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
continued on page 56
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