Month: July 2020

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Game Results: July 30, 2020

July 29 Recap

By Marc Brafman

 

It was a full night of softball for only the second time all season last night, and what an eventful night we all had. 

 

On field one, Team Weisser defeated Team Schwartz 14-4. With the score knotted at 2-2, Team Weisser exploded for 9 runs in the 5th to put the game away. The usual suspects of David Wertheim and Griff “Benedict Arnold” Harris had big hits, but the big blow came from an unlikely source as Ben Margolis had a bases clearing double. Meanwhile, the crafty vet Mark “Eddie Harris” Weisser kept team Schwartz off balance all night with his usual combination of suntan lotion, WD40 and Burt’s Bee’s lip gloss making the ball dance all night. “Our team motto is whatever it takes to win we are going to do,” Weisser said last night as he nearly slipped off the bench post game. “We play to win…”

 

On Field 3, making their return to the league Team Anton beat Team Lefton 15-10 to remain undefeated.  The key hit in the game came after Jimmy intentionally walked Loon to load the bases for Matt Brodof who promptly cleared them with a double to deep left. Team Loon kept trying to pull away but Lefton kept pecking away at the lead. Mark Tenenholtz hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of 6 to provide some breathing room, and Jamey shut the door in the 7th to secure the W.  “It was great to be back out there,” Anton said. “I’m happy to report that I’m healthy (as is my family) and I look forward to driving our team to the first-half title.” 

 

Finally, on Field 4 Team Brafman defeated Team Groh 18-8. As has been their MO all season, this was a total team effort from Team Brafman, which had all 12 guys get at least one hit. The big blows came from the Wolf Pack as Weston “Hungry Like a” Wolf, Duffy “Howl at the Wolf(pack)”, and Scott “Dire” Wolf all came through with big hits. None though were as big as Tyler “Big Bad” Wolf who had a 3-run homer to break the game open in the top of the 7th. Not to be overlooked, Brandon “The Bird” Wolf pitched a very good game and most impressively kept Tyler “Bryce Harper” Stansbury from doing his normal thing at the plate. While I love the thunder at the plate that the Wolf’s bring each game I’d be remiss not to mention a couple of other guys that contributed last night. Andy “Snow Boots” Heldman dropped down a perfect bunt single to drive in a run, Sam “The Hitman” Hecht had two RBI’s by simply putting the ball in play and Zach “The Wild Horse” Zakem also had 3 hits. “Those plays are just as important as the hits,” Brafman said. Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley continues his sterling play at 3rd base for Team Brafman and is making a strong case for the Gold Glove. 

 

League notes:

 

Like all college students that have been forced to live at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, none are as ready to move out as Griff. First, he trades in his Bearcats black and red for the Scarlet and Grey of OSU, but he told me last week he is ready to move out. “Sure it’s nice to have all of my meals provided for me, my laundry done, my car gassed up,  free TV with all of the channels paid for and a clean bathroom, but come on! I’m moving in with a couple of guys who have a futon and I’m told ramen noodles are really good 6 days a week…”

 

A tip of the JCC ball cap to Scott “You’ve Got a” Friend in Me who saved his family and house from potential disaster when he smelled out a fire that had started outside his house a couple of weeks ago. Everyone is fine and the house is still standing. Way to go Scott. 

 

Editor’s note… a couple of weeks ago I incorrectly referred to  Drew “Kung Fu” Brown as Drew Hayes. Sorry about that slight Drew.

 

Brandon Wolf is leading his best life by knowing guys with boats. If you want to watch some solid boat videos, I suggest you check out Brandon’s Facebook page.

 

“Handsome” Sam Castellini is one of the few non-Jewish guys in the league (it’s amazing we let him hang around with us). This week he is going to get a full dose of what we all live with when the brigade of Jewish moms (full disclosure…it will be led by my wife) bombard his inbox at the JCC with requests to keep the outdoor pool open a couple of weeks later than normal. Sam, take it from us…good luck with that…

 

Jacob Stadiem, orthodontist to the stars, recently posted a picture on his page with JCC softball legends Stu Solomon and Michael Kahan bragging about his work on their teeth. Of course, because of COVID we will have to take his word for it since all 3 of them were wearing masks. Although let’s be honest, any cosmetic work on Stu would be an improvement.

 

Speaking of Stu, in this week’s Catching Up With I’ll let Stu himself explain what he’s been doing this spring/summer without softball:

 

This spring/summer has been interesting. On April 4th, my daughter, Anna Elizabeth was born. This was in the early stages of the pandemic and it was just eerie. I had been at home, alone, self-quarantining due to working in the healthcare field in anticipation of her birth. After she was born, I took off a week of work to be with everyone. Once I had to go back to work, we felt it was safest for me to live at my parents’ house for the foreseeable future. I spent 7 weeks at my parents only seeing my family on our porch. It was not the most ideal situation but a few days after I moved home, there was a positive case at work. Luckily, I hadn’t unpacked completely and left to stay at an Air BNB until we got our negative results.

 

Since that point, we have been free and clear. I am at home with my family. My daughter, who is almost 4 months, sleeps pretty well through the night. Instead of softball for my social and physical outlet, I have been playing more golf. The rest of the summer will be spent watching sports start, then stop, then start again.

 

Thanks for sharing Stu glad everyone is healthy and safe

 

And finally, in this week’s What has Roger learned this week since he’s not playing softball: The only two countries in the World where you can’t buy a Coke are Cuba and North Korea due to the US trade embargo. Interestingly, Roger does report that you can buy bobbleheads of both Castro and his brother Raul, and Kim Jong-Un would be happy to sell you one in or out of the box. 

 

Stay safe everyone. See ya on the field next week!

 

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Game Results: July 16, 2020

July 15 recap
by Marc Brafman
First from Ken Groh: 
Tonight’s game was a pitching duel as both Gray and Groh kept the hitters off balance in this early season matchup. In the bottom of the 1st with one out, Jeremy Fogel legged out a double and Danny Gilbert followed that up with a smash just inside 3rd base to drive him home as Fogel took a 1-0 lead. This held up until the top of the 3rd when Zach Swadner and Pete Soltesz singled to start the inning. Gray pitched the reigning MVP great for three of the four at-bats, but made one mistake pitch that Tyler Stansbury drove over the fence to make it 3-1. The score held into the 5th inning when, with two outs, Team Groh had four straight singles off the bats of Sam Castellini, Ken Groh, Ryan Baum and Joel Kahn that scored two. These runs almost didn’t happen after the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Jeremy Fogel, threw a dart from left center that beat Sam to the plate, but Sam’s head-first slide was under the tag. Team Groh added an insurance run in the 7th as Groh singled in Stansbury to end the scoring for the day. Defensively it was like good vs evil in game 2 vs game 1 as Stansbury, Swadner, Snyder and Soltesz provided great plays during the contest. A shout out to new pitching coach Gig Franklin for his work behind the plate. Until next week, stay safe! Special team member Jason Faust has some encouraging news as he will be leaving the rehab facility in 8 more days!  
and from Team Fogel 
Last night was a pitchers’ duel for sure.  Ken Groh kept team Fogel off balance all night giving up only one run in the first inning, winning 6-1.  Not many highlights for team Fogel.  Fogel said after the game “There may be a lineup shakeup next week.  The bats need to wake up.”  Also, the short shorts my son continues to wear need to change. Who does he think he is out there, John Stockton?  The highlight for Groh was a 3 run homer by Tyler Stansbury.  
Team Brafman
Over on Field 4 it was also a pitchers’ duel for most of the night, but in the end Team Brafman won their first game of the year 11-9 over Team Weisser. “The key to the win was our balanced offense,” Brafman said post game. We got contributions from all over the lineup. Along with the normal hitting stars of The Wolf Pack (Brandon, Tyler and Weston) it was the crafty vet Scott ‘Shout at the Wolf(Man)’ who had two of the biggest hits of the night, including the game clinching three-run double in the top of the 7th. Sam “The Hit Man” Hecht had his first JCC RBI (but does need a guide dog to find 2nd base), and Andy “The Jet” Heldman legged out a double to help the cause. On defense, Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley, Duffy Wolf and Zach “The Wildhorse” Zakem flashed the leather all night on the infield to keep Team Weisser at bay. Buckley, who thinks of himself as Brooks Robinson at 3rd, was particularly impressive all night. “This is the best rookie class we’ve had in my 6 years in the league,” Brafman said post game. “And I’m sure glad that I’ve got Buckley and Hecht to help us.”  Not to be overlooked was the stellar catching and coaching of Mike “Flash” Creemer who like Big Gig helped his pitcher out all game. 
A special shout out to David Wertheim on Team Weisser, who had a couple of hits and was outstanding at SS all night. Also of note last night, Mark “Eddie Harris” Weisser was almost kicked out of the game last for putting suntan lotion on the ball in the middle of the game. To set the scene, in the top of the 5th inning his wife Sandy called timeout and instructed Joel Buckley to run out and hand him some sun tan lotion to put on his arms and legs, but it was such a blatant violation of the rules that even the ump had to put a stop to it. “I’ve got to try everything I can to keep the other team off balance,” Weisser said post game.  “Like my pitching hero Eddie Harris says, you’ve got to do anything you can to make the ball move and since it was too hot and dry last night for snot, I thought suntan lotion was the next best thing. Of course I need to tell my wife to not call timeout in the middle of the game to remind me next game.”    
League notes:
As most of you know it was sad week for the JCC softball league as we lost one of our favorite sons in Mike “Bear” Youkilis over the weekend. Mike was a great 3rd baseman in the 70’s and 80’s and, even more than that, a great guy. As a kid I can remember watching him smoke balls at the old J and, as Scott Wolf said last night, you never met a man who had a better and harder handshake. 
Some good news on the injury front as both Anton and Faust are improving from their respective ailments. Anton reports that other than a loss of taste and smell he and his family are doing well. And Faust is finally going home later this week. 
When he comes back from the DL give a big congrats to Jerry “Doc” Kirzner on his retirement this week. 
Zach Hiudt continues the trend of getting his family a dog this summer. Good luck with that Zach.
In alumni news, Drew “Kung Fu” Hayes must be making a lot of pizza’s at the JCC cafe as he is now the proud owner of a Corvette. When can we get a ride?
This week in facts with Roger, who has busy with all the time on his hands, reports that you can combine 6 lego bricks into 915,103,765 different shapes. So far, he has figured out to do ten.
And finally, in Catching up with…
This week we talked to Dave “The Minister of Fun” Cohen who reported in from the bike path somewhere in Florida. “I’ve been doing a lot of biking and cooking,” Dave reported. “It was nice to see my kids a couple of weeks ago and I have enjoyed spending time not doing much in retirement. My new favorite thing is my Grateful Dead Steal Your Face bike shirt, because when you think of Jerry Garcia you immediately think of health and fitness.” 
Stay safe, keep those masks on and see ya on the field next week!

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Game Results: July 9, 2020

July 8 recap
By Marc Brafman
In an abbreviated schedule last night Team Fogel defeated Team Schwartz 11-7. After falling behind 2-0 early, Team Fogel came back with an offensive flurry led by their two rookies. Adam “Knecht the dots” and Chris Kunkel. “In my everyday life I work with recycled parts and scraps of metal at Cohen. this year I didn’t want to go after the same old guys, so I tried out the rookies and so far, the results have been very promising,” said Captain Joel Fogel.  “The K boys last night led the way for our team. Not to be left out Brad “The Gallop(ing) Ghost” also had a big two-run single.”
Team Schwartz tried to rekindle their winning ways by drinking one of B-Rods protein shakes before the game made of cramp bark, clover and of course couch grass, but it wasn’t meant to be. “Maybe we should go back to beer and Poweraid,” a dejected Schwartz said post game. “I love me some cramp bark, but it didn’t help us tonight.” 
In the other game of the night, Captain Ken Groh reports:
Team Groh scored 4 in the 1st as Castellini, Groh and Baum drove in runs, but Team Lefton matched the 4 and then added another 4 in the 2nd. Stansbury scored again in the 3rd off a sacrifice fly from the captain, but Lefton struck for 3 more to open up an 11-5 lead. After a scoreless 4th inning from both teams, Team Groh plated 5 as hitting stars “Handsome” Sam Castellini went 4-4 with 2 doubles and 5 RBIs and Tyler “Bryce Harper” Stansbury went 3-3 with 4 runs to pace the offense. Mark Franklin had 2 hits and Zach Swadner added 3 and Captain Groh had a couple of hits and drove in 3. In the top of the 6th Swadner and Pete “The Straw that Stirs the Drink” Soltesz both scored on a Stansbury triple and Castellini drove him in to get team Groh a 13-11 lead, but Jimmy Lefton held them to only 1 hit in the 7th and 8th innings. Team Groh thought they had a win in the bottom of the 7th but it slipped away as lightning struck and the top of the order for Team Lefton got the job done scoring the winning run off the bat of Corey “Chuck” Norris. “My main goal was to get a hit and get us out of there,” Norris said post game. “Those wings aren’t going to eat themselves at the Silver Spring House.” Plus, my wife was really hot sitting in the stands, and she was ready to go. Coach Groh added, “I thought our timing was a bit off at the plate and we were a bit off playing defense, but was proud of the guys coming back from 6 down to take the lead and had a chance to win when the game was on the line. I am happy to be playing during difficult times, but I feel this season will be a memorable one! I know the Mad Hungarian would have thrown his glove tonight but because of the heat, i had to conserve my energy!!”   
League Notes:
If this year hasn’t been hard enough, let’s take a second and think of about a couple of guys. At last report Jason “The Mad Hungarian” Faust had to go back to the hospital, and while I am waiting to confirm just know he has a long way to go to get back to normal (or as normal as Faust is).
Former Commish Ryan Kirzner’s wife is battling cancer so if you see Jerry ask how he’s doing. 
And of course, we all wish Anton a speedy recovery 
In other league news we caught up with the Living Legend Howie Schwartz to ask him what he has been up to in his first summer off from softball since JFK was in office was going: “I have been laying low and trying to stay safe.  As you know, your dad and I are of the same vintage and that puts us right in the middle of the high-risk class.  Not an enviable thing.
Unfortunately, I have not been doing much of anything.  Slowly watching my body and muscle mass deteriorate.  I certainly miss the softball, both for the physical activity and the camaraderie.  I hope the league goes well for all of you playing.

I haven’t done anything to stress my knees, shoulders or arms, so they are feeling fine at the present time.  I am already looking forward to making a comeback next year.” We all are too Howie.

In the next installment of “What Roger Has Learned Since the Pandemic Started:” Last week we learned that he discovered cable news. This week, he reports that a blue whale’s tongue weighs as much as a female elephant or about as much as 2 VW beetles, 6 grand pianos or 10 snowmobiles. What this has to do with softball is anyone’s guess, but it’s nice that Roger is broadening his horizons besides what the Joey Votto 2010 MVP bobblehead is worth.

If you want to ask someone who has a very cool job how they do it check in with Tyler “Dire” Wolf as his company Urban Blooms continues to make some amazing in-door plant walls. 

It was good to see Eppy out at the Spring House last night. Rick Lefton reports that COVID be damned, it wasn’t going to stop Ep from polishing off 3 plates of wings. In his prime, could Ep out eat Joey Chestnut? I think most of us would like to find out. 

I’m pretty sure I saw Big Gig Franklin warming up Trevor Bauer yesterday down at GABP on the Reds spring training feed. 

Finally, if you have nothing better to do on Sunday afternoon (and I know most of you don’t), head over to Kemper Field at 1:30 to cheer on “Coach” Mike “Flash” Creemer as he leads his JCC Blue Jays Class B team into the playoffs. All kidding aside, Mike does an amazing job coaching a lot of kids who we all hope one day will fill our league. Good luck this weekend.

Stay safe out there and wear a mask. See ya on the field next week.
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Game Results: July 2, 2020

July 1 Recap
by Marc Brafman

Team Loon got off to a slow start with the bats but rallied to beat Team Brafman 12-7. After falling behind 2-0, they broke out for 8 runs in the 3rd inning and never looked back. Scott “Shorty” Adams took home the game ball after going 3-3 and making a stellar catch at 2B. “You know I feel much better since I’m not traveling around the county following Phish,” Shorty said post game. “Instead of eating burritos and grilled cheese in the parking lot of Red Rocks I’m eating healthier foods like hot dogs from the Triple Creek Grill.”  Jamey Kurtzer added 2 hits and “scattered” 7 runs with no walks. Shout out to Mitchell Evans for playing a great LF, and super utility man Zac Hiudt for playing a flawless 1B, 2B, 3B, and C.   
Team Brafman lost to Team Loon 12-7. Hitting stars for the losing team were brother tandem Weston “Hungry Like a” Wolf, who went 3-4 and Tyler “Dire” Wolf who had a couple of big hits and played a very good RC. Andy “Bolt” Heldman also had a couple of knocks. The star of the game on defense for Team Brafman was rookie sensation Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley who made play after play at third while also going 3-4 at the plate. Jeff “The Natural” Weisbrot also made a couple of fine plays in LC field.  Brandon “The Bird” Wolf pitched a very good game (don’t let the score full ya) and did a magnificent job of keeping the mound in excellent shape between pitches.  
On Field 3, Team Schwartz beat Team Lefton 13-9. “This was almost my win total for all of last year,” Taylor Schwartz said post game. “I hope this feeling continues. I just wish my former Roommate Leon “The Bull” Seserman was back from Colorado so that I could share this with him. Last year he had to console me with a warm glass of milk and cookies after each game. Zooming with him tonight before bedtime won’t have the same effect.” Hitting stars for Team Schwartz were the newly fit and slim Ben “B-Rod” Rodriguez who went 4-4 and drove in a couple of runs. “I’m down 75 pounds from last year B-Rod said while drinking his kale and wheat germ post-game shake. Who knew that drinking this crap would improve my swing so much?” 
Team Lefton would like it pointed out that Jacob “JZ” Zeidenstein joined a short list of players led by former Cincinnati Red Stockings great George Tebeau, who in 1887 became the first Major League player to homer in his first at bat. JZ not only homered in his first JCC at bat but it was also his first pitch. “I’m just happy to be here. Hope I can help the ball club. I just want to give it my best shot, and the good Lord willing, things will work out,” JZ said post game. 
Finally, on Field 4 in the best game of the night Team Weisser blew a big lead but came back to shock Team Fogel 8-7 on a game winning single by James “Lynn” Swan. “We battled hard,” Joel “Sparky” Fogel said post game. “We had a nice comeback in the top of the 7th but we couldn’t put them away. Tip of the cap to Weisser and his team as they battled us all game.” 
“We made it interesting,” Weisser commented post game. “It shows the heart of this team that we gave up the lead but bounced right back to get the walk off win. I haven’t felt this good in a while.” 
Next week’s schedule is as follows:
Field 1 Lefton vs. Groh
Field 3 Weisser vs. Loon
Field 4 Fogel vs. Schwartz 
Bye Brafman
League Notes 
Congrats to “Coach” Mike “The Flash” Creemer on the birth of his granddaughter this week
Welcome back Matt Brodof and Scott “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from injury. Stay healthy boys
The biggest news of the night was when Eppy found out they raised the prices on wings at the Silver Spring House. “Who did this injustice to me,” Eppy said aloud post game. “Don’t they know how much money I drop there every day?” It is not yet known if the Spring House will take down the statue of Ep out front. 
Alumni League news:
Congrats to Oren Shmoel on the birth his son.
For astute political commentary not found anywhere outside of cable news I direct you to follow David “The Dr. of Style” Weil on Facebook. For all the news fit to print he is your guy.
Speaking of the news let’s give a big JCC round of applause to our own Roger Rosenthal who while on lockdown not only started a podcast, but discovered that there are news channels on TV. “I can’t ever remember her name but I really like that lesbian over on MSNBC,” Roger commented earlier this spring. “I didn’t even know that they let that kind of news talk on the air.”
Congrats goes out to Josh Lisman, who was named the new President of Adath Israel.
And finally, get better soon Faust. We miss you out here!

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Game Results: July 2, 2020

Weisser….8
Fogel…….7

by Joel Fogel

Weisser got off to a quick start scoring 3 in the first inning and several more over the next few innings while Team Fogel’s bats were cold.  Down 5-0 in the 4th inning, Mike Gray hit a 2-run homer to draw Team Fogel closer.  Weisser scored a few more taking a 7-2 lead into the 7th when Fogel woke up scoring 5 runs to tie the game.  The big hit was a 2-run single by rookie Chris Kunkel.  In the bottom of the 7th Evan Weisser led off by legging out an infield single and Mike Margolis attempting to bunt quickly got down 2 strikes.  Weisser took the bunt sign away and Mike had the perfect swinging bunt, a dribbler down the 3rd base line for another infield hit.  That turned the order to the top for James Swan, who hit a walk off single to left to win the game.  Final score, Weisser 8 Fogel 7.