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TODAY

JCC GOLF CLASSIC AND DINNER

Supporting JCC Day Camps and youth programs

Monday, June 25, 2018

MASSERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Tam-O-Shanter Country Club, West Bloomfield

Honoring
Sheri & David Jaffa
and recognizing all
Past Honorees

Register online at SillsGolfClassic.com

Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus
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38

June 14 • 2018

jn

torm Kirschenbaum was the
Jewish News Male High School
Athlete of the Year in 1997 and
a 2012 inductee into the Michigan
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Now, the 40-year-old is the CEO of
the Birmingham-based Ball Players
Agency, which represents nearly 100
professional baseball players.
Nine agency clients are in the
majors, including Detroit Tigers pitch-
er Warwick Saupold and Cleveland
Indians pitcher Tyler Olson. The
Indians were in town last weekend to
face the Tigers, so Kirschenbaum had
a chance to visit with the two hurlers.
Nine clients were selected earlier
this month in the Major League Draft.
The list includes Niagara University
shortstop Greg Cullen, who was
selected by the Atlanta Braves in the
15th round, and pitcher Nick Thwaits
from Fort Recovery High School in
Ohio, who was taken by the San Diego
Padres with the next pick in the 15th
round.
Those players are represented
by former Berkley High School and
Niagara baseball player Mark Meisner.
Cullen, who led the nation in hitting
this season with a .458 batting aver-
age, and Meisner were teammates at
Niagara.
“Mark (Meisner) worked for me on
and off as an intern and as my assis-
tant starting when he was a senior in
high school, and he became an agent
last year,” Kirschenbaum said.
“This was his first draft. He’s done
a good job with his players, especially
communicating with them and their
families.”
Kirschenbaum’s firm also has offices
in Toronto, Colorado, Taiwan and
Japan. He’s perfectly happy with run-
ning a baseball-only agency.
Kirschenbaum was named the
Male High School Athlete of the Year
after being selected a USA Today
All-American for his outstanding
1996 baseball season at Birmingham
Groves.
He broke school season records for
batting average (.518), home runs (10),
RBIs (54), stolen bases (33), hits (44)
and runs (37).
Kirschenbaum went on to play
Division I college baseball at the
University of Florida and Long Island
University — C.W. Post.

Storm Kirschenbaum (center) and his sons
Blaine, 5, and Cole, 9, got together with
Cleveland Indians pitcher Tyler Olson (left) and
Detroit Tigers pitcher Warwick Saupold last
weekend at Comerica Park.

He graduated from the University of
Detroit-Mercy Law School in 2003.

HELP SEND A KID TO CAMP
The 25th annual Dr. Larry D. Sills
Memorial JCC Golf Classic will be held
Monday, June 25, at Tam-O-Shanter
Country Club in West Bloomfield.
The event raises funds for Send a
Kid to Camp scholarships so children
can attend Jewish Community Center
Day Camps, and it enriches other
youth activities at the JCC.
The JCC has awarded more than $2
million in camp scholarships over the
past 24 years thanks to the golf classic.
Sills, who was born and raised in
the Metro Detroit area and graduated
from the University of Michigan and
Michigan State University, was among
156 people killed Aug. 16, 1987, when
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed
shortly after takeoff from Detroit
Metropolitan Airport en route to
Phoenix, Ariz.
Because of Sills’ passion for summer
camp, the golf classic was established
in his honor.
This year’s golf classic honorees are
David and Shari Jaffa, whose generos-
ity has enhanced JCC cultural and
educational programming.
Register for the golf classic and
donate at www.SillsGolfClassic.com or
call (248) 432-5418.

SHE’S A TENNIS CHAMPION
Elle Hartje helped the Detroit Country
Day girls tennis team win its third
consecutive MHSAA Division 3 state
championship earlier this month in
Holland.
Hartje, the top seed at No. 3 singles,
swept four opponents after getting
a first-round bye and won the flight
title.
She defeated No. 3 seed Claire
Verbrugge of Ada Forest Hills Eastern
6-0, 6-0 in the flight championship
match after beating No. 4 seed Ryann
Breslin of Grand Rapids Christian 6-0,
6-1 in the semifinals.
Country Day scored 38 points, two
more than runner-up Bloomfield Hills
Cranbrook-Kingswood. •

Send news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.