Month: June 2023

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June 29, 2023: Games Recap

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

Let’s get to the action.

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

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

On Field 2 it was Team Stu vs. Team Grefer

Stu for the winners:

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

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

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

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

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

On Field 3 we had Team Team Kamrass vs Team Zawatsky

Micah for the winners:

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

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

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

Marc for the winners:

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

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

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

League Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See ya on the field on Wednesday!

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June 25, 2023: Games Recap

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roger for Team Fogel

TEAM FOGEL   16

TEAM GREFER  9

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

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

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

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

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

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

TID BITS…….

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

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

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

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

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

Jimmy for the winners:

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

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June 21, 2023: Games Recap

Another picture perfect night for softball last night. What’s more amazing, the Reds winning 11 in a row or not having a single Wednesday postponed by rain and it’s June 22?  

On Field 1, we had Team Stu vs Team Z

Stu for the winners:

It was a great day to be a sports fan in Cincinnati. All 3 of America’s teams, Reds, FCC and Team Solomon, won yesterday. What a time to be alive!

Team Solomon defeated Team Zawatsky 15-7 in a game that never felt in doubt. The team really had their hard hats on and went to work on Team Z. It was great overall defensive effort helping Stuart “MVP” Solomon to his first pitching win. Solomon was quoted after the game ” I really just tried to hit spots and keep the team off-balance.”

Stuart “Captain of the Year” Solomon went 4-5 and scored 5 times. He was robbed of an inside-the-park homer by the ball taking a fortuitous bounce over the fence in left for a ground-rule double. Tyler ” The Natural” Stansbury went 4-5 with several hard hit balls. Andrew ” Mr. 5th Round” Solomon finally showed why he was wrongly rated a 5 going 3-3. Some people are saying his captain and blood relative made a batting stance change which propelled him to make better contact. Additionally, Evan “Logan aka Kevin” Weisser had two big hits along with Oren “Best Basketball Player in the League Yes, better than Mayer” Shmoel was on base twice. Special thanks to Landon ” Everyone’s Favorite Doctor” Krantz for subbing and helping with the win.

We caught up with Commish Ryan Silverman after the game. “I knew this team had it in them. We have the talent to make some noise in the second half.”

Lastly Andrew Solomon had this to say to the ratings committee channeling his inner Kirk Cousins after his 3-3 performance “YOU LIKE THAT!”

On Field 2 we had Team Brafman vs. Team Wolf Machine

Once again Team Wolf found a way to win 11-7. With some timely hitting by Matt Brodof, Pete “The Straw that Stirs the Drink” Soltesz and Tyler “Big Bad” Wolf they did just enough to get the win. With a makeshift infield Mike Gray pitched a great game getting Team Brafman to put the ball in the air time and time again. The game-winning JCC “hit” was off the bat of Daniel “The Stache” LaCerva, which scored the two go-ahead runs for Team Wolf. 

Not to be overlooked, super-sub Jacob “JZ” Zeidenstein hit two homers over the fence, a double and made at least 3 fantastic catches in LC. Ryan “The Hebrew Hammer” Baum would like to thank all of Team Wolf for his workout in LF. At least 10 balls were hit foul or out of play last night. Ryan can now cross training for the Flying Pig off his bucket list.

On Field 3 it was Team Kamrass vs the short handed Team Fogel

Micah for the winners:

A complete team effort was turned in by Team Kamrass in a 20 – 5 victory against Team Fogel.  There was some pregame apprehension with the team missing “Captain Phillips” Micah Kamrass, “Super” James Swan, and Michael “Fear the Deer” Margolis.  But the team responded well powered by a 14-run 3rd inning.  Everyone scored at least once in the game with Adam “Laundromat Billionaire” Heldman scoring 3 times and Zach “I’m a father now” Mayer crossing the plate 4 times.  Ace Jeff “Fink” Finkelstein turned in a beauty on a sore knee with the defense playing a super clean game in support. 

and Roger for Team Fogel

This is going to be short and to the point…..we stunk!

Not only did we lose in a one sided affair, COREY “I DON’T NEED WARM-UPS” NORRIS took a shot on his hand and had to leave the game. By then the game was in hand for TEAM KAMRASS. No report at press time on his availability for Sunday’s game.

Two notes of interest in the game:

1. The game was delayed about 15 minutes while the second base bag was being fixed. I’ve never seen that in my years in the JCC league.

2. Another oddity that I’ve never seen in the league was when I was at the plate and the ball hit me on the inside of my foot and the umpire asked me if the ball hit me. I said “yes” which it did and he said to go to first base.

In a game where captain JEREMY “THE COMET” FOGEL was vacationing in Madison, Wisconsin, home of THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN NCAA WOMEN’S 2023 HOCKEY CHAMPION, his father JOEL couldn’t get his team in the win column.

Asked afterwards if he had contacted him after the awful game, he said, “BARB (JEREMY’S mother and JOEL’S wife) was texting the entire game until he finally said, “Enough is enough.”…..it was pretty ugly.

Jeremy returns Sunday and will try to get the team back on track. Stay tuned!

TIDBITS….

*The oldtimers may remember MARK FAIREMAN…..he recently passed away…..He was always at games with a smile on his face…..one memory stands out…..it was his birthday (the same day as mine) and someone hired a stripper to attend the game……he was all smiles that game!…….

And finally on field 4

Team Wagner vs. Team Lefton

Brad for the winners:

Team Wagner took down Team Lefton 19-17 on Wednesday night.  The scoring started early and often for both teams, with Lefton scoring five runs in the top of the 1st and Wagner putting up a six-run bottom of the 1st.  Wagner doubled up in the 2nd inning and led 12-5 going into the 3rd.  Team Lefton battled back throughout the game with four combined homers by Matt Leader and Anton Loon (2-each) and solid hits from Jimmy Lefton, David Weil, and Peter Brownell.  Team Wagner stayed aggressive on the basepaths and had solid hitting contributions from Ian Conwell, Mark Franklin, Jerry Kirzner, Howie Schwartz, and AJ Goldhoff.  Cam Kirzner and Brad Wagner also contributed defensively. 

Team Wagner takes on Team Kamrass on Sunday.  The game will be aired on Fox19 with Deion Sanders and Otis Nixon on the call.

Team Lefton takes on Team Zawatsky on Sunday.  The game will be aired on PBS with Skip Bayless and Woody Paige on the call.

League Notes

Once again thanks to league sponsor Big Gig Franklin on sponsoring not only the league, but also Wing Night last night

A huge week for birthdays: Mike Margolis, Marc Brafman, Joel Buckley, Jared Kamrass and Mike Kahan

An assist to Adam Cronstein on my glaring omission on not mentioning the passing of JCC softball legend, The Iron Sheik ,last week. While everyone knows about how he became the WWF champ in 1984 (only to lose it to Hulk Hogan), what isn’t as well known is that he was a star pitcher on some great JCC teams in the early 90s. It was on the softball field that he acquired his love of trash talking which translated to Twitter where he was a fabulous follow.   Roger will now be marking up all of his WWF cards to .25 cents

I bumped into both Ryan Small and Bryce Anslinger at the Zoo LaLa fund raiser last weekend. It was great to catch up with both guys but it was a little hard to talk to Bryce since so many people kept trying to feed him leaves and other giraffe food.

Camp Wildbrook has started once again this week. I’m happy to report the camp looks the same as it did when all of us went there. 

Joel Fogel and I were both talking about how this week going to Reds games just felt different. Jacob and I went on Monday (The Votto game) while Joel went on Tuesday (The TJ Friedl game) and we both remarked how no one left, the crowd was into it from the jump and even the pizza chant wasn’t as loud as it used to be because people actually cared about the outcome and not just getting pizza. I have no idea if the Reds can keep this up but I can tell you that they sure are fun to watch.  “Where ya gonna go”?   One other note on the Reds now that they have DFA’d Wil Meyers…is there any position player that you don’t root for? Jon Spears and I were talking about this the other day. I can’t remember a Reds team where if this or that guy came to the plate you’d almost want to boo them for one reason or another. (Moose, Punisher Jr, Brandon Larson, Willie Green, Jim Edmonds come to mind)  There is no one that I feel that way about on this team. That might be the first time ever.

It was pointed out to me that currently the City of Cincinnati is on something like a 25 game winning streak if you factor in FCC and the end of the Bengals regular season and the Reds 11 game win streak. 

Roger is putting in orders for all current Reds bobbleheads. Get in line he says.

See everyone on Sunday

Marc

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June 14, 2023 addendum

It was a late night for Team Wolf after they beat a stubborn Team Grefer. Here’s Wes for the victors:

Team Wolf improves to 10-0 this season in a 11-8 battle against team Grefer. Somehow these two teams always play a close game and this was no different. 

After jumping out to their trademark early lead, it was 6-1 by the end of the second inning. Team Grefer just wouldn’t go away, trading scores with team Wolf until it was 11-6 going into the bottom of the sixth. Both shortstops, David Wertheim and Wes Wolf, seemed to be exchanging highlight reel plays throughout the game. 

With two outs in the sixth, Team Grefer’s top of the order came through for two runs. After a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, the window was cracked open, but Mike Gray and the Team Wolf defense came through in the bottom of the seventh to slam it shut. This team keeps on fighting, through injuries and close games, and shows no signs of slowing up. 

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June 14, 2023: Games Recap

After lousy weather Sunday, Ryan called in another favor and…voila!…another perfect night for softball.

 Before we get to the recaps, I know most of you know this but a sad week here at JCC softball central as friend to the league and friendly face to all who knew him, Jeff Elkus passed away over the weekend. While Jeff never played in the league, a bigger sports fan you could never find. He was a fixture at the J and events around the JCC for many years. I hope the Reds keep winning in his honor this year. 

Now onto the recaps:

On field 1, we had Team Lefton vs. Team Kamrass

Micah for the winners:

Playing with just 9 because Jordan Skinner took a ball off the face in warm ups (but stayed to cheer us on and watch with the use of just one eye), Team Kamrass came from behind to avenge its first half loss against Team Lefton by a score of 11-6. Other than a ball over the fence by super sub Josh Kotzin, Jamie silenced us through the first 5. Pedro Cerrano woke up our bats in the 6th, where we put up a 9 spot. Kamrass and Raskin started the rally, and the biggest hit was a blast from David Solomon that bounced to the fence. Ben Margolis also had a beautiful bunt hit. Fink came out with the lead in the bottom of the 6th and struck out two, and then was lights out in the 7th to put the game away. The defense was sharp across the board tonight, especially with just 9 guys. We had lefties at short and third, and they both availed themselves well. “This was step one of two on our revenge tour,” said Captain Kamrass. “We can’t wait to get Wolf in a few weeks.”

On Field 2 it was Team Zawatsky vs. Team Brafman

For the second time this year without their captain, Team Brafman run ruled a team winning 18-3 for their 3rd win in a row. A 13-run first inning highlighted by a grand slam by Jamey “The Rookie” Drennan was the big hit. Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley, Eric “the Mouth of the Midwest” Gruen and todd “the Mayor” Wasserman also contributed with multiple hits each. “Everyone on the team got hits and Eppy pitched a great game,” Dee Harris said post game. “Our defense continues to play great behind Eppy.  I think it would be better for Captain Brafman to continue to stay away from our team moving forward.”

Next week Team Brafman tries their hand vs. the Big Wolf Machine

On Field 3 it was Team Grefer vs. Team Wolf

Team Wolf won 11-8 to remain undefeated. 

Finally on Field 4 it was Team Solomon vs. Team Wagner

Brad for the winners:

Team Wagner took down Team Solomon 9-6 on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of four mothers, five babies, and two dogs.  Team Solomon jumped ahead with two runs in the top of the 1st, but Team Wagner tied it in the bottom of the 2nd and never looked back.  As our good friend Dan Hoard would say, the coffin nails for the victors came in the top of the 7th when Captain Wagner (who can’t make a good throw if his life depended on it) and Chris Kunkel hit back-to-back homers.  Wagner’s was more of a triple (his 2nd of the day) with an error.  Kunkel cleared the left-field fence.  Other big hits came from John Spears, Jerry Kirzner, and Matt Grindle.  Grindle executed a great bunt for a hit late in the game.  Defensively, Josh Rosen made an early case for the catch of the year off the bat of Harry Meisner.  Meisner crushed a Howie Schwartz pitch to the deepest part of Field 4, and Josh Rosen got to the fence in time to reach over and take the homer away from Harry.

Wagner takes on Team Lefton next Wednesday.  That game will be televised on PBS with Van Earl Wright and John McEnroe on the call.

Solomon takes on Team Zawatsky next Wednesday.  The networks are still bidding on that game, but Max Kellerman and Gene Okurland will be in the booth.

League notes

As Ryan mentioned earlier, good luck to Scott “Dire” Wolf on recovery from surgery on his broken finger. Get better soon, Scott.

Former league batting champ and all round good guy Taylor “May the” Schwartz Be with you got engaged over the weekend in Chicago. He reports that the Lincoln Park Softball league doesn’t hold a matzah ball to our league. 

Is there a more random fan/team than AJ Goldhoff rooting for the Denver Nuggets? After they won the NBA title he posted numerous pictures of him in his old Alex English, K-Mart and Kiki Vandeweghe jersey’s. Congrats on the title, AJ.

Last night at the Silver Spring House, Brad “The Human Rain Delay” Wagner surprised and impressed Jacob and me with his knowledge of random Reds who have worn the number #43 (which is Jacob’s number). This was off the top of his head, not looking it up. Our favorite was Tim “We all live in a Layana Submarine.” I honestly couldn’t tell you the numbers of most of the current Reds.

I bumped into the “Minister of Fun” Dave Cohen at the Dead and Company show at Riverbend on Tuesday night. It was great catching up. Not so great, he had just bought the new tour shirt and put it on. Note to you kids out there. Don’t be that GUY!! (Name the movie, win fab prizes)

Once again it’s Wing Night on June 21 at the Spring House. Please plan on coming

Apparently the Reds are now calling themselves “America’s Team.” I love what they are doing and how they play the game, but really…America’s Team? For beating the Cards and Royals who Team Wolf could beat? Let’s see how they do vs. Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore and San Diego the rest of the month. One more note on the Reds: I don’t think Votto coming back will hurt them at all. Move Steer to LF keep Votto hitting 6-8 in the order and also have him DH from time to time. Senzel can become the new Newman and play a few spots, send Jose “Punisher Jr.” Barrero back to Louisville and flat out release Wil Myers. I don’t want to see Wil Myers ever playing again, and I can’t stress that enough. No way should he take away at bats from Benson, or any of the young guys. Votto gets the benefit of the doubt.  Last point on the Reds. Jason Williams from the Enquirer wrote that Votto is the reason the Reds should never give out big contracts. That is wrong. The Reds can and should give out big contracts, then build a team around that big contract. They didn’t learn that lesson with Jr. and for the most part didn’t learn with Votto. I 100% blame ownership and place zero blame on the players.

Roger will be selling Las Vegas Golden Knight’s posters at the game on Wednesday. Make sure to get there early to get one.

See everyone Wednesday night.

Marc