 SEPTEMBER 17 • 2020 | 55

that won the Rosen Division 
championship. It was Adat 
Shalom’
s first league title since 
2005, when there was only 
one Adat Shalom team and 
only one league champion.
“Everyone in the league 
got to play softball. We were 
out doing something every 
Sunday. That’
s what was most 
important,
” Sandler said.
The most controversial rule 
change was the elimination of 
tag plays.
A player running to a base 
was out if a fielder had the ball 
and was touching the base. No 
tag was needed.
“The idea was to avoid 
contact between players,
” 
Achtman said.
Landaw said he saw the 
play in every league game he 
worked.
“Everyone adjusted and 
adopted to that rule change, 
players and umpires,
” Landaw 
said. “Would I like to see that 
rule change continue? No. 
It takes the purity out of the 
game.
”
Sandler said that rule 
change made games feel more 
like T-ball than softball.
“But if it meant being able 
to play, with everyone staying 
safe and healthy, it was worth 

it,
” he said. “The guys on our 
team adjusted. We learned to 
not take any chances running 
the bases.
”
Another rule change 
worked well.
In an effort to avoid forfeits, 
teams could borrow players 
from other league teams 
during the regular season and 
borrow similar caliber players 
from their division to replace 
missing players during the 
playoffs.
Rained-out games were 
not rescheduled because of 
the shortened season, which 
began June 21, seven weeks 
later than planned because 
diamonds at Drake Sports 
Park and Keith Sports Park 
in West Bloomfield were not 
open, but avoided the usual 
off days for Mother’
s Day, 
Memorial Day and the July 4 
weekend.
The league champions were 
top seeds Temple Israel No. 
6 in the Greenberg Division, 
Temple Shir Shalom No. 2 in 
the Koufax Division and Adat 
Shalom No. 1 in the Rosen 
Division.
There were five teams in 
each division. The 15 total 
teams were just two less than 
played in the league last year.

Recipients of the Michael 
Yendick Pure Heart Award 
were named in each of 
the three divisions of 
the Inter-Congregational 
Men’
s Summer League 
for the first time.
It was the third year 
the league’
s umpires 
selected the award recipients.
“Having a recipient in each 
division was my idea,” said 
league umpire-in-chief Rob 
Landaw. “There are so many 
guys worthy of the award 
because there are so many 
teams in the league. Selecting 
just one winner the last two 
years was tough.”
The award was originally 
presented in the B’
nai B’
rith 
Softball League beginning in 

2001. After the league 
disbanded, the award 
became part of the Inter-
Congregational league 
in 2017.
This year’
s award 
recipients are Nathan 
Cohen (Greenberg 
Division), Stephen 
Maiseloff (Koufax Division) and 
Wes Lamey (Rosen Division).
The award is named for a 
B’
nai B’
rith softball player who 
died in 2000 from colon cancer. 
A player who exhibits sports-
manship, is a good teammate, 
and “a mensch, always” is eligi-
ble for the award.
“The award is not based on a 
player’
s athletic skills,” Landaw 
said.

BRANDON ACHTMAN

Wes Lamey

continued on page 56

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