JCC Softball Cincinnati

Boy, when Ryan calls up Mother Nature and says give us some summer weather, I’m not sure he meant last night. On what might have been one of the hottest Wednesday nights in recent seasons the action on the field was just as hot as the temp outside. (At least the little thunder we heard pre-game didn’t amount to anything)

On Field 1 it was Team Harris vs. Team Kamrass

Roger for the winners

TEAM HARRIS          6

TEAM KAMRASS      5

In a nailbiter, TEAM HARRIS tallied two runs in the top of the 7th inning and held on by the skinniest of margins in the bottom of the inning.

MARK WEISSER pitched another gem of a game and was the hitting star too. He got a two-out two-run double in the telling inning and then escaped a two-on no-out situation in the bottom of the frame, thanks in large part to a nice play on a bunt attempt when he fielded the ball and threw the lead runner out at third base on a bang bang play.

The following hitter hit a line shot to 3B RYAN MARCUS who couldn’t/didn’t catch it, stepped on third base and completed the game ending play.

Quotes from the two participants…..

“I might be an old man out there, but I take great pride in fielding my position and coming up with clutch hits,” WEISSER said afterwards. “It got a little sticky at the end, but we hung in there and got a nice win out of it.”

MARCUS, with his small band of fans in attendance said, “All I know is I did what had to be done and only the higher up knows if I couldn’t catch it or didn’t catch it. All I know is we got the victory after battling the whole game.”

Captain GRIFF HARRIS, who went 0-3 with three line drive outs said, “I can’t buy a hit. I must start eating lunch at a different place each week until the balls start dropping in.” 

The rookie captain added, “That was a big win for our guys. I tip my cap to Micah and his team for really battling the whole way. It was tough to lose a game like that.”

Kudos also go out to……STU WEINSTEIN who got a key double to help in the scoring and PAT FELDMAN who delivered a key hit at the end of the game and eventually scored the winning run.

It should be noted that FELDMAN tasted victory for the first time this season. He hadn’t played in any of the previous four wins. “I finally won a game and the jinx is over. I started to think I should have bought a voodoo doll to ward off the evil spirits,” FELDMAN said afterwards.

Also, ROGER ROSENTHAL chipped in with a big RBI, however he was gunned down at 1B on a “hit” to the outfield.

“I was never very fast in my younger years, but that was pretty bad. We won the game and that’s all that counts, ” he said while trying to get ADAM HELDMAN to buy a GIANNIS bobblehead……

Also of note, EVAN WEISSER made a great catch on a foul ball that would have made JOHNNY BENCH proud……are there players who don’t know who he was?

DEE HARRIS also played an all around good game playing 2B and RF and getting on base a couple of times……

TIDBITS….

*WES WOLF has a new job with the CINCINNATI BENGALS, similar to MARC BRAFMAN’S at the University of Cincinnati, in which he can’t bet on sports, not even in the JCC league…..

He was running his mouth before the games saying that his team would win the tournament and when I confronted him and said that I’d take the field even up, he said he couldn’t bet…….You need to ask him for further details…..

**It was nice to see JACOB BRAFMAN, the league mascot, back from whatever vacation he was on……rumor has it that he and his family were at a water polo championship in the Netherlands, but don’t quote me on that…

Speaking of Jacob, I asked father MARC if Jacob was able to play for his team if that would be an upgrade to some of his team and he said, “NO COMMENT?”……hmmmmmmm….

Also, it should be noted that JACOB’S grandparents, MARC’S parents, told a reliable source that Jacob is ready for the league…..can we have a new rule allowing pre-teens to play if ready???????

***It should be noted that BOSTONIANS COREY NORRIS and MIKE ROTHSTEIN were asked to be honorary parade routers for the city of Boston when they celebrate their most recent title…….

and finally, 

****For those who aren’t following the best sport on the planet…..HOCKEY, the STANLEY CUP is now 3-2 in favor of the FLORIDA PANTHERS over the EDMONTON OILERS and yes, WAYNE GRETZKY has retired…….

Until next time…..be safe and take care and of course…..GO X!!!!!!

On Field two we had Team Wagner vs. Team Brafman

Brad for the winners:

Team Wagner run-ruled Team Brafman 17-6 on a steamy Wednesday night.  The game was tight, with Brafman taking an early 2-0 lead.  Wagner came back to take a 5-2 lead only to have Brafman tie it up 5-5.  After Wagner went up 8-5, they added a 9 spot in the bottom of the 4th to put the game away. 

The hitting stars were plentiful for the victors, as everyone contributed with home runs from Corey Norris, Michael Askin, and Brad Wagner, who returned from injury and three weeks of rehab stints in Billings, Daytona, Chattanooga, and Sharonville.  The birthday boy, Mike Margolis, also provided a big hit to celebrate his 58th.  Rumor has it he wanted to go to Chi-Chi’s to celebrate, but their phone line wasn’t working.  Defensively, Matt Leader and Michael Askin held down the left side of the outfield with multiple putouts.  Super-sub Joel “The Leopard” Buckley was flawless at SS and ended the game with a circus-type catch that took him into LCF.  

Team Wagner takes on Team Wolf on Sunday with Tanny Boyle and Kelly Leak on the call.

Team Brafman takes on Team Tenenholtz on Sunday with Bip Roberts and Jacob Brumfield on the call.

For Team Brafman, Jamey Drennan hit two homers and Harry “hood” Meisner also went deep. Team Brafman looks to turn it around on Sunday. 

On Field 3 it was Team Tenenholtz vs. Team Grefer

Mike “The Special One” Rothstein for the winners

The final score was 17-7 but it was closer than that. Team Rick found their bats and everyone contributed. There were solid defensive plays all around from Bryce Anslinger, Rabbi Yitz, “The other” Brian Goldberg and Jeremy “Sitting on the” Dock of the Bay all made big plays. Fink filled in and pitched well for Howie and Joel “Sparky” Fogel also contributed as a sub.  Will “the Thrill” Coleman hit a homer for Grefer which may or may not have been a grand slam.

Finally on Field 4, Team Stu vs. Team Wes

Stu for the winners:

It has come to the attention of this author that Team Solomon has beaten Team Wolf 17-7 in 6 innings in the last game of the 1st half of the 2024 social season.

Even before the game, both teams were in scramble mode to field a team. Team Solomon received late news that Ken “And Barbie” Groh was not going to make the game due to an unforeseen private jet mishap. Team Wolf had to scramble to find 10 guys with 2 players missing and Steve Z on suspension. But back to the game.

This author must compliment himself. Forced into the starting pitching role. He struck out both Tyler and Wes Wolf in critical junctures of the game. This author also had a double play and a nice sliding grab in foul ground. Two other great defensive plays throughout the game. One by AJ “Heart of” Goldhoff making a diving stab of a  ground ball down the 3B line and a strong throw to 1st. Then in the top of 6, Team Solomon had the very common 9-6-3 double play to keep the 9-run lead. Some people are asking if there is a starting pitching controversy with Team Solomon.

This game may have had one of my favorite moves of all-time. Team Wolf loves putting their shortstop at 2nd with lefties at the plate. Gary “Reel Big” Fisher laughed in the face of Team Wolf and switched from batting left handed to bat right handed. He laced an RBI single to the left of the new shortstop.

Huge hits were abound. David “Hasselhoff” Wertheim fought  through the mental block of batting 3rd to go 4-4 with 2 of those hits with the bases loaded. Zach “Rock’em Zakem Robots” went 3-3 scoring twice. Brandon Lindsey “Lohan” had a huge triple in the 8-run 5th. Needing one run in the bottom of the 6th, Ryan “All The Small Things” Small launched a triple to left field followed by David “Past Temple President and Author” Snyder single to seal the game.

After the game Stuart had this to say, “This was a well called game featuring a lot of close plays. We didn’t run ourselves out of innings and played good defense.”

League notes

Birthdays galore this past week:

Mike Margolis, Scott “Hngry Like a” Wolf, Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley former player Mike “The Wrath of” Kahan and I had a birthday as well.

Happy anniversary to Rick, Jimmy, and Weezie’s parents, the elder Leftons. They produced about 200 years of JCC softball playing years combined 

Good luck to Matt “The” Miller on his new job with Pro Camps. I will miss texting him when UC players are getting parking tickets

Somehow Bryce has gotten to play the skyline shuffle game twice this year. Last Wednesday it was his son up on the big board winning his row coneys. 

David “Slim Shady” Wertheim continues his summer momentum by being on local news shows every week to promote the latest festival that Cold Iron Rentals is working. Keep up the good work, David.

Is there a bigger non-story in sports than Caitlin Clark being left off the Olympic team? There are 12 better women players than her right now. How is that so hard for people to understand? 

Did you all see the video of how they built a pool inside the Lucas Oil stadium for the swimming trials? Very cool to see and somehow it seems to be working. 

Remember that even though it’s a Wednesday night, Jewish night at the FCC Game is coming up. If your family wants to go, it’s a good time. And the way they are playing it should be a great night. Last night even if you don’t care about FCC the way they won was like a walk-off homer from Elly. Speaking of the Reds I’m going to let Paul Doc explain in way better detail how I feel about the Reds and more importantly their front office. Taken from his blog today:

The more I read what the Reds say about themselves and the season they’re having, the more I think they’re OK with their OK-ness. It’s the sort of willful delusion-ing that wears on a fan who experiences more losing than winning and has experienced it for three decades.

I’m sure players and management don’t mean to sound self-satisfied. Every self-laud comes with the obligatory, empty and obvious “we gotta do better.’’

Only, they aren’t doing better. No matter what they say.

“I thought we played really well on this trip, but we didn’t come away with as many wins as we wanted to,” pitcher Nick Martinez said, after allowing the game-winning homer in the 8th inning at Pittsburgh Wednesday. That L dumped the Club into last place, where it has been for a total of 19 days since May 17.

Oh, bullspit.

Martinez’ tiresome assessment sounds sane compared with the pronouncements of Nick Krall, published today in the Enquirer:

“I’m excited about what we’ve done and what we’ve set out to do. Build a sustainable winning organization. I feel like we’ve made good progress.’’

On April 24, the Reds were 14-10. They’re 21-29 since.

“Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez have done really well in their roles.’’

Montas is 3-5/4.62. The Reds are 4-9 in games he has started.

As a starting pitcher, Nick Martinez is 0-3/7.86. Teams have hit .348 against him in that role. Yes, he has done well as a reliever, especially in the role as Designated 2nd Guy Outta The Bullpen on Bullpen Days. Every championship aspirant simply must have one of those guys.

“I’m really excited about where we are.’’

Last place.

“We’ve got to continue to move forward.’’

So do ants at a picnic. What does that mean, exactly?

Such crapola.

I don’t think Krall is deliberately insulting your intelligence. He’s saying what he must. The result is the same, though. Krall-speak is a practiced mix of mandatory public confidence and requisite cover-your-assness. Gobbledy meets gook in the office at Great American Small Park.

Maybe Nick’s right. Perhaps three months from now, I’ll need a fork and spoon for my words. That’d be cool, or at least different. But I’m not a mind reader and the Ouija board is in the shop. If I could predict the future, I’d be in a sports book in Las Vegas, not in an office in my house.

We react to what is real, and what is real is the sustained and practiced history of bad. Since 2014, the Reds are 172 games under .500. They’ve had two winning seasons, 83-79 in ‘21 and 82-80 last year. (Sorry, I don’t count the 31-29 bastard season of 2020. The Little 60 was fraudulent, any way you sliced it.)

Finally as you know by now Willie Mays died the other night. While I am too young to have watched him here are a couple of my favorite stats:

He is the only player in baseball history to have hit a homer in every inning from the 1st all the way through the 16th. His homer in that 16-inning game came against Warren Spahn who was battling Juan Marichal in that game. Keep in mind both pitchers were still in the game at the time. Crazy

Mays is one of three players along with Hank Aaron and Ted Williams to hit 20 home runs for the same team in his 20’s and 40’s.

His average WAR was 9.5 for 13 years! He is also the only player to win four home run titles and 4 stolen base titles. and finally he had seasons where he led the league at some point in the following: hits, runs, homers, triples, stolen bases, average, obp, slugging, total bases and walks. 

I’d say he was the best of all time. Now for next week we can discuss who is now the greatest living player. For my money, it’s Glenn Braggs…

See ya Sunday

On a humid night for softball, the tension was high (at least on field 3). Let’s get to the action.

On Field 1 Team Fogel was the victor. Jeremy leads us off.

Resuming the game in the bottom of the first, Team Fogel got out of a second and third one out jam only yielding one run which was just the beginning of a masterful pitching performance by Jamey and defensive outing behind him. In a pitcher’s duel between Jamey and Howie, Team Fogel was able to scrape together a few runs which ended up being just enough to escape with a win. Timely hitting by both Fogels and Matt Miller was the difference in this one. The defense continued to be impressive as The Men in Black end the first half on a four-game winning streak.

On Field 2, it was the first half Toilet Bowl as Team Kamrass took on Team Brafman

Micah for the winners: 

Team Kamrass finally got in the win column with a 15-4 victory over Team Brafman. Team Brafman resumed the game with hot bats and went up 4-1. From there, Jon Ruben’s pitching and strong defense from Team Kamrass (playing with just nine guys) shut them down the rest of the game.

Tyler Stansbury was the offensive MVP. He had 8 RBI, including 7 in the same inning.  4 of those came on a grand slam hit out of the park. Drew Hart also clobbered a home run. James Swan returned from Ireland with a hot bat (and a perfect bunt).

“Time to begin our win streak,” said Captain Micah Kamrass. “Our team will be dangerous in the second half.” Post game Team Brafman Capt. said “I knew I should have walked Stansbury twice.

On field 3 the most interesting game of the night took place. Grefer vs. Wolf. 

Kyle for the winners:

We beat team Wolf 10-6 in an intense showdown. After starting the game in the bottom of the first down 3-0 we slowly brought the game closer until the 5^th inning where we batted around and scored 7 runs. Our defense was again great with only a couple minor miscues, and Tim pitched another solid game on the mound. Offensively Gary Grefer had a huge triple to right field, and Will Coleman one upped him with an inside the park homerun to center field. Once again it was a complete team effort as everyone had a play that helped contribute to the win.

After the game we got some good fortune with team Harris and Tenenholtz losing, locking us in as the first half champs. I’m really proud of our team with how we were able to do a complete turnaround after getting run ruled by team Harris in the first game where Jimmy also hurt his knee.

And finally on Field 4 it was Team Stu vs. Team Harris

Team Solomon Trashes Team Harris 23-13, as Chris “KunkelBomb” Kunkel leads the offense with an impressive 3-3 day including the game winner (to put us up 10 in the bottom of the inning). 

Hits were aplenty for Team Solomon as they started the day down 1-0. A six run first was capped off by Kunkels first of two triples. Ken Groh helped himself to a double and a triple.

Ben “Norm” Charlton and Adam “Metal Spikes” Cronstein set the table both going 3-3 with a walk. Both scored 3 runs from Stuart “World’s Best Captain” Solomon and AJ “Heart of” Goldhoff RBI singles. 

The top of the lineup wasn’t the only part of the lineup to get on the base paths. Brandon Lindsey “Graham” went 3-3 with two rockets and 2 RBIs. Zach “Rock’em Zakem Robots” was on base twice and scored twice. 

The drama began in the top of the 5th. Team Solomon was up 12 and Team Harris needed to score 3 to keep playing. After getting the first 2 outs, the defensive wheels started to fall off for Team Solomon letting up 9 runs to go down 3. Team Solomon responded in a BIG way scoring 7 in the bottom of the 5th. Big Hits from David “Bitter Herb” Wertheim on a bases loaded double scoring 3 and Chris Kunkel hitting a walk off triple to put us up 10.

Reports indicate several players took a shot of whiskey before the game to get loose. Some are saying this is the swing juice this team needs to make a deep run in the 2nd half. 

League Notes:

Once again a reminder we are off next week for the Jewish Holiday. Go to the Reds/Guards game instead for your Roger Rosenthal official Elly De La Cruz bobblehead.

Sad news as Jeff Weisbrot’s grandmother died this week. We are all thinking of you, Jeff.

Happy birthday goes out to Big Al Lefton (former player).

Congrats to everyone’s favorite league sister, Brooke Fogel, who is taking her talents to Denver at the end of the summer. 

Once again, a big thank you to Big Gig for wing night two weeks ago. 

I’m sorry to have missed Jewish night at the Reds game this year. One, they beat the Cubbies, and two, Elly looked like he hit one into our section. Unfortunately FCC night is on a Wednesday so we won’t be able to go. 

I’m not sure what to make of the Reds’ hitting this week, but I sure like how they are taking more pitches and, at least for now, aren’t striking out as much. Plus, as long as I don’t have Espinal and Mike Ford hitting everyday I’m happy with that. 

Finally, in Roger world, does he ever call or text you random pictures of people who say they know you? He did this to me earlier in the week and I had no clue who this clown was that he took a picture of. Roger is the ultimate match maker of the league for random people.  

See everyone in two weeks!

Sorry for the delay in getting the blog up this week. The Beaches of Charleston, SC were calling.

On Field 1 it was Team Harris vs. Team Wagner:

Roger for the winners:

After losing two games in a row after a 3-0 start, TEAM HARRIS had a nice bounce back victory over TEAM WAGNER in which there was plenty of credit to go around.

Let’s start with the excellent pitching of MARK WEISSER and the defense behind him……RYAN MARCUS made a great catch on a line shot, GRIFF HARRIS made a diving catch of a shot to centerfield……JZ ZEIDENSTEIN caught a couple of shots to right centerfield…..RYAN BAUM made a nice running catch in left field……and finally, DAN BERNSTEIN snared a line drive down the first base line.

On the offensive side, everyone contributed in one way or another with BIG hits coming off the bats of DEE HARRIS (3-3 and a BB)…….ANDY GOLLIN (run scoring double)….JZ (two shots to the left field fence)….WEISSER (key two-out hit)……and even ROGER ROSENTHAL, with a two-out bloop single to keep a BIG inning alive.

The game was close throughout until an outburst by the victors in the late innings to put some distance between the two teams.

QUOTES…..

“Great game in all areas. I like how we bounced back after two losses to beat a pretty good team. I think we have the ship righted now,” Captain GRIFF HARRIS said afterwards.

“I’m only as good as my defense and they played great behind me. And as usual, my son (EVAN WEISSER) called a great game and had no passed balls. I’m not putting him in the JOHNNY BENCH category yet, but he’s well on his way,” the elder WEISSER said after the game.

RYAN MARCUS ran into bad luck as he smoked a couple of balls right at fielders, “I can’t buy a hit. Maybe I should pray before the game, it can’t hurt,” he said afterwards.

TIDBITS…..

*Here’s hoping EVAN WEISSER is OK….he sat out one inning……those late nights can get to you…..lol.

*SPECIAL THANKS go to former commissioner GREG “GIG” FRANKLIN for providing the wings after the game……STEVE EPPSTEIN, who usually does the honor, saved a bunch of money and felt obligated to spend his fair share for the night so he ended up buying ten bobbleheads from ROGER ROSENTHAL……

*GRIFF HARRIS is like a softball playing machine…..he plays in like five leagues and when he was cornered by this reporter about which one he likes the most he said, “Of course, the JCC league. I love playing with my father and all the guys. How could I not like that?”

*RYAN SMALL’S mother came to visit her son and said she hadn’t seen him play ball since he was little….guess what?….he’s NO better than he was 30 years ago…….lol.

*While everyone in the league is following their baseball teams, there are a few that do know that other sports are going on, mainly the NHL and NBA playoffs…..MIKE ROTHSTEIN and COREY NORRIS ventured to Indianapolis recently to watch their BOSTON CELTICS win the Eastern Conference title…..just don’t ask them about the BOSTON BRUINS choke for another year…..lol……….speaking of hockey…..while most of the televisions at the eatery were on hockey, yours truly got excited after the EDMONTON OILERS scored and one DAVID WEIL said, “Who cares?”……typical comment from a Cincinnati sports fan.

AND FINALLY, it was strange not to see MARC BRAFMAN and son JACOB, the league mascot, in attendance after the game to enjoy the wings…..it was rumored that the two “boys” were on a cross country tour of every major league lacrosse team park…..speaking of parks, TODD WASSERMAN and a few of his buddies are going to four baseball fields in the upcoming week….have fun!

Until next time, take care and stay safe and GO X!!!!!!!

On Field 2 It was Team Wolf vs. Team Kamrass

I’m guessing Team Wolf won

On Field 3 we had team Grefer vs. Team Solomon

Kyle for the winners:

Team Grefer beat Team Solomon 17-6 in 5 innings. After a shaky start defensively, we were able to lock in for the middle innings and come away with the win. Offensively we were carried by Landon Krantz and Zach Mayer with 4 hits each. Dan Grefer and Ryan Silverman also contributed with some clutch hits, and Oren Shmoel showed some power on a triple to right center. Tim Trautman pitched another good game with only one walk, and we look to keep the momentum going on Sunday!

Finally on Field 4 Team Fogel took on the hapless Team Brafman

Jeremy for the winners:

In a battle with a Brafman-less Team Brafman on Field 4, Team Fogel continued to flash the leather as they have been in previous weeks which led them to their third consecutive win after an early season slide. The bats came out early, but it was two double plays which set the tone for this victory. Joel Buckley continued to dust off his gold glove at Shortstop, but Norm Frankel turned back the clock to 1980 (his quote) with a diving stop and throw from his back to nab what would’ve been a lead off base hit in the later innings. Clutch hitting throughout the order kept this game out of reach, and a shoutout to Matt Miller for registering his first home run of the season.

League Notes:

A HUGE thank you once again to Gig for the wings at the Spring House and for your continued support of the league. (My mom said she’ll even give you a kiss the next time she sees you). 

Another HUGE shout out to Rick Lefton and the entire JCC staff for another amazing J Classic. This event which at one point was named the Adams classic after Shorty’s Dad has turned into an amazing community-wide event. Well done Rick, and congrats to all of you who played yesterday!

Congrats to all of the Dad’s in the league whose kids graduated from whatever grade they are in.  Always exciting to see where they are going to college or the next school.

For the second time in a couple of weeks I was down in the trainer’s room getting my knee worked on (I’m back baby!…on Sunday) and the head trainer of the men’s basketball team saw me. He just shook his head and said let me guess…your softball league again, right? Add him to the list of our wives who say we should stop playing.

On that note, if Neil Young and Crazy Horse are still touring (along with the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones) we can still get out and play, right?

Your Reds notes of the week. When your front office releases Mike Ford because “they don’t have a spot for him” only to resign him 24 hours later and put him in the lineup hitting 3rd for a month you know you are in trouble. Which of course the Reds are. But hey it could be worse. We could root for the Mets who had a pitcher get thrown out of a game mid-batter, toss his glove into the stands on his way out of the game, then say in the locker room that he was playing on the worst team in the league. Shockingly he got released the next day.

See everyone on Sunday. Let’s hope Mother Nature cooperates.

A double shot of blog posts this week…Sunday the 19th and last night:

First on May 19:

Here is Roger’s blog post:

RECORD SET IN TEAM WOLF VICTORY OVER TEAM HARRIS??????????

After winning their first three games, TEAM HARRIS hit a rough spot in the road and lost to TEAM WOLF…..

The real story in the game was the defense had a few breakdowns and offensively, balls that were hit hard were caught….

KUDOS GO OUT TO…….

*STU WEINSTEIN, once a top 3 pick in the league (a million years ago), had two shots for doubles and once again played a solid first base……

*PAT FELDMAN, playing in his first game of the season, might have set a JCC softball league record with four walks in four at bats…….none were intentional…..

*ANDY GOLLIN had two hits……

*MARK WEISSER had a hit and two walks…..

*JZ ZEIDENSTEIN had a couple of hits and three runs scored…..

*DEE HARRIS had a hit and hit by pitch….

TIDBITS…..

*”We didn’t play our best in the field, but it’s just one game and I’m confident we’ll bounce back in our next game. I like this team and I think we’ll be just fine, ” captain GRIFF HARRIS said to the media afterwards.

*Things got a little chippy and some words were exchanged when a potential double play wasn’t converted because of some questionable base running by RYAN BAUM, but that’s all it was. Boys will be boys!

*Get well wishes go out to EVAN WEISSER, who missed the game, but should be out there next game as one of the most daring base runners in the league.

*The JCC league has it’s fair share of famous people come to games……BARRY WAGNER, former softball great, was in town with wife, NANCY, to watch son BRAD play…..they may not be invited back as his team lost…..

And finally, I feel I owe it to the league to balance out all the comments about the CINCINNATI REDS and talk hockey, the greatest sport on the planet………it IS the playoffs!…….At this writing, the NEW YORK RANGERS play the FLORIDA PANTHERS in the Eastern Conference Finals and the DALLAS STARS await the Game 7 winner between the EDMONTON OILERS and VANCOUVER CANUCKS for the Western Conference Finals……Add ADAM CRONSTEIN to the list of players that follow hockey….he’s pulling for the Canucks…….KEN GROH is a Rangers fan…..GRIFF HARRIS is a TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS fan and knows everything about AUSTON MATTHEWS that you would want to know…..and yours truly is a LOS ANGELES KINGS fan who has a WAYNE GRETZKY mecca in his basement…..

UNTIL NEXT TIME……TAKE CARE AND GO X!!!!!!!

Next we have Rick T

On the leper field (Field 4), Team Tenenholtz hosted a feisty Team Kamrass.  Both teams were missing four regulars, so they split up the Kotzin brothers (Josh to Kamrass and Benji to Tenenholtz). Team Tenenholtz also had Greg Leader’s youngest son, 15-year-old Evan and Micah had brother, Jared. The Kotzin brothers played as expected, effortlessly crushing balls to the warning track and playing tough defense, while young Leader and bro Kamrass each helped their team’s defense.

The home team got off to a quick start batting around in the first and taking a 5-1 lead, but the visitors hung tough and trailed 6-5 after three. In the fourth, shortstop Jack Cohen led off with a single and the next three batters reached base. After a sac fly by Leader, the Hall-of-Famer, Howard Schwartz, got the third of his four hits to knock in a run and put Tenenholtz up 9-6. In the 5^th, Jeremy Spiegel led off with his second hit of the day to start a 7-run rally, which led to a 16-6 win in 5 innings. The winning hit was an opposite field line drive from Mike Rothstein, his second hit of the inning and his 4^th of the day.

After the game, Rothstein said, “If we can catch the ball and hold the other team under 10 runs, we can beat anyone. Of course, you can say that about everyone in the league!” First baseman, Zach Michelson, had another solid game at 1B. “If I keep it up, I should be able to snag defensive POY from Jeremy Fogel,” said Zach postgame. “Jeremy might be able to track a fly ball better, but he’s skinny, so you can push him around. Nobody’s gonna knock me off first base!”

Team Grefer beat Team Wagner 25-11. Our offense exploded in this one – taking advantage of difficult morning sun in the outfield on Field 1. It was a complete team effort with everyone having at least 2 hits and scoring a run, and 7 different guys having 4 hits each (Landon Krantz, Harry Meisner, Zach Mayer, Tim Trautman, Marc Simons, Gary Grefer, and myself). We broke out in the 3^rd inning scoring 8 runs, with most of them coming with 2 outs.

We got a little dinged up with Landon Krantz and Zach Mayer suffering minor injuries, but they’ll hopefully be fine for the next game.

Also wishing a speedy recovery to Brad Wagner who pulled his quad in the game as well.

And finally Team Fogel won but I don’t know the score

Now onto last night 

On Field 1 we had team Wolf vs. Team Rick T

Rick for…wait for it…the winners!!

On Field 1, undefeated Team Wolf hosted a beat-up Team Tenenholtz. Howie and Mike Gray battled all night long and both pitched well. The real story, however, was the play of Team Tenenholtz’s utility player, Brian Goldberg. “I lost track of how many putouts he had, but he fielded everything hit his way,” said the captain post game. “He also had four hits and kept us in it all night long.”

There is a reason Team Wolf has reeled off a regular season winning streak extending back to the beginning of 2023. They all can hit and SS and LCF are black holes for the opponent. Team Tenenholtz was fortunate to be in the right places at the right time tonight.

It looked bad for the visitors, when left fielder Yitzi Creeger came up lame after chasing a foul ball early in the game. Yitz was able to hold down 1B after a defensive shift was made. If anyone knows a good physical therapist, please call Yitzi!

Despite the defensive machinations, Team Tenenholtz was able to take a 6-1 lead after 4 innings, but Team Wolf came back with two runs in the bottom of the 5^th to make it 6-3. After a scoreless 6^th, Jack Cohen came up in the top of the 7^th with Sam Castellini at first base and ripped a two-run in-the-park homer to right field.  Howie was able to hold them in the bottom of the 7^th as Team Tenenholtz hung on for the 8-3 victory.

Next week is a much-needed bye for the ailing Team Tenenholtz before they play red-hot Team Grefer. 

(An amazing streak came to an end. Congrats to Wes for a fun streak to start his coaching career!)

On Field 2 it was Team Fogel vs. Team Harris:

After getting back in the win column on Sunday, Team Fogel took the field seeking their first winning streak of the season vs self-acclaimed rival, Team Harris. Falling behind in the top of the first, they took no time responding with a five-spot in the bottom half. Efficient pitching by Jamey Kurtzer and great defense behind him from every position lead to a lot of quick outs. The hit parade continued through the middle innings and was eventually capped off by a two-run walk-off homer by Pete Soltesz. Everyone recorded at least one hit, with Norm Frankel and Matt Brodof leading the way with a few each. When the bats are hot and the defense is good, watch out.

On Field 3 it was team Solomon vs. Team Wagner:

Team Wagner took down team Solomon 17 to 5 on Wednesday night. The victors were without Anton Loon, Brad Wagner, Joey Hiudt and Daniel Hiudt.  After going down 2-1 in the first inning team, Wagner battled back with seven runs in the second and kept on tacking on extra runs after that in a run-rule shortened game. Everybody hit well for Team Wagner however, Matthew Leader led the way with two homers over the fence. He was quoted afterwards and he gave all the praise to a switch in his bat ammunition. The defense was led by Mark Levine who played amazingly at second base with multiple put outs and great plays.

Team Wagner takes on Team Harris next week with Raphael and Ronnie Belliard on the call.
Team Solomon takes on Team Grefer with Luis Quinones and Bip Roberts on the call.

And last but not least Team Grefer vs. Team Brafman 

Kyle for the winners:

Team Grefer beat team Brafman 13-3 in 5 innings. This was a complete game for our team with sub pitcher Tim Trautman having another good game on the mound and after 4 starts he has only walked one batter. The defense was phenomenal playing a game without errors, and offensively we had one big inning carry us through.

Sub, Tyler Stansbury got the offense going with an early 3-run bomb to right field. Landon Krantz had a good game setting the table as our leadoff man, but game MVP goes to Will Coleman who hit two balls to the fence for a triple and home run.

League Notes:

Once again, please sign up the J Classic.

Jewish Night at the Reds game is coming up in a few weeks. Please buy tickets for that great night as well.

There is a Jewish Night at FCC but it’s on a Wednesday night, so boo on that.

Big news next week…please read the note from Gig who is going to treat us all to wings post game at Silver Spring House:

Please join us at the Franklin Wealth Advisors Wing Night at Silver Spring House after the games on Wednesday, 5/29.  Wings will be provided courtesy of the JCC Softball League’s Primary Sponsor, Franklin Wealth Advisors (Greg “Gig” Franklin).  For those of you who do not know Greg “Gig” Franklin, he has been involved with the JCC Softball League for over 50 years as a player, Commissioner and long-time supporter of the League through both sponsorship and other generous donations such as hosting Wing Nights.

Please join me in thanking Gig and Franklin Wealth Advisors for not only the upcoming Wing Night, but for his many contributions to the League over the years. 

The Wing Night will be held irrespective of the games being played on 5/29.  If the games are rained out, the Franklin Financial Wing Night will still be held at Silver Spring House and will begin at 7:00 PM.

Yesterday, I took myself down to Nova Care to have them look at my knee that I hurt last week. Lucky for me it isn’t anything serious (Although I’m on the IL for another couple of weeks) but the funny part is I was down there with all of the UC student athletes. My old ass is getting looked at next to some of the women’s soccer team, a couple of tennis players and then 5 of our lineman all going through their treatment. I feel old a lot but never more than that.

Watching the continued train wreck of the Reds season unfold it once again goes to show how terrible our front office was last year. You have a chance to win you go all in ALL in. You don’t worry about prospects. If a team wanted Edwin Arroyo, fine by me. They want Chase Petty, OK let them have it if that meant the Reds could have gotten major league talent who could have helped win the division last year. Instead we famously “Liked our team” and see where that has gotten you both last year and this. Thirty years…let me repeat, 30 years…and continuing since the Reds last won a post-season series. Such a sad sad state for our favorite team. By the way, that is the longest streak in professional sports.

See everyone next week.

Marc

Once again Ryan’s anti rain dance paid off as the weather was perfect for softball last night. 

On field 1 we had Team Solomon vs. the hurting Team Brafman

Stu for the victors:

Team Solomon- 12 Team Brafman- 2

Similar to Lebron James, “We Were All Witnesses” as we watched Past President of Wise Temple David Snyder round the bases for his first ever Home Run in JCC Men’s Fast Pitch Softball. As he crossed the plate after his faithful ride around the bases, David screamed ” I’m the Best MFing 10 in the League!” 

Synder, who turns 57 on Saturday, when on to say, ” It Felt Really Good, I can only hope for similar success through the season, not just for me, but our whole team. Anything is Possible!”  

David is also an author. (https://www.amazon.com/52-Shabbat-Musings-Congregational-President/dp/B0CPBB5KKS) Buy a book now and he will sign it for a small fee at any softball game the rest of the season. 

As for the rest of our team…. Ken had another masterful performance on the mound. He kept Brafman’s team off balance all game and had a huge strike out of Harry “And the Hendersons” Meisner. Defensively, the dynamic duo of middle infielders, David Squared, both fielded their positions like Furniture Fair, with style and flare. 

Offensively, Team Solomon played small ball, using their team speed to wreak havoc on the base pads. Gary “Big Fish Little Pond” Fisher had a well placed bunt to keep the inning alive. Chris “Kringle” Kunkel had two hits driving up his batting average when his family is watching to .745. Another big hit and Run scored for Brandon Lindsey “Graham”

Team Solomon looks to keep up their winning ways against Team Fogel on Sunday.

(Team Brafman would like to thank Fink for subbing and for Eppy’s “Extra Padding” for protecting him from serious injury when David Wertheim smoked a comebacker off him) Team Brafman would also like to remind his dumb capt. to not dive for balls in the outfield anymore which resulted in a sore knee.

On Field 2 we had Team Grefer vs. Team Kamrass:

Team Grefer beat team Kamrass 20-10 (I think?) in a game that was closer than the final score indicated. Commissioner Ryan Silverman responded to getting hit by an errant ball in warmups with his best game of the year with 4 hits and scoring 4 runs. Zach Mayer had a dominant 5-5 day at the plate as well setting the tone for the rest of the team. They made a nice comeback effort bringing the game within 3-4 runs, but our offense exploded in the top of the 7^th inning scoring 9 runs to ice the game.

Sub Tim Trautman pitched another good game with no walks and his first career strikeout. Gary Grefer, Will Coleman, and Howard Goldwasser all had great games at the plate with each having multiple hits.

On Field 3 it was Team Wagner vs. Team Fogel

Brad for the winners:

Team Wagner defeated Team Fogel on Wednesday night, 13-9. The game was back-and-forth throughout, with Team Wagner ultimately taking control in the bottom of the sixth. The offense was plentiful, as both teams had key hits along the way, but leading the victorious 3-1 Team Wagner was Landon Hawkins with two over-the-fence homers. One was to CF, while the second one was to LC.  Hawkins also made some great plays at SS.  Speaking of great defensive plays, Dr. Bob had another outstanding defensive Web Gem at 1B by stopping a hard-hit ground ball off the bat of Joel Fogel.  Capitan Wagner also made multiple putouts at the hot corner.  Besides Hawkins, Pelberg, and Wagner providing offensive power, Mark Levine and Daniel Hiudt had huge hits.  Brad was interviewed after the game by Annie Sabo and stated, “We are hitting the ball really well, getting major productivity from the bottom of our order and therefore able to turn the lineup over.”

Well wishes go out to Joey Hiudt of the Hiudteers, as he recovers from a leg injury.

Team Wagner takes on Team Grefer on Sunday, with Reggie Sanders and Reggie Miller on the call.

Team Fogel takes on Team Solomon on Sunday with Dennis Rodman and Dennis Eckersley on the call.

And finally on field 4 it was TEam Harris vs. Team Tenenholtz

Roger for the winning Harris team:

TEAM TENENHOLTZ  7

TEAM HARRIS.           8

With the score 8-3, going into the top of the 7th inning, TEAM HARRIS was in total control, but before you could say MARC BRAFMAN, the visitors had four runs in and the tying run at 2nd base with two outs. That was as far as it went as TEAM HARRIS held on for a 8-7 victory.

Captain GRIFF HARRIS remarked after the game, “That game got a bit too close for comfort. I was ready to pull out my hair. It was a nail biter, but in the end we withstood the rally and got the victory.”

MARK WEISSER once again pitched a gem of a game with the help of son EVAN WEISSER behind the plate. “Evan called a great game. There was one time though that he called for a fast ball and I thought a change up was in order. 

I threw the fast ball and it resulted in a hit. Other than that, he called a great game.”

On the offensive side of the ball, kudos go out to the following……

DEE HARRIS had perhaps one of his best games in a while. He had two hits and once again played a stellar SS. “I can’t be overshadowed too much by my son. I felt really good at the plate and felt comfortable at SS. I play wherever GRIFF tells me to play. He’s the boss on the field. Off the field, it’s a different story.”

DAN BERNSTEIN once again came up with a few huge hits, mainly a bases loaded single to drive in two runs. The rookie also legged out a triple on a close play at third base…..good thing we don’t have instant replays.

EVAN WEISSER showed his daring speed as he scored from second base on a sacrifice bunt.

RYAN MARCUS also contributed by getting on base three times…..MARK WEISSER, RYAN BAUM, JZ ZEIDENSTEIN, STU WEINSTEIN, GRIFF HARRIS also played roles in the hitting game.

Not to be outdone, ROGER ROSENTHAL, who has stated he wants to lead the league in sacrifice bunts, laid one down to advance two runners. “I can’t hit like I once did (lol), but I still want to do whatever I can do help the team. 

Play a solid defense and bunt runners over.”

Finally, a BIG shoutout to STEVE “Z” ZAWATSKY for subbing. He always brings energy and good play.

TID BITS……

*It amazes me that our dining choice doesn’t put on the NHL playoffs, at least not in the room we were in…….NBA….NFL….tennis and fishing, but NO HOCKEY!!!!!

*League mascot, JACOB BRAFMAN, was back after a week off (we missed him) and was saying that he liked a certain athlete because his name is JACOB, so I asked him if a XAVIER UNIVERSITY player was named JACOB, would he like him?…..He shrugged his shoulders….

*RICK TENENHOTLZ is still on the mend after an injury a couple of weeks ago…..here’s to getting back on the field asap……I’m not just saying that because he’s related by marriage, but because he’s such a nice guy…..

*Finally, I don’t know who saw the TOM BRADY ROAST a couple of weeks ago, but I’d like your take on some of the “crap” that was brought up…..I thought it went way overboard on roasting……certain subjects should NOT have been brought up and were very sensitive!!!!!

League notes

A speedy recovery to Rick Lefton who is also on the IL this season. My advice is don’t go to the Reds training staff..

I always thought nothing was dumber than people spending hours on end watching the NFL draft because you could get the same info the next day and your team isn’t any better on the field than they were at the end of last season. But nothing takes the cake like a THREE hour NFL schedule release show. Do the games start tomorrow? Sure it’s fun to look at the Bengals schedule and see when they are playing and who and which games are in prime time but my goodness do we need three hours? What in the world is anyone going to tell you about two teams now that will be even the least bit important in say Nov. or Dec? (See Burrow, Joe last season) I mean come on. Roger is right with playoff basketball, hockey and compelling MLS soccer and MLB games on, do we need three hours of the schedule? Give me the Indy Fever over that any day.

Speaking of dumber shame on all of us who thought the Reds were going to take the next step. The only step they are taking is being sellers at the trade deadline. Sure, injuries and Marte eating “tainted meat” have crushed this team but this is the same front office that last year didn’t trade any prospects because “they liked the team” once again proving the time old sports story if you are winning and have a chance to win you trade your mother if it will help the team win NOW. Who knows if this group of guys will ever get that close again. And who knows if any of them not named EDLC are even any good. Rooting for the Reds with this current front office gives me, David Weil and Billy Kahn a headache.

Have fun seeing Neil Young in the Windy City, Mark Weisser.

And on the subject of concerts, check out Duffy Wolf’s pictures from Jazz Fest. He got some great ones of the Stones, Neil Young and Trombone Shorty to name a few. Very, very cool.

I’m stealing this line from Paul Doc from the Enquirer by saying stick to sports: Pres. Trump was in town yesterday and it cost $50,000 to eat lunch with him. If you had $50,000 couldn’t you think of something. ANYTHING better to do with your money than spend it on a lunch with anyone. I don’t care who it is…$50K for a lunch? 

Still time to sign up for the J Classic. Please do it. A great time will be had by all. 

I called Roger last week because he is related to a guy whose company I am calling on here at UC. I can confidently tell you that using Rogers name hasn’t worked at all as the guy still hasn’t gotten back to me. 

See everyone next week.

Marc