Dawgs Softball in Israel | ñåôèáåì éùøàì - äãåâæ

This was the year of Aron Kurz' arm. Being the first full year playing in a league that included the Brewers, which was formed mainly by former Dawgs, and a bunch of recruits. How did it go? Well, those players who left made the difference, that's for sure. Our level went waaaaay down - we not only missed Zeke and Alberto's skills on the mound and behind the plate, but we missed their bats, Julio's bat as well, and their maturity, and stick-to-it-ness. Our new players, while very promising, will take some time to develop. We have faith in them, especially in Aron Kurz's arm, and our rookie with the best attitude - "Mamma". For a while, we also had Dudu Zozin, who also has a very good attitude, and Yan Kaminer. But unfortunately, our tough schedule (we play at 9PM, finish at 11PM, and quite often don't get home before midnight) was tough on Yan, and Dudu decided to go over to baseball. We had a transfer addition - Eyal Moses, from the Tigers, who is indeed a very, very talented player. We only won one game in the spring, and that was thanks to Natan Mandel's recruiting talents. He plays in a Sunday pick-up game in Jerusalem, and brought in THREE of his buddies, in order to allow us to play against Crazy Richards, and not forfeit. For that game with Avi Dzik on the mound, Nissan Hirsch at second, and Arik Singer at first (with Shmuel Goldstein behind the plate [!]), the Dawgs outlasted the Crazies, and ended it up 15 to 13.

The season is well under way, but as usual, there have been a few rain-outs. See the Games links for game summaries, and an up-to-date schedule.

Roster:

Lowell Blackman
Danny Epstein (sometimes)
Robert Even
Ken Goldstein
Shmuel Goldstein
Yan Kaminer
Aharon Kurz
Dani Machlis
Natan Mandel
Yigal Rozval
David Sommer
Jeff Weiner
Dudu Zozin

Sometimes:

Michael Moronov
Daniel Bar-Am
Aharon Goldstein
Nissim Eliezer

 In the photo: Yigal, Dudu, Aron, Yan, Danny Epstein, Dani Machlis,
Jeff, Shmuel, Robert, Lowell

This was the year that everything came together. With Zeke coming on strong in the spring, together with Alberto Tascher behind the plate, and the addition of Julio Miravel and Leandro Leon, the Dawgs in the spring played better, played more confidently, and it was a good season. We ended at 7 and 9, which should have been 9 and 7, but those two "rubber" games that we lost were close ones, and it was because we weren't used to winning. I'll explain later. It was, quite simply, a combination of strong pitching, good fielding, and better bats. Duh. NOW, what we need is a good, aggressive coach who can teach us to become Killer Attack Dawgs. A sign of trouble was that Shmuel didn't pitch at all, relying instead on Zeke's abilities. That would come back to haunt the Dawgs next year. Roster: Dani Machlis Jeff Weiner Leandro Leon Yechezkel Ganz Lowell Blackman Yigal Rozval Shmuel Goldstein Alberto Tascher Michael Moronov Natan Mandel David Sommer Daniel Bar-Am Fall: Dudu Zozin Yan Kaminer Ken Goldstein Amnon Eisner Aron Kurz But late in the spring, Zeke informed us that he is splitting off, and forming his own team, to be called the "Brewers" (Cerveceros), consisting of all Spanish-speakers, mainly from Cuba. The split-off started in the fall, but we survived, with the return of hot-armed Aron Kurz, and a couple of his buddies from the RSL: Dudu Zozin and Yan Kaminer.

A simple, but elegant video of Aron Kurz pitching against the Twisters on Oct 4, 2006. A good drop ball for a called strike, a high and outside ball, then another drop that is hit to second baseman David Sommer, who makes the play to Lowell Blackman at first to end the game. Video taken by Dawggie Yigal Rozval (800K, click on icon to view)

You know, when Israelis don't know something, they tend to make fun of it. Think it's weird. And that's weird. But hey, who's complaining? We've got a cute, funsy video from Walla, which is an Israeli site that is sorta kinda like the Detroit Free Press. They've got fun stuff, and off-beat stuff. Take a look at the video, which stars their host, Yoad Alperon, with the ISA's Goose Gillete, and our own Shmuel Goldstein, with the famous Dawg call, immortalized by the late, great, Jon Dym, z"l. It was taken at the Dawg-Tigers game of September 14, 2006 at Baptist Village. We also see glimpses of the Tigers catcher, as well as Dawg pitcher Aron Kurz, and briefly, Dawg firstbaseman Jeff Weiner. It's in Hebrew, but if you don't understand Hebrew, just look at the pix, they are fun as well. Click on this link. _________________________________________________________________ ñåó-ñåó éù îäùäåà áòáøéú ëàï. ìîøåú ùæä áà îååàìä, ìà îåëø ëàúø øöéðé, àáì àéëôè ìîéùäå? ìà àéëôè ìé. áñøè, ëåëáéí âåñ â'éìè, åùîåàì âåìãùèééï ùìðå. øåàéí âí ä÷ö'ø ùì äèééâøñ åâí äôéö'ø ùì äãåâæ, àäøåï ÷åøõ. öåìí áîùç÷ áéï äãåâæ ìáéï äèééâøæ, î14 áñôèîáø, 2006, áëôø äáôèéñèéí. ä÷ì÷ ëàï