Josh Kravitz and Shmuel Babich founded the Shabby Babies of the Congregation B’nai Yeshurin Softball league three short years ago. The team name and original core group are transplanted from the Shabby Babies of the Queens Softball league. In Kravitz’s last season with the Queens squad, the team suffered a tough loss in the championship game. When Josh and Shmuel moved to Teaneck they were determined to avenge that loss and bring the Shabby Babies a championship.

The Shabby Babies joined the CBY league in 2011, primarily made up of players in the Teaneck apartment’s community. In their inaugural season, they narrowly missed making the B league playoffs. During that first off-season, Captain Kravitz made some serious personnel moves. First he recruited ace pitcher and his father-in-law, Irwin Levenbrown. Levenbrown has played in the league for over 20 years and is one of the league’s top pitchers. He also landed another long time CBY star, his brother-in-law, Naftali Levenbrown. According to Kravitz, “Naftali stepped right in as the heart and soul of our outfield and dominant hitter.”

With these moves the team became an instant contender. The Shabby Babies finished season number two with an almost perfect record (only one loss) en route to a championship season, sweeping the Killer BZ in the finals.

The team was very happy to be the champs, but had their eyes on the A league championship as well. The 2013 season has been a little rougher than expected and the transition to the A league has not been a smooth one. The team is still in playoff contention and is hoping to make a final push for the last playoff spot. Even if they don’t make the playoffs this year, they are hopeful and look forward to many more seasons together.

By JLBC Sports staff