Category: Game Results

 

August 18 Recap

By Marc Brafman

Sorry for the delay in getting this up. Just in case you didn’t see Rick’s e-mail here is the address to the fields on Sunday morning:

 

1223 N. State Route 741 Lebanon, Ohio 45036

Make sure you bring $3 per person in cash if you are over the age of 16. 

 

The matchups are set for the post season

Team Loon vs. Team Solomon in the play-in game

#1 seed Team Grefer vs. the Winner of the play-in

#2 seed Team Brafman vs. Team Groh

#3 seed Team Kamrass vs. Team Weisser

#4 seed Team Lefton vs. Team Schwartz 

Good luck to everyone.

Now onto the brief recaps:

On field 1 it was Team Grefer vs. Team Schwartz

Kyle chimes in:

We beat Taylor Schwartz’ team 18-13 in an offensive showdown. Wes Wolf led the way offensively with 4 hits including a home run to right field. Everyone contributed offensively (except me), with key hits coming from Howard Schwartz, Dan Grefer, Scott Wolf, Duff Wolf, Eddie Gallop and Brad Gallop. Defensively, we played a solid game, and I was able to help out the team with a couple nice catches in right center. (Editor’s note: I saw one of Kyle’s catches from field 2 he is selling himself short it was a great diving catch complete with a somersault finish that would have made Simone Biles proud) 

 

I’m incredibly proud of my team this season finishing at 12-4, with three of our losses coming by a combined margin of 4 runs. Time to see if we can carry that success into the tournament. Team Grefer had the best overall record this season. Well done, fellas. 

 

On field two it was Team Brafman vs. Team Weisser

 

Team Brafman bounced back well in a very clean 10-4 win over Team Weisser. The offense was paced as usual by Mark “Big Blue” Tenenholtz, Pat “Sunshine” Feldman and the “Macho Man” Andrew Gage who had a couple of big hits.  On defense, Fink, Rick the Commish and Ben “Raindance” Rosenberg all kept the Weisser squad off the bases with nice catches. A special note on Eric “The fastest guy in the league” Zied who hustled himself into asking to be taken out of the game for an inning to catch his breath. “I don’t know what happened to me out there,” Zied said. “I just got so winded” It should be noted that Zied goes all out no matter if it’s BP, playing first base or running out a pop up. We should all hustle like him. Team Brafman finished the year 10-6, and clinched the 2nd seed in the post season. On a side note, Team Brafman’s kid-friendly team policy might need to be revised for next season as there were more kids on the bench than players on the field. 

 

On field 3, it was the best game of the night as Team Kamrass took on Team Groh in a game to decide who would win the 2^nd-half title. The game was played in front of a packed set of bleachers since it was the last to end. Here is the recap:

 

In a wild game, Team Kamrass came back from an 8-run deficit to beat Team Groh and to lock up the second half championship. Team Kamrass came storming back to a 5-run lead heading into the top of the 6th and managed to hold on to win by 1.

Eppy and Kombrink continued the run of being the dynamic duo in the mound. Eppy also had some great hitting and added to his stolen base total this season. Riley Able was the player of the game with some timely hits and a few nice plays in right field. Adam Heldman made a nice barehanded play to throw out a runner at first from the outfield.

“It was not our prettiest game of the season, but we got the job done,” said captain Micah Kamrass. “Champions know how to grind out tough wins, and that’s what we did tonight.”

It was a remarkable comeback for Team Kamrass, who finished 8th in the first half. Winning the second half and locking up the 3 seed were both major accomplishments. It’s been a fun season playing with this group of guys. Now we’re ready for a little tournament magic. Well done Team Bachelor Party on an amazing 2nd half. 

 

Finally on field 4 it was Team Solomon vs. Team Lefton

Stu reports in:

Team Solomon was victorious last night to the tune of 13-10. 

 

We shook up the line-up a little bit and got some great production from Zander Wold. He went 4-5 after being moved to the 2 hole. Tyler Stansbury had another great game both offensively and defensively. Mark Wolfe and Evan Gildenblatt had some huge hits, and both made some very nice defensive plays in the field. 

 

As always, Mike Gray had a great day on the mound. He capped it off with a stellar play in the field for the last out of the game. A sharp grounder hit off Mike. In one motion, he slid, got to his feet, and threw a dart to first. 

 

With all that fun and excitement, we had the opportunity to draw a card to be out of the play-in game. I failed to produce the right card and now we are playing in the playoff game. If we win, there will be Orange Slices.

 

Once again, the first round is Sunday. It’s on different fields and please bring $3 (this is what Rick is going to do to you if you don’t (Start the clip at 1:17)   

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z9Cg46Nktw

 

Congrats to Jared Kamrass who once again was quoted in the paper talking about the Mayor race. Now if only he can fix the Reds’ front office.

 

A HUGE shout out to Mr. Mike “Flash” Creemer on his 20 years working at the JCC. Any of us who have kids who have ever played a sport or gone to camp at the J over that time know how great Mr. Mike is. Congrats again. 

 

I keep forgetting but please e-mail me at mbrafman14@gmail.com if you are going to Dead and Co. next month. We’ll meet up and take a picture for the record (whatever record that is).

On another music note…for those of you with HBO, watch the doc on Woodstock 99. First the music is beyond awful but man I forgot what a shit show that concert really was. A very interesting movie.

 

You’d think after being married to me for 20 years, Shana would know a little bit about sports but earlier this week when the AP college football poll came out and UC was ranked 8th she asked if that was in fact the same poll that had Alabama #1. As in no way UC and Alabama could both be in the same top 10 poll right? I’ve still got work to do, I guess.

 

Reminder that the JCC Oy Vey 5k is this Nov. Get those running and walking shoes on fellas and help out the J.

 

Finally, the other night post game we were debating the hot topic of the day…if Joey Votto is a Hall of Famer. He is, but for those of you who still think that he isn’t take a look at these stats provided by Jason Stark:

 

Hall of famers with 3000 hits – 25

Hall of famers with under 3000 hits – 135.

So far just this season Votto has passed Bill Dickey, Lou Boudreau, The Great Hank Greenberg and Hack Wilson.

This is my favorite stat. Vintage Votto led the league in OBP 7 times and missed an 8th by 1 point. Here is the total list of guys that have led the league in OBP more than Votto

 

Ted Williams – 12

Babe Ruth – 10

Barry Bonds – 10

Rogers Hornsby – 9

 

If the name of the game is not to make outs that is a pretty good list to be on. 

Finally, one for those that think he walked too much. Here is the TOTAL list of players that have 2000+ hits with the most times reaching base per game since 1900

 

Ted Williams – 2.06

Lou Gehrig – 1.98

Ty Cobb – 1.823

Wade Boggs – 1.822

Tris Speaker – 1.792

Joey Votto – 1.789

 

So, Jimmy Lefton, take your “He’s in the Reds Hall of Fame and maybe Cooperstown” and shove it. Because I feel with the DH coming to the NL next year Votto could break the team record of homers (outside shot, but he might) and hit well enough to get his other numbers up. Plus, he is going to finish in the top 3 in the MVP voting which would be his 4-5 top 5 finish.

 

Last but not least it was a slow week for Roger (well, they are all slow with him) but to his credit he did find a Nick Senzel knee ligament that may or may not be injured. It depends on the source and the day of the week. Roger plans on selling that along with a combined Shogo Hamilton Bobblehead at next year’s Redsfest

See you Sunday, and don’t forget $3 dollars

Marc 

August 11 Recap

By Marc Brafman

It was a HOT night at Triple Creek and the scores reflect it as a lot of runs were scored across the 4 games. Let’s get to the action. 

Let’s start on field 1 with Team Lefton taking on Team Weisser.

Roger leads off 

In perhaps one of the worst defensive games of the year, TEAM WEISSER fell to TEAM LEFTON, 17-7…..

Leading the way with about 12 (it seemed like that many) dropped balls at first base, was ROGER ROSENTHAL, who had a game for the ages…..in a bad way….

On the positive side, HARRY MEISNER, hit a grand slam in the top of the fifth inning to extend the game, only to be run ruled in the bottom of the inning…..

Enough said about this game…….captain MARK WEISSER was reportedly going to get the video of the game from the ESPN crew filming and having it burned immediately….. Team Lefton has now scored 51 runs in the last two games which might be a large enough number for the Reds bullpen to not blow..

On field 2 it was Team Loon vs. Team Groh

Ken reports:

Team Jekyll and Hyde played like the good doctor today and came back to win tonight’s game. With 2 outs in the 1st, Jeff Weisbrot made his JCC return after missing 13 games and lined a single to RF. He later scored on a wild pitch as Groh took a 1-0 lead. With 1 out in the bottom of the 1st Anton Loon hit a ball to the fence and Jeremy Fogel caught it, but as he hit the fence the ball fell over for a HR. Not to be outdone, Matt Brodof hit a 2-run shot that Fogel had to watch sail way over the fence as Loon led 3-1. In the 3rd inning Team Groh batted around as the first 5 guys all scored with RBI singles by Weisbrot and Groh and Baum’s triple drove them both in. Loon answered with 2 and after 3 it was a 6-5 game. Team Groh scored 3 in the 4th and sent 12 batters up in the 5th to get to the final 16-5 victory. Joel and Jeremy Fogel each scored 3 runs and had 2 hits and 3,4,5 hitters Jeff, Ken and Ryan went 9-9 with 8 runs and 9 RBI’s paced the offense! Bryce Anslinger and Jim Beckett also had 3 hits. Mark Simons had 2 RBI’s and Todd Wasserman had an RBI single and was robbed of extra bases as Stu Solomon made a diving catch in left that was the defensive play of the game. Jason Esterkamp and Loon each had 3 hits to pace Team Loon.  “I’m just glad I didn’t have to go to Doolittle or AG in this game,” Groh said. Even with an 11-run lead, I’m not sure those guys could hold it for us.” 

On Field three it was Field it was Team Grefer vs. Team Brafman

Marc reports for both teams

Team Grefer won 18-10 in a battle of second place teams. Grefer got hits all up and down the lineup, but big blows came from Weston “Hungry like a” Wolf with a JCC homer and Brad Gallop who smoked one to deep left and beat the relay to the plate. It was a total team hitting night as many balls were hit just out of the reach of the Brafman defense. “When we get rolling we are tough to stop,” Kyle said post game. Plus Howie pitched a great game as usual.  Tyler “Big Bad” Wolf also smoked two of the hardest hit balls of the season to Brafman playing short, one of which bounced off his foot resulting in Brafman getting an x-ray post game (not broken… just ice and rest). But the star of the game was Weston who played a great SS and made at least 9 put outs. For team Brafman, Mark “Big Blue” Tenenholtz paced the offense with two JCC homers and one Joey Votto homer that was WAY over the fence for 9 of the 10 RBI’s for team Brafman. He also threw a runner out at the plate for what I can imagine is his league leading 4-5 assist of the year.  With a 9-run lead in the bottom of the 7th Howie was able to throw strikes and let his defense do the job for him, something that the Reds bullpen should take note of. 

Finally on field 4 it was Team Kamrass vs. Team Schwartz 

Micah files this update

Playing with nine guys, Team Kamrass beat Team Schwartz 18-8 in 5 innings. Every player on the team hit the ball well. Adam Heldman had a home run, and Scott Sadler and Keith Kombrinck both blasted doubles over the heads of the outfield. The three-man outfield of Heldman, Ryan Silverman, and Micah Kamrass covered a lot of ground. Eppy shut out Team Schwartz in the final three innings of the game.

“Tonight was a total team win,” said Captain Micah Kamrass. “We’re right where we want to be. A win next week against Team Groh makes us the second half champions.” Amazingly, both Eppy and Kombrinck continue to throw more strikes than the Reds bullpen. “We were brought up in an era of making the other team hit the ball and not try to strike everyone out,” Keith said post game. Sure, I look like Phil Niekro out there, but he won 300 games throwing strikes.” 

Post game notes from Roger:

1. GRIFF HARRIS, celebrating his 21st birthday with a few ladies of the night afterward, reportedly was going to be taken out on the town by a few close friends…..NO curfew was in place for his special night….

2. It’s always fun listening to DAVID WEIL talk about how bad a manager is for the Reds……really, could he do a better job?

3. JEREMY FOGEL was as patient as could be…..he had to wait and wait for his dinner to be served to him and was one of the last to receive it, but did he get upset…..NO…..”I’m 

pretty patient when it comes to service. It was worth the wait.”

4. JEREMY’S father, JOEL FOGEL, had one of the biggest portions of hamburger and fries I’ve ever seen…..I don’t know if he ate the whole thing, but if he did…………

5. STEVE EPPSTEIN’s son, DAVID and daughter in law, NIVEA, are cruise bound to Alaska next week and will miss their father’s possible second half clinching game…..what kind of family is that for you?……a chance to see history or a chance to see eskimos………

And league notes:

Speaking of Alaska our very own Commish Rick was on an Alaskan vacation last week. When asked about the trip he said, and I quote “Alaska is amazing…the cruise not so much. It was filled with 40-50 year old Jewish singles who kept coming up to me asking me if I’d like to go up to the poop deck and watch for whales. I don’t know what it is about me, but I had to beat them off with a frozen seal.” But to be honest to quote my personal guru Bob Ross “God had a good day when he created Alaska.”

Happy 21st birthday to our own Griff “Benedict Arnold” Harris today. It’s good to know Griff can legally drink his disappointment away when OSU loses to Purdue or Northwestern this year.

A couple of happy anniversaries this week. Cory Norris and Bryce Anslinger both have been married a long time (but not to each other).

If you want to donate to a good cause, talk to Eric “Jeter” Goldstein as he is working on raising money for the Jewish National Fund, which if you ask me sounds a lot like the Human Fund from Seinfeld which as we all know is “Money for People.”

For those of you who have caught the pickleball bug, post season Mark “Hello” Newman is starting a pickleball league. 

if you remember, a few weeks ago it was reported that at the recently completed Olympics they were providing the athletes with an amazing amount of condoms that they could use even with Covid running wild in Japan. Our friends over at the Israeli baseball team wanted to test to see if the “unbreakable” beds were in fact unbreakable” so instead of inviting Natalie Portman or Wonder Woman or Babs Streisand to test it out, they did this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtWDzRugV_c

One of the nice things about the league that I think we all enjoy is the longevity of the league and how dads, sons and now sons of sons have all played in it. This was brought home last night when Fink and I were talking about how our dads played together. Now we are on a team and our sons have met through the league and are now friends and will one day play as well. Like the Boones and the Bells in baseball, the league also has many three-generational families. 

I’d like to get Joel “The Wrath of” Kahn to comment on the recent run that Joey Votto has been on, but he couldn’t be found.

It was nice to see “The Natural” Jeff Weisbrot back on the field last night. He’s been on the DL longer than Senzel (and he hits better than Senzel as well) 

Who knew that Billy Preston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX2bE-OBtwk came back to life in the form of Rafi Goldfarb’s hair…

Finally, if there is a baseball god please, please, please let us enjoy Hunter Green for a long time as a Red. Reds fans don’t ask for much but baseball god we humbly ask that you permit Hunter to have a long Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens like career for the Reds. Why do you ask that we pray to the baseball gods? Because of this. Last week in one START he threw 37 pitches faster than 100 MPH including 73% of them for strikes. Had this been in the majors he would have set the record for most 100 MPH pitches in a single game in history. Let’s hope the Reds are smart enough to keep him down in Louisville until Sept. and then use him only out of the pen from time to time. 

Last but not least, this week Roger has some good stuff for sale. Used hockey chewing gum from Gump Worsley, a Martin St. Louis autographed cap when he played for the St. Louis Blues and of course a President Santa Ono bobblehead (he was the former President of UC) because really what dope would want that????

See ya next week for the final week of the season.

Marc

August 4 Recap

By Marc Brafman

 

What a great night last night for softball. As the 2nd half of the season winds down the action is heating up as there are a lot of teams in the hunt for the 2nd half title.

 

Let’s get right to it. 

 

On Field 1 it was Team Loon vs. Team Lefton

 

This is the entire report from Jimmy…”we won 30-4 nuff said.  I believe that they batted around in the first inning twice including once with 2 outs. Tough game for Team Loon.”

 

Moving on to field 2 it was Team Kamrass vs. Team Grefer in a battle of teams in the hunt for the title: Micah reports in:

 

In a game with major championship implications, Team Kamrass edged Team Grefer by a one-run margin. Players of the game included Zach Mayer with a home run, Keith Kombrink who pitched three scoreless innings of relief, and Mike Creemer and Eppy with some key hitting and base running at the bottom of the order. Rafi Goldfarb had a few big hits and stole second and third on the same pitch. David Solomon caught a pop up with his bare hand and played solid defense behind the plate. The Kamrass brothers both had a couple of key hits. Ryan Silverman, Adam Heldman, and Riley Able each had timely hits and played great defense in the outfield.

 

The highlight came on defense, when Team Grefer was held scoreless in the fifth after starting the inning with bases loaded and no outs.

 

“It was a total team win tonight. An awesome game of softball,” said captain Micah Kamrass. “We control our own destiny for the second half title now.” (Micah we need to know how speedsters “Flash Creemer and Eppy ran the bases. Did the ball disappear or something?)

 

On field 3 it was Team Solomon vs. Team Weisser

 

Roger reports:

 

TEAM WEISSER    20

 

TEAM SOLOMON 15

 

 

It was a wild game that unfolded on field #3 as TEAM WEISSER came from a 10-2 early deficit to defeat TEAM SOLOMON……….

 

 

After scoring four runs in the top of the opening frame, TEAM SOLOMON gave up two runs, to lead 4-2, before exploding for six runs to take a 10-2 lead.

 

The bats really woke up for TEAM WEISSER as they plated 13 runs in the middle of the game to take 15-10 lead, only to have TEAM SOLOMON come back to tie the game at 15-15……. 

 

However, the victors scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning  and held on for the hard earned victory.

 

It was a total team effort for the winning side as everybody, especially the bottom of the lineup, EVAN WEISSER….LARRY NEWMAN and ROGER ROSENTHAL, came up with big base knocks.

 

However, a huge play came in the form of a hit by pitch of ROSENTHAL, who basically just stood at the plate when SOLOMON, pitching instead of MIKE GRAY, threw inside and hit him. 

 

This sparked a few unkind words (can’t use them for this family friendly blog) directed from SOLOMON to ROSENTHAL.

 

“I was doing anything I could to help the team. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was at the plate and the ball came inside and hit me. End of story,” ROSENTHAL said to reporters afterwards.

 

“I was furious at him (ROSENTHAL) and let him know. I don’t think I’d say those words if my family is here, but they weren’t and my emotions got the best of me, “commented SOLOMON in the somber locker room after the game.

 

Back to the game……kudos go out to DAVID WERTHEIM who was a hitting machine and after making an error on a routine grounder (even the great ones make errors), he caught a pop up from his shortstop position in right centerfield.

 

“My error accounted for three runs and I had to do something to make up for it and I did, ” WERTHEIM said.

 

MARK WEISSER had a good night at the plate including two bunt hits that spurred rallies….STEVE ZAWATSKY had a huge two run hit with two outs and finally, SAM CASTELLINI, fighting a mild slump, came thru in the big 13-run inning……..

 

“I’m proud of the way the team responded. We never gave up and that’s a sign of a good team. I offered to take the team out for ice cream after the game, but the only person who wanted to go was ROSENTHAL. I said, forget it. Maybe next time,” WEISSER said.

 

Finally on Field 4 it was Team Groh vs. Team Brafman.

 

Marc reports in:

Bouncing back from a disappointing loss last week to Team Lefton, Brafman jumped on Groh early scoring 5 in the first and never looking back to win 14-1. It was a total team effort Brafman said. We hit up and down the order, led as usual by Yitz and Mark “Big Blue” Tenenholtz, who had 3 doubles and a gap homer. “The Macho Man” Andrew Gage had one of the best at bats of the season fouling off 4-5 pitches before lacing an RBI single. Zach “The Wild Horse” Zakem not only caught a good game but contributed with a clutch two run single. And Ben “Raindance” Rosenberg also had a few hits to move runners along. 

On defense Fink and Eric “The fastest man in the league” Zeid both robbed the father-son Fogel duo of hits with line drive saving catches. Fink’s almost took his glove off which once again shows why I would never pitch in our league. A big shout out to first time sub Chad Estill who played a very very solid LF and contributed with a sac fly. As the age old baseball adage says the ball will find you. I think with Yitz in LF he maybe has caught 4 balls total all season and Chad comes in and has 4-5 balls hit to him in one game. He did a great job out there Brafman said post game. As always Alan had the final word on the game. “I didn’t do anything to help us lose which is my goal each week. 

 

With 4 teams all sitting at 4-2 going into the final weeks of the season it is shaping up to be a race to the finish. 

 

League notes

 

I guess Roger was channelling his boy Javy Baez who after yet another run in with a pitcher last night had this to say: “I’m not this type of guy bringing trouble to the field.” That does sound a little like Roger, doesn’t it?

 

The mother of superstar GRIFF HARRIS was in attendance to see her son play. She had heard he’s the best player in the league and he didn’t disappoint as his team, TEAM LEFTON plated 30 runs in the game…..

 

 Most people think/know that I’m pretty cheap (I think I’m frugal) and after the games, I’ve been eating “free” off STEVE EPPSTEIN, however what most don’t know is that I trade sports stuff to his family…….traded Cincinnati Reds gnomes to son, MICHAEL and Ohio State bobbleheads to son, DAVID EPPSTEIN and most recently a book about the dominance of Ohio State football especially over the University of Michigan……

 

 STEVE EPPSTEIN finally beat HOWIE SCHWARTZ!!!!!……”It’s been a long long time that has happened. It just shows that I can still pitch,” EPPSTEIN said.

 

 ZAWATSKY was so happy that fellow teammate, ROSENTHAL, brought him some Z-MAN wrestling cards….

 

Congrats to Gary Fisher on his wedding anniversary this week. 

 

Remember that more info on the Oye Vey 5k will be out soon. I’ll keep you posted on this great fundraiser for the JCC

 

What better way to celebrate our kids going back to school and the High Holidays than with baked goods from Sweet Butter bakery. Talk to me or Sam “The Hitman” Hecht next week.

 

Get out to the fields early next week Rabbi Yitz will be doing his annual tradition of blowing the shofar before the game

 

Big time shout out to Justin Berg and his wife Lauren who as we all know is getting better by the week. (slowly) this week she walked in a harness for the first time since her accident. Check out their story on facebook if you want to know more. 

 

If you need a DJ for your next social gathering I would volunteer Alan “The Family Truckster” Lessure as your guy. He does have an amazing knowledge of music including some really obscure 60’s rock in roll (even though we all know that Todd Rungren sang “Bang the Drum all Day”) look it up Alan  

 

In this week’s installment of how many of us would be a better manager than David Bell I take us back to last Saturday night vs. the Mets. After Heath Hembree walked the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 9th he then struck out the next two guys (with a wild pitch thrown in) which brought up a lefty hitter for the Mets. What does David Bell do? He brings in Sean Doolittle (who as we all know has done little this year) because he wanted to have a lefty-lefty matchup. Sounds good on paper right? Except that Smith from the Mets is hitting over .325 vs. lefties and something like 250 vs right handed pitchers. Of course he singled and the Reds lost in extra innings. David Bell can’t be blamed for most of the crappy bullpen arms he’s been given and the fact that none of them can throw strikes but what he can be blamed for is doing moves like this. Doolittle should be pitching in our league before he goes into a game vs. MLB hitters. Just a totally dumb move.

 

Finally it’s been a while since we last reported on the American Pickers style finds of Roger. This week it was plastic batting helmets. So if you are in the market for a Tampa Bay Devil Rays (not just the Rays but the DEVIL RAYS) Roger has you covered.

 

 

  

 

July 29 Recap

By Marc Brafman

 

It was another hot one of the fields last night and the action wasn’t bad either. Once again, some upsets and close games. Let’s get to the recaps.

 

Taylor leads off as his team took down Team Loon on Field 1

 

Team Schwartz battled Team Loon on Field #1 as both captains sat out due to the “Twisties.”

 

Both teams scored 2 in the first inning. Team Loon took the lead after scoring 3 runs with 2 outs. The score held until the bottom of 4, when Mark Franklin (making his season debut) came up to bat with 2 outs and the bases loaded and BLASTED a massive triple over the outfielder’s head, giving Team Schwartz a 7-5 lead. The middle infield of Ben Rodriguez (returning from a firework injury) and sub, David Wertheim, made multiple nice plays but the defensive star was Corey Norris who made two incredible grabs in the same half inning. Mike Rothstein was 3-4 at the dish but league favorite, Pete Soltesz, led the offense going 4-4 with 2 should-be triples (he only got a double on one of them because he thought it was a home run so he walked to first). Schwartz led 12-7 going into the top of the 7^th, but Team Loon wouldn’t quit. They strung together 7 consecutive hits to tie the game 12-12, but Jamey Kurtzer hung in there and didn’t surrender the lead. In the bottom of 7, trying to avoid extra innings in consecutive games, Brian Monk got a hit to start the frame. The offense moved him to 3^rd and with 1 out Eric Goldstein came up to play hero, and delivered as Monk slid under the throw at the plate to give Team Schwartz back to back walk-off wins.

 

After the game, offensive star Pete Soltesz had this to say: “I know I may be the least liked guy in the league, but I’m the hottest hitter in the entire world right now. And I have to give thanks to Coach Taylor because he is such a nice person and he believes in me.”

 

Note: David and Pete did not make up, but they were able to coexist and bring home the win.

 

Over on field 2, it was Team Solomon vs. Team Kamrass

Stu reports the following:

 

Big win for Team Solomon last night 10-2.

 

One of our most stellar defensive efforts. Tyler Stansbury was all over the field. He had two unassisted double plays and a great diving stab and flip to second on a grounder up the middle. Our team had a 9 to 2 to 6 double play. Stuart caught a fly ball to RCF. The runner on third tagged and he beat the throw. The runner on first tried to go to second on the throw home and Andy Gollin gunned him down at 2nd.

 

On the offensive side, another strong performance by Tyler going 2-4. Moving up in the line-up was Zander Wold going 2-4 with a few RBIs. 

 

We will briefly touch on the fact that Kamrass only had 9 and were missing their two top hitters. 

 

On field three it was a titanic struggle as Team Lefton battled Team Brafman

 

Jimmy’s ghost writer weighs in:

 

In a game that wasn’t without drama Team Lefton held on to beat Team Brafman 9-7. In what was an interesting offensive night for Team Lefton they never got huge hits or a lot of extra base hits but came up with big hits when they needed them. “The other” Brian Goldberg came up with a couple of big knocks to drive in runs and Jimmy dinked and dunked himself to a couple of hits. The Human Rain Delay, Brad Wagner, had a few knocks and was also smart on the base paths for the visitors. Griff Harris, while not contributing his normal 4-4 night, played a stellar SS and Scott “Why can’t we be” Friend made two nice catches in LC.

On Team Brafman side Mark “Big Blue” Tenenholtz went Joey Bangs Votto on a ball in the bottom of the first for his second over the fence homer in as many games. Alan “The Family Truckster” Lessure also had a nice hit and the Commish Rick T legged out a couple of infield singles. Capt. Lefton explained his controversial move moving Grif from LC to SS. “Nothing against Dee but his range is that of Barry Larkin, NOW, so we moved Grif in and boom we won.” 

 

Finally in one of the biggest upsets in recent JCC softball history Team Groh took down the mighty Team Grefer on field 4

 

Ken reports: 

 

All we can say is JCC softball – the hottest team vs the coldest team and Team Groh just found the answer and his name was Roger Rosenthal. After contacting 38 players and only having 8 I turned to the legend in his own mind to come to the rescue. Roger Rosenthal did his thing. He talked and talked and talked and must have just thrown the Grefers mojo! After both Fogels scored in the top of the 1^st, out came Roger to the mound to make his first appearance since the late 2000’s. Yes, he was stalking the mound and muttering after walking guys. He fooled Kyle, but the bloop double drove in 2. He would later score as Grefer took a 3-2 lead, but a double play got him out of the inning. The mound was irked by Roger’s presence and Howie, the 30x pitcher of the year, got wild and looked more like the Mad Hungarian than his normal Randy Johnson self and Team Groh got a big base clearing double from Ryan Baum. Bryce Anslinger, Zach Michelson and David Weil each had 2 hits in the game and Groh scored 7 to take a 9-3 lead. Roger opened the 2nd with 7 straight balls and was pulled for Groh but he delivered as only Roger could. The 3rd ended with a Roger playing 3rd base turning a double play with Zach and Todd. Joel, Jeremy, Groh and Baum each had at least 3 hits and Baum had 2 doubles and a 3-run homer to be named player of the game awards as he batted cleanup. Our backs were against the wall and we were focused and played hard and of course we had the Roger factor.

 

(It should be noted that in back-to-back weeks Groh has had both Roger and Faust as subs. There might be a mutiny on his team next week if he keeps this up).

 

League notes

I forgot to mention this last week but in back-to-back Reds games I caught a foul ball (ok I ducked the ball hit the wall behind me and I picked it up)  and then the next night Ryan “Hi Ho” Silverman while sitting with Gary Grefer, Rick Tenenholtz and Jerry Kirzner also caught one while holding a beer in his other hand. Some say it was the best catch Ryan has made in years. 

 

Speaking of Reds games, it’s amazing that GABP is still standing after the bachelor party that D-Sol and his friends had a few weeks ago. Lucky for us, Rick “Mr. Selfie” Lefton was at the party and filmed it. Here is a clip from that night.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ_Q2DNmvoo

 

It’s always nice to see guys out and about off the field. Stu Solomon was spotted at the Montgomery Pool over the weekend. While it was nice to catch up with Stu I believe his lovely wife, Kate, was not so happy with Stu talking to me and Scott Friend while she had to chase after their two young kids. Keep an eye open, Stu. Come on, man! (I also believe she called him Stuart. That is never good)

 

Congrats to Riley “the Big Man” Able and his wife who are expecting their first baby next year

 

Taylor touched on this above, but last week Anton played a doubleheader then drove to Chicago that night. That is dedication. 

 

Jason “The Mad Hungarian” Faust is back on Facebook and for those of you who aren’t friends with him, his posts read a little bit like this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndv1UfKIluw

 

Don’t be surprised if Z becomes the foremost JCC softball authority on ballet dancing as his son is currently dating a woman who is a professional dancer. 

 

It warms the heart to know that Eppy still calls his family after every game to give them the rundowns on the games. (Personally, I think it’s they make him check in to make sure he is still alive)    

 

Roger mentioned it earlier in the week, but a very cool article in the Israelite about David “The Dr. of Style” Weil’s dad who was a very good handball player, and who still plays a couple of days a week even into his 80’s. Check it out.

 

Last night we were debating on our bench about Simone Biles and if this happened to a man what would the reaction be. Well, we have an example of that when a few years ago after his dad died, Joey Votto had to take some time off. Kudos for her for knowing what was best for her and not worrying about what the rest of us think. Plus, if I’m doing flips and tumbles that could kill me if I land on my head, I want to be in the best mental place I could be.  

 

Finally, we would remiss if we didn’t discuss this week in Reds baseball.  First, I guess we have to give them their due on getting a couple of relief pitchers in trades. If it means we don’t have to watch Perez, Garcia and Hendrix the rest of this week, I’m good with it. But imagine if they had kept Archie Bradley from the start of the season. Who knows how many games they could have won? And for Joel “The Wrath of” Kahn who said 4 years ago that Votto was washed up, I think the last month+ has shown that it might be a little early to close the book on him. 8 homers in 6 games and he is even making good plays in the field. Let’s hope with the DH coming to the NL next year the Reds can move him out of the field and save his legs a little. On top of his play on the field, his post-game interviews are always top notch. While he might not be the greatest clutch hitter in Reds history, he is the best player anyone under the age of 45 has seen with the Reds, and I hope for all of our sakes he can keep it going and that the Reds will put a team around him worthy of his play.  

 

Roger wanted me to tell all of you that he is starting to collect any old Cleveland Indians stuff in anticipation of a run on it when they change to the Guardians next year. So, if you have any Albert Belle, Corey Schneider or Len Barker things laying around, get them over to Roger ASAP.

 

 

July 21 Recap

By Marc Brafman

 

Sorry for the delay. It stinks when work gets in the way of recaps, right? But better late than never…so on a great night for softball. Let’s go to the recaps:

 

It was an unusual night as all but one of the matchups had a split in the games vs. a sweep

 

On field One we had Team Groh taking on Team Stu

 

Ken leads off:

 

Randy Broyles and Mike Gray were locked in a good old-fashioned pitcher’s duel. Michael Askin had several hits and scored the 1st run to make it 1-0. Bryce Anslinger drove in a pair for a 2-1 lead. In the top of the 5^th, Team Solomon struck with two outs to tie and take the lead 4-3. With 2 on and no outs, the Mad Hungarian, Jason Faust, hit what we will call a swinging bunt to advance the runners. Then Zach Michelson hit a single and Anslinger slid into home with the winning run for the 5-4 victory! The return of Jason Faust was the highlight of the night for Captain Groh. “It was it was great to see him on the diamond again,” Ken said postgame. “He struggled a bit but had his normal flair we all love and gave it his all even though it was quite the workout. He even tried to pitch a few innings in the 2nd game!”

 

In game two, Stu’s team won. We did hear that Faust was trying to break the speed record for fastest inning by quick pitching and not letting his defense get ready. Randy “Tex” Broyles was quoted post game as saying “I was not even set and I look up and the ball was going towards the plate” Slow down, big fella! 

 

On field two we had Team Weisser vs. Team Schwartz

 

Roger leads off for Team Weisser:

GAME 1…….

 

The bats came alive for TEAM WEISSER as the whole team got into the act…..

 

Kudos go to…..HARRY MEISNER…..NORM FRANKEL…..JOSH ROSEN……DAVID WERTHEIM as they led the way…..

 

MARK WEISSER behind a solid defense with son, EVAN, catching, pitched a game that was never in doubt.

 

 

 

GAME 2…….

 

After trailing most of the game, TEAM WEISSER came back to tie the game in the top of the 5th inning with some key hits, only to lose in frustrating fashion in the bottom of the 6th inning….

 

“Damn. That was a great comeback, and it was a tough one to lose, but we showed some fight. I love that. We were down the entire game, but we came back,” the elder WEISSER commented after the game. “I’m proud of this team for coming back, but sometimes things just don’t turn out right at the end.”

 

DAVID WERTHEIM took the loss hard, “I need to play better. I’m counted on in the big moments and I didn’t produce the way I know I can.”

 

ROGER ROSENTHAL, the team’s emotional leader, took WERTHEIM aside afterwards and said, “David. You had a heck of a game at shortstop, and you can’t make all the plays. This is a team game and we all need to do our jobs. You’ll be back.”

 

WERTHEIM gave ROSENTHAL a hug that lasted a full 30 seconds and said, “I needed that. I needed a little love.”

 

Let’s hear from Capt. Taylor for his reaction:

 

Team Weisser took on Team Schwartz in a battle of 9 v. 9.

 

Game 1 was all Team Weisser as their offense was led by Josh Rosen and Harry Meisner. Mark Weisser pitched a great game, and they played all around solid defense, anchored by David Wertheim. First base coach Roger Rosenthal was extremely valuable as he yelled “Touch ‘em all!” on every base hit by his team. Good thing they didn’t listen to him. Evan Weisser threw out multiple runners behind the plate. The final was 11-4, Weisser.

 

Game 2 was more competitive as the four subs for Team Schwartz settled in. Zach Mayer played fantastic defense at short, Mike Rothstein was wonderful at 3^rd, and Keith Kombrinck was stellar at first, making several scoops and difficult stretches. Pete Soltesz had a 3-run home run for the 2^nd consecutive week (it was a single, but a JCC homer) to give Schwartz a 5-1 lead. Weisser came all the way back, plating 3 runs in the top of 5 to tie the game. However, the go ahead run got thrown out at home plate by a wide margin.

 

Tied 5-5 in the bottom of 5, sub Eric Cronstein was at 1^st base with 2 outs when newcomer sub George “of the jungle” Peck drove a liner into the deep gap which looked to be the walk-off hit. As speedster Eric rounded 3^rd, he could have crab walked to home plate, but instead took a stumble halfway down the line. He finally got up and tried to make a dive for home, but the slow trickling ball beat him for the out, sending the games to extras. Team Weisser had new life and took advantage, plating 3 runs in the top of the frame. A key hit by Kombrinck flipped the order to the top of the lineup with 2 outs, trailing by 2. Consecutive hits by Rothstein, Soltesz, and Zach Mayer, brought up Adam Cronstein, who delivered a screaming line drive to bring in the winning run and walk-off for Team Schwartz in dramatic fashion in one of the craziest games in JCC history.

 

After the game, winning pitcher Jamey Kurtzer had this to say to sideline reporter Rachel Nichols: “I’ve never seen such madness, which is saying something for the JCC league. I was on my way to get a White Claw to celebrate, and then I saw Eric lying on the ground. I think he had the over, and took us to extras on purpose”

 

Side note: Tensions got high as many words were exchanged between David Wertheim and many members of Team Schwartz. Captain Weisser even got into the action as he taunted Soltesz. “You’re 25 years older than him, grow up!” It’s only a 13-year difference, Mark. Get it straight. Will be interesting to follow as Wertheim is subbing for Schwartz next week. Stay tuned. (Vegas odds in a boxing match: Soltesz -300 / Wertheim +250).

 

On field three, it was Team Grefer vs. Team Lefton:

 

Kyle files his report

 

We beat team Lefton in both games to bring the win streak up to 9 and win the first half. I’m incredibly proud of my team after starting the season 1-2 to come back and take the first half title.

 

The first game was 8-0, in a complete team effort. Howie was hitting his spots all night to keep them off balance, and we were able to back him up with consistently great defense. Duff Wolf made a nice catch running back on a ball at first base, and the rest of the Wolf’s carried the offense with Wes, Tyler, and Scott all going 3 for 3.

 

In the second game the final score was 9-4, with Howie again pitching really well. It was a close game until the 4th inning when we batted around and scored 5 runs. Scott Wolf again reached base 3 times, Gary Grefer and Duff Wolf each had 2 hits, and the top of our order was again solid with only three combined outs for our top 4 batters (me, Wes, Tyler, and Dan Grefer). David Solomon also subbed and made a few nice catches in left field. Howie also helped himself at the plate going 2 for 3 in both games.

Congrats to Team Grefer for winning the first half

 

Finally on field 4 it was Team Loon vs. Team Brafman

 

Anton goes first: We beat Team Brafman 15-7 in the first game to ruin their chances of a first half title. We jumped on them early in game one batting around in the first inning. The big blow was a 3-run triple by Camden Kirzner, and I had a big gap hitting double. Our entire lineup came ready to play and we jumped on them early. Other than a HUGE And I mean HUGE two run homer by Mark “Big Blue” Tenenholtz, we did a good job of keeping them off the bases. Kudos to Jerry “Doc” Kirzner for playing great defense behind the plate and super sub, Greg Leader, who dug out a couple of throws at first. Capt Brafman had this to say post game: “I blame myself for this loss. Putting myself in RC was not a smart move because once we shifted Pat “Sunshine” Feldman back we kept it even. I’m proud of the way my team battled all first half we just came up short today.”

 

In the second game Team Brafman rebounded and won 14-11

We really rebounded nicely in the second game Brafman said. Big hits came from Rabbi Yitz, Sam “The Hitman” Hecht (who got the game ball for going 3-3 and making a great diving stop at 2nd) and Zach “The Wild Horse” Zakem who I believe went 6-6 in the two games. Mark T made his usual great defensive plays in the outfield and the Macho Man Andrew Gage and Ben “Raindance” Rosenberg also made some nice plays in the field. Shout out to Both Eric Zied and Fink for their pitching in both games. 

 

Let’s hope this was the last week of double headers for the year…

 

League notes:

Roger starts first 

 

The after-game meals were missing something this evening. STEVE EPPSTEIN wasn’t there to treat his buddies to wings, chips and whatever else he orders……he’ll be back next week……thank goodness for that…..by the way, what do you think he does on a bye week????????

 

**MARK WOLF, a veteran of many seasons, who hung up his glove and bat a few years ago, dropped in to see his buddies……He had some stories to tell about the good old days……and of course, he picked on ROGER ROSENTHAL about his gouging of prices on his bobbleheads……”Man. You talk about high prices. He pays $2 for a $20 bobblehead. Not a bad markup.”

 

 

***GRIFF HARRIS was heard before the game bragging about one of his favorite non-Reds players, JOC PEDERSON, who hit a homerun in his first game as an Atlanta Brave……who cares!

 

*****Finally, DAVID WEIL needs to apply for the next Reds manager job and hire BRAFMAN and former JCC star BILLY KAHN to coach…..it seems like they have all the answers….lol

 

As noted above it was great to see Jason “The Mad Hungarian” back out on the field the other night. Just remember next time slow down a little when you’re pitching.

 

Scott “Shorty” Adams has been on vacation on what looks like a dude ranch this year. I can only image his nights out there are something like this: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAA5e6oH2Zs

 

Let’s all wish Eric Goldstein a speedy recovery from his big trip over the baseline the other night.

 

Once again, contact Sam “The Hitman” Hecht if you want your baked good delivered to the field as he will be happy to do so

 

Get your running shoes on this Nov. I have been tasked to lead the Oy Vey 5K race at the JCC. It’s for a great cause so I will be in touch with more details soon. All kidding aside if you want to run or walk it (or know people that do) please start spreading the word. 

 

Later this week or early next Team USA led by Todd Fraizer and Matt Kemp takes on Team Israel in baseball at the Olympics. What’s interesting about Team Israel is that their 3rd base coach played at UC with Youk and recruited many of the American players for the team. I’m just glad that one game wonder Ryan Lavarnway is on Team Israel. 

 

Speaking of the Olympics, while the games are on late stay up to watch the women’s softball. I love watching the Ladies World Series (mainly because Alabama is really good) but the speed and skill with which they pitch and field is amazing to me. 

 

Roger mentioned it above but speaking for myself, David “The Doctor of style” Weil and Billy Kahn I do believe the 3 of us could do a better job of running the Reds. David Bell continues to get the short end of the straw this year and while no one will say he’s the next Sparky Anderson the Reds continue to do him no favors. The latest is how they are handling Nick Castellanos. Last Friday he got hit in the hand with a pitch in the 3rd inning. Since that time he has played a half inning in the field and came up to bat with the game on the line on Monday where he swung one handed and flew out to the warning track.  A smart team would have given him a day, maybe two, to see if his hand feels better before putting him on the DL. Do the Reds do that? Nope instead they give Bell a short bench which forced him to play Mikey Biceps in the field (resulting in him getting hurt) and pinch hitting a PITCHER with the bases loaded because they didn’t have any other players. On top of that Bell has to run out a collection of bums, has beens and never should be’s night after night in the bullpen and pray that they can A) throw strikes B) keep the ball in the yard C) not spike themselves… It’s such a disservice what the ownership and front office has done to both Bell and all of us. Between me, David and Billy our first thing we’d do is bench Geno Suarez or if we can’t do that then hit him 9th. That’s right after the pitcher. None of us could fail at our job like he has done this year and still be employed. We all love Geno but man he’s been terrible. Next, I would outright release Jeff Hoffman, Sean Doolittle and Mike Freeman and bring up either rookies from AAA or AA. I’d rather see Lopez or Max Schrock hit than Freeman. And no team serious about winning employees Hoffman who can’t throw strikes or get anyone out when he does. 

So, there you have it, Roger. 

 

See you guys out on the field next week

Marc