JCC Softball Cincinnati

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