Wiffleball
Encyclopedia
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
designed for indoor or outdoor play in confined areas. The game is played using a perforated, light-weight, rubbery plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
ball
Ball
A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...
and a long, plastic (typically yellow) bat
Baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...
.
History
The ball used in the game was invented by David N. Mullany of Fairfield, ConnecticutFairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
in 1953 in Shelton, Connecticut when he designed a ball that curved easily for his 12-year-old son. It was named when his son and his friends would refer to a strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
as a "whiff". A classic wiffle ball is about the same size as a regulation baseball, but is hollow plastic no more than 1/8 inch thick. One hemisphere
Hemisphere
Hemisphere may refer to:*Half of a sphereAs half of the Earth:*Any half of the Earth, see Hemispheres of the Earth, see:...
is perforated with eight 0.75 inches (19.1 mm) oblong holes, with a solid second hemisphere. This construction allows pitchers to throw a tremendous variety and size of curveball
Curveball
The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. Its close relatives are the slider and the slurve. The "curve" of the ball varies from pitcher to...
s, sinkers, and risers. Wiffle balls are typically packaged with a hollow, hard plastic, yellow bat that measures 32 inches (812.8 mm) in length and about 1.25 inches (31.8 mm) in diameter.
The game of wiffleball, which sprang from the invention of the popular wiffle ball, became popular as a backyard, sandlot and picnic game in the 1960s and 1970s. Since 1980, the game has also exploded as an organized sport, with many successful leagues and tournaments now played across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and as far away as Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. These competitions have been known to draw dozens of teams or more, typically consisting of two to five players per team, with widely varying rules and field dimensions.
Wiffle ball in popular culture
Wiffle brand products play a central role in Wiffle Ball Summer: The Ride of the Elmoron. The nonfiction title was released in 2011 and details a bicycle journey taken by a man with a Wiffle Ball bat strapped to his bike frame. The final destination of his journey in the story is a large Wiffle Ball tournament in Lafayette, Ohio.In the South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode Toilet Paper, Cartman tries to kill Kyle while on a boat ride, but fails because he could only afford a whiffle bat.
In his book The Complete The Far Side
The Far Side
The Far Side is a popular single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world,...
, cartoonist Gary Larson reproduces a letter he received after including a "wiffle bat" in his cartoon. The letter contains language from Wiffle Ball Incorporated's attorneys: "In the future, when you use the brand name WIFFLE, the entire brand should be capitalized, and it should only be used in reference to a product currently manufactured by The Wiffle Ball, Inc."
Organized wiffle ball leagues
For some the idea of the game being merely a recreational activity was not enough as leagues began to pop up across the country as early as the 1970s. However, it wasn't until the 1990s that leagues really began to catch on with the assistance of the internet. Now players could view what other people were doing with the game. There are at least 70 active wiffle ball leagues (with active websites) in the United States. It is believed that there are many more wiffle ball leagues that either do not have websites or have yet to be discovered.Leagues appear to be more prevalent in New England and the upper Midwest than anywhere else in the country. This is most likely because of the concentration of suburbs in those areas, a perfect setting for playing Wiffle Ball. Areas with lower populations, such as the Southeast, are less likely to have as many leagues as New England. Wiffle ball seems to be more accepted in the Northeast than anywhere else as many leagues are close in proximity to one another, particularly in New York (which has 13 known leagues).
Some of the nation's top wiffleball leagues include: Palisades WBL in New York, Kalamazoo Wiffleball League in Michigan, HRL: Twin Cities in Minnesota, Old Republic Whiffle Ball League in Indiana, Potomac Wiffleball League in Washington D.C., and Columbia Cowlitz Wiffleball Association in Oregon/Washington.
Many leagues are involved in an organization called the National Wiffleball League Association (NWLA). The NWLA analyzes how well teams perform and rank them accordingly. The NWLA is one of the largest factions in the wiffleball community and is much more than just a website that ranks teams from across the country. There are columnists who report on current events and has one of the most active message boards in the sport.
Tournaments
Tournaments are the driving force of modern wiffleball. There are over 50 Wiffle Ball tournaments every year in the United States. Most tournaments are annual events that happen in the same place every year but there are some tournament "circuits". Fast Plastic held tournaments in over a dozen locations throughout the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s. When Fast Plastic disbanded it was absorbed by another, up-and-coming, tournament circuit called Golden Stick Wiffleball. Golden Stick Wiffleball is run by a man named Lou Levesque who likes to "take things to a new level." In 2011, Golden Stick held sixteen tournaments from Boston to Los Angeles. Golden Stick holds its national championship every year in Las Vegas where teams have a chance to win $10,000 if they win the tournament.The Wiffle Up 3 on 3 tournament circuit holds a dozen tournaments every year in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Missouri, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Having held tournaments yearly since 1997, Wiffle Up is possibly the longest consecutive running wiffle ball tournament circuit in the country.
There are many benefit tournaments held every year across the country such as:
- Vermont Wiffleball Tournament - has raised over $1 million for the Travis Roy Foundation.
- Wifflin' 4 Wishes - raises money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota.
- Curves for the Cure - raises money and awareness for Breast Cancer.
Fields
There are some wiffle ball enthusiasts who have taken field construction to inspiring heights. Some have built fields to resemble major league ballparks. Thomas P. Hannon Jr. authored a book, Backyard Ball, on his experiences building a smaller version of Ebbets Field. Patrick M. O'Connor wrote a book, Little Fenway, about building his versions of Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. But not all wiffleball fields have been modeled from major league ball parks. Some have created original fields, Strawberry Field being the most exquisite. Rick Messina spent $700,000+ on constructing Strawberry Field, which features lights for night games, bleachers, & press box. He also converted a neighboring house into a clubhouse/pub.Building fields can lead to controversy and legal issues. In 2008, the New York Times published an article about some teenagers who had to tear down a wiffle ball field they had built because of neighbor complaints.
Safety controversy in spring 2011
In April of 2011, the government of New York state proclaimed that wiffle ball (as well as kickballKickball
Kickball is a playground game and competitive league game, similar to baseball, invented in the United States in the first half of the 20th Century. Kickball may also be known as kick baseball, base soccer, soccer-base, or soccer-baseball...
, freeze tag, and dodgeball
Dodgeball
Dodgeball is any of a variety of games in which players try to hit other players on the opposing team with balls while avoiding being hit themselves. This article is about a well-known form of team sport with modified rules that is often played in physical education classes and has been featured...
) were unsafe and a "significant risk of injury" for children and declared that any summer camp program that included two or more of such activities would be subject to government regulation. The story often became a source of ridicule and amusement, with Parenting.com sarcastically commented "According to new legislation introduced in New York State, to survive classic schoolyard games like Capture the Flag
Capture the flag
Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
is to cheat death." The Mullany family originally thought the ordeal was a "joke" at first. The company has never been sued over safety issues in its 50+ year history. The disapproval of people from across the nation pressured the NY legislature to remove wiffle ball and many other from the list of high risk activities that require state government oversight such as archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
and SCUBA
Scuba
Scuba is an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. It may also refer to:* Scuba diving, the use of a self-contained breathing set to stay underwater for periods of time* Scuba set, the equipment used to do scuba diving...
diving .
