hardest throw of the season.  

In the bottom of the 7th Alex Kraus led off with a single, was bunted to 2nd by Eppy and scored on a single by Eric Gruen. Griff Harris then doubled in Buckley to tie the score and after a walk to JZ Jamey ended it with a single. A great team win for our guys Brafman said post game. I couldn’t be happier. Two other notes…this game featured both top of the orders being retired in order in the same inning and Eppy getting a 3-pitch inning. 

Team Brafman looks forward to getting “The Natural ” Jeff Weisbrot back next week vs. Team Lefton.

League Notes

Boy, you guys need to get your BS meter going when you read league notes. No, the Iron Sheik did not play in the Softball league. But league historian Roger Rosenthal did report that one time Flyin’ Brian Pillman delivered an atomic drop to the late great Jason Faust when Faust threw a ball over the backstop. 

Happy birthday this week to former player Ryan Small and current rookie pitcher Jon “Rubes” Ruben.

It has come to my attention that roommates Jeremy Fogel and Matt Miller are both dating girls named Maddie. This leads to all kinds of interesting questions but nothing tops the fact that Matt is dating a girl named Maddie. Well played.

Speaking of Jeremy, congrats to JCC softball’s head sister cheerleader Brooke Fogel on getting her first job out of school. 

There was a good article on Cincyjewfolk.com on the softball league. here is the link https://cincyjewfolk.com/2023/06/06/the-battered-boichiks-of-softball-competitive-camaraderie-since-1945/

Team Brafman super sub, Jacob “JZ” Zeidenstein should know that his mom can still track him on her cell phone. So JZ, be warned when you have a Maddie of your own your mom will know if you don’t come home that night..

Danny Grefer somehow survived the weekend at Bonnaroo and he reported that the highlight of the weekend was seeing the Foo Fighters and then DJ Shaq at 2 or 3 AM spinning records in the DJ Tent. Well done, Danny. Not many of us could hang for that long at a concert.

Speaking of concerts since most of us aren’t old enough to remember when the Beatles played at Crosley or The Cincinnati Gardens, we will just have to watch the craziness that is the Taylor Swift concert this week. I will make sure to get with Scott Wolf for his full report next week.

For those of you that are A) married and B) ever had to stay at home while your wife worked, I would encourage you to read this story and do the opposite. (Jeremy and Matt learn from this clown so when you two have a double wedding with the Maddies you won’t follow his lead)  https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2023/06/21/stephen-f-austin-bowling-coach-resigns-relationship-with-athlete/70341506007/ As Jon Spears told me, I must have re-read this story 10 times and I laugh every time.

In this week in the Reds, from the always entertaining Jason Stark from the Athletic here are some numbers from the Elly cycle game:

He went from home to third in under 11 seconds! I don’t know about you, but it might take me a minute and a half to sprint from home plate to third base these days, even if I got in “I-might-hit-a-triple” shape. But it took De La Cruz only 10.83 seconds to do this.

De La Cruz did more than merely the single/double/triple/homer thing in this game. He also drove in four runs and stole a base. According to STATS, he’s the first player ever to do all of that during a cycle since RBIs became an official stat in 1920.

Not bad for a rookie who might end up being the 4th best rookie on the Reds this year. I have no idea where this team came from or how they continue to win with some of the worst starting pitching I’ve ever seen (Except for Abbott) but I don’t care. Keep it going, boys!

Finally this week in Roger. you have to be REALLY scraping the bottom of the barrel when you are posting XU women’s bobbleheads from players that haven’t been there in at least 10 years. Who is after those? This comes from a guy whose son was THRILLED when my mom found him a Mat Latos and Homer Bailey bobblehead in her closet yesterday, so what do I know.

See ya on the field on Wednesday!

What is it about Sunday mornings this year? When did they become last year’s Wednesday night?  Another wet morning, but once again we got the games in.

On Field 1 it was Team Brafman vs. a depleted Team Stu

Marc for the winners: Team Brafman jumped out to an early 5-run lead and never trailed beating Team Stu, 19-7. Hitting stars included Griff And Dee Harris who each had multiple hits (Griff with a homer), Capt. Brafman , Jamey “the rookie” Drennan  and Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley each contributed on offense. Todd “The Mayor” Wasserman also had a big two-out, two-run double.  On defense Ryan “the Hebrew Hammer” Baum, Mark “Bruiser” Wolfe and Jacob “JZ” Zeidenstein all played well in keeping Team Stu in check. Not to be overlooked, once again Eppy threw strikes and let his defense help him out. A total team effort by Brafman who looks to continue their winning ways vs. Team Fogel on Wednesday. 

For Team Stu, Harry “Hood” Meisner crushed a homer in his first at bat, subs Matt “The Bobcat”  Brodof and Pete “The Straw that Stirs the Drink” Soltesz each hit the ball hard. And on defense, Tyler “Bryce Harper” Stansbury made 2 or 3 amazing plays at SS to keep Team Brafman off the bases.

On Field 2, Team Wagner crushed Team Kamrass. Brad for the winners:

Team Wagner took down Team Kamrass on Sunday morning by the score of 17-2 in a run-rule shortened game.  Team Kamrass took the lead in the Top of the 1st and Wagner responded with two runs and never looked back including a two out nine-run rally in the bottom of the 4th to make sure the umpire had plenty of time to get home to watch reruns of Gunsmoke.  Howie Schwartz pitched like a 65-year old mixing speeds with his usual heat.  Hitting contributions came from the middle and end of the Team Wagner lineup (Wagner, Kunkel, Conwell, Spears, Schwartz, Ben “Super Sub” Rodriguez, and Jerry “Young Jeezy” Kirzner).  

Team Wagner has an upcoming bye week before returning to the Friendly Confines of Triple Creek to try and take the 2nd Half Title.  Team Kamrass takes on Team Zawatsky in a No-Holds Barred Cage Match on Wednesday.  Jerry “The King” Lawler and Jimmy Snuka on the call.

On Field 3, it was Team Fogel vs. Team Grefer

Roger for Team Fogel

TEAM FOGEL   16

TEAM GREFER  9

TEAM FOGEL scored early and often and coasted to victory behind the pitching of DAN “DANNY” GREEN, who is the pitcher after COREY “I DON’T NEED WARM-UPS” NORRIS was hurt last game and is out for the season.

It was a total team effort on the offensive side, but leading the offense was JASON “THE COWBOY” ESTERKAMP, who did his impersonation of CINCINNATI REDS rookie ELLY 

DE LA CRUZ, and hit for a cycle. SCOTT “SHORTY” ADAMS, SCOTT “PLEASE BE MY” FRIEND and GREEN were on base four times and everyone else with the exception of ROGER “BIG MOUTH” ROSENTHAL, scored at least one run.

“Someone has to make outs and I do a great job of it,” Rosenthal said afterwards. “Even when I hit the ball hard, it finds a glove on defense.”

Speaking of defense, FRIEND had one of his many gold glove catches on the season on a Dan Grefer shot down the left field line and ADAMS caught a deep drive by Adam Cronstein down the right field line. Kudos to Shorty that it didn’t hit him in the head.

It should also be noted that MICHAEL ASKIN (TEAM WOLF), son of former player, GARY ASKIN, contributed to the cause with both his bat and glove……thanks for subbing!

TID BITS…….

*MATT “MATTY MILLS” MILLER’s girlfriend was in the crowd and had the pleasure to meet me…….the first words out of her mouth…..”I’m Catholic and I don’t like Xavier”……wow!

*MILLER, an assistant coach on the UC men’s basketball team, missed Wednesday’s game because of a reported recruiting trip. You’d better get better players if you’re ever going to compete with XAVIER!

*NORRIS, who is out for the season due to an injury, was in attendance to cheer his team on. Seemed like we played our best game of the season. We miss him and hope he has a full recovery.

*Finally, ROSENTHAL blew a gasket after messing up a bunt attempt. “I want to apologize to my team and the league for the bad behavior. That is unacceptable and hopefully will never happen again.”

Finally on Field 4 it was Team Lefton vs. Team Z

Jimmy for the winners:

Our game vs. Team Zawatsky was over before it started. We scored 11 runs in the first inning and like the Angels vs. the Rockies never looked back. Anton and Peter both homered making that six homers for the Loon family tree in the last two games. Matt Slovin also continued to impress with a shot over the left fielders head and a dazzling diving catch in RC. This season has been one of streaks and we are on a heater right now. . We want to keep it rolling on Wednesday.