Corcoran Sunshine’s Division III softball teamIt’s shaping up to be an intense summer for the city’s major residential real estate firms, not only at the closing table but on the playing field as well.
Several of the city’s major residential firms — the Corcoran Group, Prudential Douglas Elliman and Halstead Property — play against each other in the NYC Metro Sports League, which includes about 200 co-ed corporate softball teams from different industries.
The Douglas Elliman Rock Stars compete against the Halstead Homers and Corcoran Closers in the “serious and competitive” Division II, explained Mark Baum, an associate broker at Elliman and manager of Rock Stars.
Elliman also has another other team, the Greatest Hits, who play in the more-laid-back Division III, Baum said. Corcoran Sunshine’s team also plays in Division III.
Real estate brokers are naturally competitive, so for many of the players, the league is no laughing matter.
“We’re disciplined, and we’re serious about it,” said Baum, adding that “it’s more fun to win than lose.”
Unfortunately for Elliman, the Halstead Homers are the best real estate team in Division II so far this year. At press time, the Homers had just secured a place in the playoffs with a record of 6-3-1. The team, who won the Division II championship in 2009, has a secret weapon in the form of third baseman Ryan Gessin, an agent in Halstead’s commercial division, who played baseball in college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
The Rock Stars, meanwhile, are facing challenges this spring after coming close to winning the league championship last spring. They are now in fourth place in their subdivision, with a record of 3-3, including a “tough” 10-9 loss to Halstead, Baum said.
But the team is now “back on track,” said Baum, who added he is confident the team can come back to win the subdivision. After all, last month he pitched the first-ever no-hitter in the league’s 11-year history.
As of press time, the Corcoran Closers had a 4-5 record with two games left to play. Corcoran Sunshine, meanwhile, has a record of 2-4, said spokesperson John Felicetti.
“We are hoping a strong second half of the season will earn us a spot in the playoffs,” he said.
And the firms are hungry for even more competition. They are planning a “Brokers Cup” that will pit Corcoran, Elliman and Halstead against each other in a round-robin tournament.