Month: May 2021

May 26 Recap (Rainout)

By Marc Brafman

As you all know I have been vocal in the past about the rainout line and how it gets used. This week we were all baffled as to why the games were called off so early in the afternoon when we all know that we’ve A) played in worse weather and B) that they haven’t called off games when they should. Never fear the Commish is on the job. Commish Rick had this to say to the Israelite press on Thursday morning. 

“After much soul searching, I have decided to put together a top-notch multi-team committee to look into this outrage of justice about why the game was cancelled. Roger Rosenthal and Ken Groh need answers now and I plan on helping them out. The committee will be made up of chairman, Adam Cronstein, and members Cory Norris, Riley “The Big Man” Able, Andy “snowboots” Heldman and Scott Berge.” Adam had this to say “We have no idea why the staff at Triple Creek cancelled our games so quickly. The Softball Association of America, the umpires, sponsored by the Clovernook School for the Blind, and the JCC were all monitoring social media all day about the weather. We knew that it was going to stop raining around 2:00 PM. Why did we know this and the Triple Creek people didn’t?” That is what we are going to get to the bottom of. With this being 2021 nothing is easy and Commish Rick and Chairman Adam are getting some heat from the likes of Ben “B-Rod” Rodriguez and Alan Lessure who both say there is no need for a committee meeting on this. “Look we know that the weather is fickle, and our games are always up in the air each week.” Why do we care why the games were cancelled? The guys at Triple Creek just wanted to go home and not worry about the games, and it didn’t matter that the radar looked fine and clear to everyone. All they saw was rain…  Adam will report back next week with any findings he comes up with. 

Speaking of B-Rod, he is the new Richard Simmons of the league. he has lost over 100 pounds and looks great out in the field this season. Well done, buddy.

Big shout out to Former JCC All Star infielder Ben “Weezy” Lefton on his son pitching Mason to the district championship yesterday. He might be able to teach his uncle Jimmy a thing or two about pitching.

Dr. Bob has gone from helping Eppy with his wing consumption at the Silver Spring House to joining the cast of Project Runway. Dr. Bob is not a fan of Yermin Mercedes and all his gold chains that he is wearing during the games. “Dude looks like Mr. T out on the field. And not the cool Mr. T from Rocky III but the cartoon version from the A-Team. (off subject, but if you haven’t started watching the Wrestling docs that are on A&E each week you are missing out. The one on Rowdy Roddy Pipper was outstanding. He HATED Mr. T and refused to take the pin fall at Wrestlemania 1 to him. I might be the only one who finds that interesting. Now back to the blog)

Shout out to Scott “Shorty” Adams who instead of going to see Phish at Deer Creek outside of Indy is going to see them in Vegas. “I’m just glad that I can hook up with my buddy Dick Nickelson when I hit the Vegas strip Shorty said. We love a 30-minute-long Tweezer out in the Desert Sun as much as the next Phish fan”. No word on if Shorty will be selling grilled cheese out of his car at this show.

I don’t understand all the hubbub over Phil winning the PGA at 50. Don’t CBS and the rest of the sports world know that we’ve got guys 20+ years older than Phil playing well in our league? I think that is about comparable, right?

Cowboy Joe West broke the legendary ump Bill Klem’s record for most games umpired this week. He started umping MLB games in 1975, and is still going strong. He should be ready for our league in about 10 years when he is old enough to qualify to be an ump. 

Sweetbutterbakery has branched into cookies now. Make sure you check out the web site the next time you are in the mood for some really good baked goods.

Robert Plant of Led Zepplin fame recently told his family they can release all of his archives which include demos and handwritten notes, etc. after he is dead. Why would he wait that long? And why doesn’t he want people to hear this stuff now? I know I for one can’t sleep at night if I can’t hear the demo of Stairway to Heaven. 

 Big shout out to Weston “Hungry like a “Wolf and his girlfriend Haley for getting engaged last week. I called them the “First couple of JCC softball” because, and with all respect to the wives of the Fogels, Rothsteins, Leftons and the Norris’s who come to watch us play, Haley would come before they were engaged. Now she would bring a book and read most of the night (she strongly recommends “Cable TV is for Me” by Bo Diaz and the leaflet of Famous Jewish Sports Legends with the forward by Kevin Youkilis and Aly Reisman) but at least she came when she didn’t have to. Congrats, guys. We are all happy for ya.

You all will be happy to know that Roger was not in fact banned from Target like many other collectors of baseball and sports cards have been. When reached for comment he laughed and said “New stuff? I don’t buy anything new. Why would I buy new baseball cards?  My crowd is only interested in used t-shirts, Joe S”B”lunderman commemorative coins, 10-year-old Felipe Lopez bobbleheads and random hockey cards that I only care about. Now about that Martin St. Louis Calgary Flames card you asked about…”

Hopefully see you all on the field on Wednesday. Have a nice holiday weekend.

Marc

 May 12 Recap

By Marc Brafman

What a nice evening for softball (and sun) at Triple Creek. Maybe the weather is turning to our advantage before the bugs get here in a couple of weeks. I’m still waiting on anyone to tell us what it was like 17 years ago. I can’t imagine it is going to be easy with all of them flying around…

Onto the action. 

On field one it was Team Groh taking on Team Schwartz with Groh winning 12-11

Another week and another nail biter for Team Groh. Jeremy Fogel, Scott Friend and Ken Groh had extra base hits to put a 3 spot up in the 1st but Team Schwartz tied it in the bottom of the inning. Jim Beckett and Zach Michelson had a single and double to start the 2nd as Todd drove in Jim for a brief 4-3 lead. Schwartz broke open the game with timely hits to take an 8-4 lead after 2. After a brief team meeting, Team Groh had 6 straight hits except for a SF from the captain and Jeremy, Scott, Marc and Ryan scored to tie the game up at 8. Team Schwartz scored 1 to take a 9-8 lead. After a scoreless 4th for both teams Ryan Baum and Bryce Anslinger had 1 out singles and scored off rbi’s from Jim and Zach to put Groh ahead 10-9. In the top of the 6th with 2 outs Jeremy Fogel got HBP then Scott Friend capped his best night of his softball life my hitting a homerun over the left field fence to complete the CYCLE!!! Team Schwartz got 2 back in the bottom of the 6th to cut the lead to 12-11. Each team couldn’t plate any runs in the 7th and Groh squeaked out another one. 

I am wishing Jeremy Fogel a speedy recovery as he nearly broke his ankle tonight…

On Field 2 it was Team Weisser vs. Team Kamrass with Team Weisser winning 10-8

First Cap. Weisser chimes in:

So we won 10-8. We were up 10-2 and gave up 6 in the bottom of the seventh. There was a nasty collision on the base paths on the last play of the game between base runner Micah Kamrass and David Wertheim but everyone is ok.

Josh Rosen went 4-4 and scored 4 runs. Harry Meisner with a big 2 RBI single in the sixth. Also hitting well were David Wertheim, Sam Castellini and myself.  Very good defense throughout.

and from Roger:

One thing is clear in this league, that it’s never over until the final out……

TEAM WEISSER led by the great pitching of captain MARK WEISSER, played flawless defense for six innings except for a couple of misplays and built up what seemed like a commanding 10-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, when the wheels fell off and the team was sweating bullets. A miscue in the outfield and the sun playing a factor on throws to first base, TEAM KAMRASS put the tying runs on base with two outs, but WEISSER got the final out on a pop up on the left side that had 3B NORM FRANKEL and SS DAVID WERTHEIM both calling for the ball only to have MICAH KAMRASS run into WERTHEIM in the base paths, but FRANKEL ended up catching the ball to end the game……

The injured recent OHIO STATE graduate, WERTHEIM, laid on the ground for a good ten minutes while LARRY NEWMAN, the only doctor available, looked him over and got him up on his own power….

“Did we win the game?” WERTHEIM asked while still on the ground.

On the offensive side, hitting stars included JOSH ROSEN, WERTHEIM, SAM CASTELLINI, and  HARRY MEISNER.

KUDOS also goes out to EVAN WEISSER, son of MARK WEISSER, who was forced into catching the entire game and did an admirable job. “Catching isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Those base runners didn’t dare try to steal on me or else I would have gunned their ass out,” the younger WEISSER said after the game.

On field 3, it was Team Brafman taking on Team Solomon and the sun. Brafman won 17-13

In a back and forth slug fest Team Brafman came out on top 17-13. Mark Tenenholtz was the star of the game both on offense and defense last night for Team Brafman. Not only did he make three outstanding catches in LC but he gunned down two runners on the bases. “Mark put on one of the best  performances I’ve seen in my 7 years in the league last night Capt. Brafman said. His throw to 3rd would have made Dave Parker proud I don’t think Mitch even moved his  glove.” Other good glove work from Team Brafman came from Sam “The Hitman” Hecht in RF, The Commish Rick T behind the plate,  “Playboy” Mitch Evans at 3^rd, who turned a 5-3 DP with Brafman to end an inning and Fink who covered first base and beat Tyler “Bryce Harper” Stansbury to first on a rocket shot to first. On offense Rabbi Yitz, Andrew “The Macho Man” Gase, Eric “Fastest Guy in the League” Zied and Ben “Raindance” Rosenberg also contributed. Not to be overlooked in the win was the overall hustle of Alan “Family Truckster” Lessure. Not only did he leg out an infield FC but he was able to motor over to third (when he wasn’t rolling around in the dirt) and score on a single to RF. Alan, we hope your leg is feeling better. 

Team Brafman improves to 3-1 and looks forward to playing the 4-0 Team Groh next week.

Finally over on field 4 it was Team Grefer vs. Team Loon. Grefer won 14-1.

We defeated Team Loon 14-1 in 6 innings. This was our most complete effort as a team so far this year. Howard Schwartz pitched a great game, with the only run scoring on a defensive miscue on a first and third steal. Wes Wolf played a great shortstop making throws from deep in the hole (with Duff making a couple great stretches at first) and hit a homerun. Everyone on the team was hitting, but notable performances were Bob Pelberg with 3 hits, Brad Gallop with a double over the left fielder, Dan Grefer with 6 RBI’s, and Tyler Wolf with some key hits and solid plays in left center

League notes:

If you haven’t signed up for Jewish night at the Reds please do so. Talk to Rick Lefton for the details. It’s a fun night and maybe Ken Holtzman, Youk and Brad Asmus will show up.

For those of you that don’t read the Israelite (And shame on you since there is usually about half an article worth reading) the web site to donate to Justin Berg and his wife Lauren is www.helphopelive.org 

Speaking of the Israelite, fun to see Stu Solomon in there advertising for his company. What better way to reach the old Jewish folks of Cincy than through that?

As mentioned above a huge shout out to Scott “Why can’t we be” Friend(s) for hitting for the cycle last night. What’s amazing to me is that no Reds player has hit for the cycle since Eric Davis on June 2, 1989 (which was 8 days before my Bar Mitzvah). Since then the Reds have thrown 3 no-hitters, won the world series, had a guy hit 4 homers in a game employed some of the worst MLB players and managers of all time and yet no one else has hit for it. Well done Scott.

Big shout out to Even Gildenblatt for graduating law school-also for rocking that non baseball hat-hat. Looking good!

I’ve never been one to root against the USA in international sports but I might start if Homer Bailey makes the US Olympic baseball team. Go Cuba!

It’s pretty cool to see all of the guys in the league post pictures of their kids graduating high school or college. The latest was Eddie Gallop, whose daughter just graduated from Miami of Ohio.

And for those of us who have younger kids, bring them to the games. They can join Team Brafman-Creeger for games of toss and being the ball boys. I can remember as a kid watching my dad play in the old league and it will help get the younger generation excited about the league when we are too old to play.

With the opening of the new FCC stadium in the West End on Sunday I still don’t understand where 20K people are going to park once it opens up 100%. It’s the reason the Reds left Crosley to go to the River. It’s great that they are putting it in the West End and the stadium looks amazing but where is everyone going to park?

I have no idea what type of car it is but if you are friends with former All Star First Basemen Joel “The Wrath of” Kahn on Facebook check out a picture of his ride. It looks more and more like the batmobile each week 

If you haven’t seen Eppy eat wings you are missing out. I thought Dr. Bob was going to have a heart attack watching Ep order the wings let alone at all of them last night.

Is it me or are the 9 Capt. in our league better than David Bell? Yesterday in the 10th inning the Reds were ahead 2-1. Due to Bell using up all of his bench guys earlier in the game like he tends to do, he had to pinch hit Wade “Mr. No-No” Miley. The bases were loaded and there were no outs. The Pirates pitcher had just walked a guy to load the bases. Isn’t the smart play to tell Miley to just stand there and not swing so as to not hit into a DP? If you strike out fine then you have real hitters (in theory) behind you where a fly ball would bring in the run. Of course Miley takes the first two pitches for balls then swings away and pops out to 3rd. What dumb strategy is that? I know that Jimmy or Mark would not have had Miley swinging away

Finally if you want the best Jewish baked goods in town I’m telling you www.SweetButterCincy.com is the way to go

In this week in Rogerland-I have to give him credit as he somehow came across a Jimi Hendrix bobblehead which I bought because hey why not? So thanks Rog you can keep your 1 cent XU Shirts but next time be on the look out for a Richie Havens or Link Wray. I’m your guy

See you on the fields next week!

May 5 Recap (continued)

May 5, 2021 Recap

By Marc Brafman

What turned out to be a nice evening at Triple Creek saw plenty of close games and one blowout. Let’s get right to the action.

On Field One, Team Lefton beat Team Brafman (and the sun) 13-9. In a game marked by some very good defense from Griff Harris and Scott ” Why can’t we be” Friend(s) it was the hitting of Team Lefton that carried the day. Jimmy and Brad “The Human Rain Delay” Wagner both beat the shift to get key hits. Dee Harris and the Brothers Kunkel (who moonlight as a juggling act (or at least they should))  each contributed key hits in a 6-run inning that Lefton never gave back. “With the sun I was just trying to put the ball over the plate,” Lefton said post game. Jimmy also is going to advocate for a zero-strike zone in the future meaning hitters will have to come to the plate ready to swing with a 2×4 or an ironing board. He didn’t like that he walked me last night I guess.  For Team Brafman big shout out to Eric “the fastest man in the league” Zied for stepping in to pitch. He did a great job. He also contributed a couple of knocks. Brafman, “Playboy” Mitch Evans and Andrew “The Macho Man” Gage also had a couple of hits. 

Over on Field Two, Team Groh battled Grefer in a pitching duel for the ages: Ken reports after his 4-3 win:

In a rare JCC pitchers duel, Team Groh etched out a win even though “the living legend” Howie Schwartz pitched like he was 35 again holding Team Groh to 6 total hits. After a scoreless 1^st, Duffy Wolf hit a bloop 2 out single that drove in 2 runs. After a lead-off single by Ryan Baum, Bryce Anslinger doubled him to 3rd. An RBI grounder by Jim Beckett and aggressive baserunning by Bryce tied the game up 2-2 after 2. Tyler Wolf had a SF in the 3rd and Jeremy Fogel matched that with a two-out homer and was determined to score as he never stopped running and slid under the tag at home. At 3-3 thru 3 the pitchers and defense took over and the score remained that way until the bottom of the 7th. Groh doubled with one out and after 2 failed bunt attempts, Marc Simons hit a grounder to 2nd and was out on a close play at 1st but it did enough as the old man Groh rumbled around and slid headfirst ahead of the throw for the 4-3 win. Jeremy Fogel had 2 hits and was part of throwing out a runner at the plate and sub Josh Rosen had a triple and a nice diving catch. Todd Wasserman and Marc Simons had a couple of great defensive plays as well as Wes Wolf who probably accounted for half of his teams defensive plays at both ss and at 2b as Team Grefer had an effective shift. It was good to see Jeff Weisbrot and son at the game as he coached 3rd. He is looking to play again in a month or so. Groh also made a great diving catch that all of us on field one felt when he dove for the ball. Nice catch Kenny!

On Field 3, it was Team Schwartz taking on Team Loon and the setting sun 24-12.

Take it away, Taylor. 

Team Schwartz battled Team Loon in a high scoring affair. Both teams plated 2 in the first. Schwartz scored 4 in the 2nd, but Team Loon answered with 8 of their own as the whole lineup had solid base hits, to put them up 10-6. At that point, Jamey buckled in and only allowed 2 runs over the next 5 frames. Dan Perlmutter played excellent defense behind the plate. Everyone on Team Schwartz contributed on offense. Mike Rothstein was 5-6, Eric Goldstein with multiple bombs, and Taylor with a cycle. A big moment was in the top of 6 when B Rod hit a bloop 2 RBI single to put the victors up 14-12. Adam Cronstein snagged a screaming liner off the bat of Anton to keep the lead heading to the top of 7. This is when the wheels fell off for Team Loon. Electing to walk Pete Soltesz to load the bases with 2 outs, Corey Schwartz delivered a big knock to extend the lead. Following him, Corey Norris kept the rally alive, and the rest was history. Note: Double Corey hitting back-to-back is an electric duo in the middle of the order. I dare any other team to put forth a set of Corey’s that can compete with ours. Team Schwartz kept raking (along with some shakey defense) and scored 11 in the 7th to win 25-12. The team celebrated the Cinco De Mayo victory with shots of Jose Cuervo and Taco Bell.

Finally on Field 4, it was Team Solomon vs. Team Bachelor Party aka Kamrass 8-4

Stu reports in from the winners:

Great game last night! I thought we played well in all areas of the game.

A few big shout outs;
Mike and Andy- Awesome pitching and catching performance. As someone
who gets scared when the batter swings and misses, Andy, you looked
great back there. it must be the shin guards! Mike, way to keep the
batters off balance and mixing speeds. I think they had two or 3 hard
hit balls all night.

Mark Wolfe- Went 3-3 last night and started the big 5th inning.

Danny- Welcome back to softball. We missed you.

Michael,Tyler, Adam- All played great offensively and defensively.

Let’s continue to string hits together and play great D!

League notes:

Thanks to Ep for buying the wings last night at the Silver Spring house along with plates of chips. the real question is will the king of post-game eating try any cicadas on is chips in a few weeks. Speaking of the cicadas…For those of you who were in the league 17 years ago, what are we in for? The snow, the rain last week, the sun every week and now this. What did we do to make Moses so upset with our league? 

Last night it was brought to my attention that David “Slim Shady” Wertheim doesn’t believe that any of us over 30 should be able to root for our college teams. Not only is this one of the dumbest ideas I’ve heard in a while (second only to Tony “I invented baseball don’t forget it” LaRussa pitching to Jessie Winker with a base open and Babe Farmer on deck yesterday) it also doesn’t make sense. Not only would I be out of a job, but I need to ask him why he feels this way. When asked what he would be doing on a college football Saturday in a few years instead of watching OSU, he said cutting his grass or raking leaves. Have fun with that..

Shout out to Howard Goldwasser for being the Soup Nazi of the Kona Ice truck last week at the first in-person event at Adath. Howard made sure that each kid only got one squirt of Tigers blood flavor and if they got any more than that it was NO ICE FOR YOU. 

Jimmy Lefton doesn’t believe Clayton Kershaw is a 1st ballot hall of famer because his post season record isn’t that great. I guess pitching your team to all those post seasons doesn’t count, right? 

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, it was 46 years ago this week that Pete Rose was moved from LF to 3rd base to make room for George Foster. The Reds who were 500 at the time went 42-11 over their next 53 games won over 100 games and the World Series. So, the next time you read about Nick Senzel or Gino moving spots, remember that Pete was an All Star at 5 spots and always did what is best for the team.

I know we are old and get hurt a lot, but how about A’s pitcher Jesus Luzardo, who broke his pinkie on his pitching hand when he slammed it down on a table while playing video games and had to go on the DL. Nice move!