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 My Site News |
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Thursday, September 16
Every Week, All Year
We are playing every week folks, and too busy to update this site too much.
Sign-up at the Yahoo! group: IsraelWinterBaseball
Into 2011, 2012, 2013, and beyond, we are playing ball *every* week, weather permitting.
There is no group in Israel that plays baseball/softball more than we do. If you are a player, this is the place to be, so sign up now!!
- Shmuel Goldstein
Friday, October 21
POST SEASON AWARDS:
To be eligble for my post season awards you must have attended at least 75% of our Sunday games this year (sorry Chaim F, Shmuel), and come on time (which eliminates Ian Tick) and you can't be a natural athlete (Itzik Levy) or be able to hit the ball very deep every time up (Eli and Meni).
So, what's left - THE SUNDAY SOFTBALL "ALMOST" ALL-STARS, by position
1)Pitcher - Sorry Meni, sorry Benji, sorry Haim, for my money I've got to pick ABIE JUNGER (yes, he is my brother in law) who just goes out there and pitches (no complaining, no commentary, he just pitches). I want him on the mound!
2) Catcher - an easy choice, MOSHE EBNER. Moshe sets up behind the plate, catches the foul pops and strike 3 foul tips and pitchers seem to pitch better when the guy with the Yankee jersey that says EBNER is behind the plate. Although he made one miracle catch in deep right field earlier this year, Catcher is his best postion.
3) First Base - sorry Mel, but I gotta go with our our HANOCH (Bruce) GOLDBERG. Not only a Rabbi and Lawyer, but also a great first baseman. He fields grounders hit to him and best of all he makes a number of tumbling, stumbling catches at first base on wild throws from other infielders and HANGS ON TO THE BALL! Way to go Chanoch!
4) Second Base - a surprise an unlikely pick, OREN INY. Oren played his first year with us and what I like about him is that although he not the most skilled player, he keeps coming back every week with a great attitude and he played better as the season wore on. He seems to cover second base when when the shortstop flips him the ball for the force (but Oren, you don't need to tag the guy, just step on the bag, IT'S A FORCE OUT.)
5) 3rd Base - The most improved player of the year is by far YIFTACH. Our motorcycling friend has learned the game quickly and by the end of the year he was catching a throwing the ball great. In short center, in right field, at 2nd base, or 3rd base, Yiftach seems to be where the ball is and makes the catch or the play more often than not. His hitting has also improved. Kol Hakavod Yiftach.
6) Shortstop - Another surprise, I'm taking Mel's son, but it's not Itzik. SINAI LEVY has very quitely played better and better each year. He can play outfield or 3rd (not really a shortstop), but Sinai gives it his all wherever you put him and has made a number of surprising catches in the outfield this year. He has a great attitude and you want him on your team.
7) Left Field - yes, it's me JON SREDNI - I am not athletic at all, and yes some balls get over my head (when Eli or Meni bat), but playing so many years of Sunday Softball I seem to know where to position myself for each batter and no one makes more amazing catches in the outfield than I do (because you all think, 'he's never going to get to that ball.)
8) Center Field - Ira or David Goodman or Shmuel (nu?, ed.) might be a logical choice, but if I don't have a place for BENJY on the mound, I'll take him and put him in Center. Benjy is always into the game and is always smiling and excited to be out there playing. Intensity without being too intense (are you listening Meni?)
9) Right Field - Surprise, surpise, BARRY SPIELMAN. Barry is either Barry good or Barry bad (pardon the lame pun), but he cares about the game (if he drops a ball, he thinks about it all week or all off-season). But Barry has played some good outfield too and when he hits, he really hits, 5 for 5 or 4 for 4. I'll take Barry, because he makes things happen.
Manager:
Ok, you can either have Chip who tells you what you are doing wrong (and then makes an error at shortstop himself) or Mel who pulls out all the cliches all the time ('3 ducks on the pond' and 'a bad day at the ballyard, beats a great day at the office').
To be diplomatic, I'll call it a draw (although I believe Mel's Men won more games than the Chipster's did).
HAVE A GREAT OFFSEASON!
Jon Sredni
Tuesday, September 12
Erev Yom Kippur Finale for 2006
October 1st
THE LAST GAME OF THE YEAR WILL BE THE YOM KIPPUR BOWL.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 1st at 9:30 AM (warm-ups at 9).
Father-son format, as young as 14 y/o can play. Youngers ones will also get to bat in what we call "NC".
Pizza and drinks, please tell Chip if you are coming so he can order the right amount of food.
Sunday, June 24
IBL and Our Fourth of July BBQ
1) THERE WILL NOT BE A SOFTBALL GAME NEXT SUNDAY (June 24th) IN RAANANA (due to the Israel Baseball League opening game which is that night which some of our regular players may be going to see). Check out the IBL website www.israelbaseballleague.com for more info (and to view their complete season schedule). That opening game and some other games- mainly the Sunday night ones- will be broadcast live on Arutz HaSport (Sport Channel 5 - check your local listings.)
In addition to the Hebrew-language broadcasts on Arutz Sport, the Games of the Week will be broadcast on the IBL’s web site (http://www.israelbaseballleague.com/multimedia/watchgames/) in English on Thursday nights. Games will be archived on the web site so that viewers can watch at any time they want, starting with 8 p.m. EST on Thursdays. Play-by-play will be handled by the well-known American sportscaster John Meterparel. (I got this info from the IBL site). In addition, our very own Shmuel Goldstein will be umpiring some of the games.
2) Instead of this Sunday, we will play Wednesday, June 27th. Be there !!!!
3) Odds are that we will have our annual 4th of July BBQ after our regular game on Sunday July 1st (the 4th is a Wednesday this year). NIS45 for beer drinkers, NIS35 for soft drinkers. Bring the money Wednesday.
Sunday, February 4
Happy Birthday, Mel
Our co-organizer, Mel Levi, hit the big 6-0 this Tuesday, Feb 6. So, his son, Itzik, decides to organize a Friday game during the Duffer off-season. This game was a huge success, except for the fact that Mel's team lost. We play for fun, right guys?
See the games link for a re-cap, but click on the link below to see a video. Eli is batting, Ruby is pitching. As you can see, Eli hits into a fielder's choice, but the guys are saying "safe, safe". Look closely, and you'll see the runner was out. And so the umpire called it (he was also the cameraman).
 Eli's Hit
Here is Mel with his Seeeegar:
 | | Shmuel hits, Haim catches |
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Monday, February 27
2008 Season
Tuesday, June 20
Forth of July BBQ - 2006
We will have our annual 4th of July BBQ on Sunday July 2nd (2006) after our weekly game.
So, be on time !!!
Mel mentioned it might be cheaper & easier to do ‘shipudim’ this year, but I believe the reason he said that was that he had just been skewered by the Chipster’s.
Chipsters and Mel's Men in dead heat for 2005 Championship
Taking a look at the standings as of Oct 6, 2005, we have the following:
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Percentage(*)
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Won
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Lost
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Tie
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Chipsters
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0.500
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11
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11
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Mel’s Men
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0.500
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11
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11
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1
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Hanoch’s Hitters
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0.600
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3
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2
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Ticksters
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0.000
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1
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Jon’s Jiants
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0.000
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1
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(*)Percentage = W/(Total Games), ties don’t count
OK, so do you want to give the lead to Hanoch's Hitters? Really, while playing only 5 games? C'mon, be a pal. Give him a chance to lose some more. Or win some more, you never know. And the Ticksters should get more credit for their tie than Jon did for his loss? Hey, whoever heard of a "tie" game in baseball? Or softball for that matter. No, we'll go for throwing out the tie completely, and taking into account the fact that both CH and MM played 22 games each.
Which means they are both tied, and the championship will be decided on the Erev Yom Kippur game. And this is as it should be, in a Jewish league - it all comes down to Yom Kippur. So, folks, doven well, go to slichos, and remember - "runs, hits and errors remove the evil decree", isn't that what we say?
Unbelievable Erev Yom Hazikaron Game
This just keeps getting better and better. A very exciting 15-14 Chipsters over Mel's Men game was played on April 25. See the Games link for a great recap by our man, Jon Sredni.
Meni nabs a fly ball to short center field on September 5, 2004.
Photo thanks to Sinai Levi.
Triple Play
A recent game featured this:
TRIPLE PLAY - the game ended is surreal fashion as the Chipster's had
the bases loaded and nobody out and had their #10 hitter up. The batter
popped the ball up which Yehuda caught, but 2 players were caught off
base (not knowing what to do on an infield fly) and a TRIPLE PLAY was
recorded, ending the inning and the game.
For more details, click on the Games link for April 17, 2005.
Some Great Plays
Yehuda Mesilati makes a great catch in left field, June 5, 2005
MMs Down Chipster's in Soggy Sunday Softball 2005 Opener
Mother Nature was not smiling on the Sunday Softballers in Raanana today, April 3, 2005, as they opened their 2005 season under dark skies and scattered showers. 14 brave souls showed up for the first game of the season (which was an impressive number given the weather connditions).
Chip and Mel chose up sides and the teams seemed to be evenly matched for the first couple of innings with Mel's Men holding small leads of 2-1 then 4-1 early on.
But then, in the top of the 2nd inning with Sinai at bat and Meni on 1st the rains came! A sudden downpour sent all the players to the shelter of the dugout where they huddled for quite a while until the rain stopped.
Finally play resumed and Mel's Men took advantage of the Chipster's lack of defense and the slippery field to build a big lead. The Chipster's were given extra at bats at the end, but they could not catch Mel's Men and the final score was Mel's Men 11 - Chipster's 4 - in 5 innings.
There were some noteworthy plays on both sides but it was Sinai Levi in Centerfield who made some good plays defensively while others did well offensively.
Next week we hope for better weather and an even better turnout! Warm-ups start at 5pm and the game will start at 5:30pm. Any further questions can be directed to Chip at chip@opcom.co.il
See you next Sunday!
Yonatan Sredni
0544-964-392
 | | Commissioners Mel and Chip |
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Hit the ball, guys
Mel and Hanoch
| | David Sommer, with Manny in the background |
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We play throughout August, folks
We don't stop for nothing. Kassam rockets, Bobby Bonds' passing, Clemens' 300 games, new economic plans, nothing.
We see here David Sommer pitching, with Manny in the background (photo above), and Shmuel Goldstein hitting (photo below). Thanks to David Aron for the pix.
 | | Shmuel Goldstein hits |
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Mel's Men Passover Chipsters 14-12
Second game of the season on April 13 was a repeat of the first game; score was a little different but again Mel's men took it to the Chipsters. Mel's strategy of the oldest batting first and then by descending age continued to be an effective power source. However the real strength of Mel's Men was the fielding and the laclk of fielding by the Chipsters.
We managed to play 8 innings with 18 guys in aNOTHER GREAT TURNOUT. In the last inning the Chipsters tried to stage a comeback but a high pop fly to Ari Goldberg ended the game. Other than once dropping the ball when it was in the mitt , Junior Eisner played an excellent game in centerfield and Aaron Weil made a few nice cathches in right field. Yair also played a soldi leftfield and Ari was his usual solid self at short. Shmuel Goldstein picked up a well earned win and Chip another loss.
The Chipsters fielding for the most part was soft as David Summer had a particularly tough day in center field.
A couple of plays of note:
*Shmuel faking out Chip with a head and arm move that had Chip running home only to be tagged out.
*Josh had two nice catches one in foul territority and than another on the run as he stole a homerun (proabably a double) from Mel.
*Josh was also caught in a run down as Ari sprtined to tag him before he got back to first.
All in all a good game.
We will be playing during Pesach on Sunday at 5:00. Be on time.
Don't forget registration for this years campaign. 150 adults, 100-soldiers, 15-18 .
Fees go to Israel Association of Baseball for upkeep of field and some additional fencing that was put up on our diamond as well as a new set of bases. (Who's going to the states soon?)
Ian's waiting for his chance to lead a Tickster team to victory.
Hag Samach to everyone.
Mel
Mel’s Men in a Stunning Upset Over the Chipsters 16-13
The season opener on April 6 2003 (birthday of great men) was a high-scoring upset against all the odds. The Chipsters were confident that they would handily defeat Mel’s Men, but age and experience were not enough. The Chipsters the old and experienced team while Mel’s Men had youth going for it. In the end, the hitting combination of Josh, Ari, Shmuel, and Asael was just too much for the Chipsters to handle. Asael started the rally with a well-hit home run and from then on, Mel’s Men were unstoppable. Even "garbage time", an extra half-inning for the trailing team, merely added 3 runs to the Chipsters tally.
The Chipsters were able to close the gap in the last 2 innings until the klutz play of the week. David Sommer (Mr. Dependable) got caught in a run-down between 1st and 2nd base. David threw all caution to the wind and ran for 2nd base on a single. We are prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt that he really had to pee and from the pressure on his bladder he became delusional. He must have thought that 2nd base was a urinal and he had to get there at all costs.
David Kaplan’s hot fielding was not enough to give the Chipsters the edge. Aaron Weil also had some nice stops at 2nd base.
In the end, a good time was had by all. A turnout of 15 for the season opener is very respectable.
Chipsters:
Chip
David Sommer
David Kaplan,
Arnie
Aron Weil
Jon Sredni
Michael Berman
Mel's Men:
Mel
Hanoch
Shmuel
Asael
Josh
Ari
Amnon Eisner ("Junior")
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The next game will be this coming Sunday, April 13 at 17:30. There will be a game as well on Sunday of Chol HaMoed Pesach.
Dues for the 2003 season are 150 NIS for adults and 100 NIS for soldiers and kids under 18. Please bring your dues this Sunday. You can pay with a check to the IAB if you want a receipt.
See you on Sunday.
Chip
Raanana Softball Field
How many outs are there, anyway?
Left to right: Chip, Mel, Amnon (junior), David Kaplan, and Jon Sredni's back
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