Two Leagues To Keep Your Eyes On This Summer

Two leagues that have really been getting my attention with their weekly highlights videos: Birkshire Wiffleball Association and Washburn Wiffleball League.The BWA videos have been improving over the past few weeks and I think they'll be one of the top new leagues to watch before this summer is over. Washburn Wiffleball League has been dazzling me with their highlights videos for a while now, especially since they've added commentary.

Omar Steinberg Throws No-Hitter

You had better get used to the sound of the wooden strikezone because it's going to be a sound you hear a lot if you watch this video. It was a fantastic match-up between the Buckman Bluejays and the Eastside Expos. Although the game actually happened 10 days ago, the video was just recently uploaded hours ago and is still worth watching. Seeing that it was a pitchers duel between Omar Steinberg (Expos) and Mark Sefner (Jays) it was no surprise that it was a low scoring game. The final score was 1-0 in the Expos favor. This game was the 2nd game of a 2 game series between the two teams that day and the Expos won both of them, giving them a 4 game lead over the Jays in the CCWA Southern League with a 14-2 record and currently ranked #13 in the nation. As an added bonus, this video features a nice catch by the Book'em about 3 minutes into the video. If you've never noticed, this league actually uses a catcher...but it's not in the sense you traditionally think of. The position of catcher is an ingenious defensive/fielder position this league has mastered. Those little foul balls behind the plate that are harmless in most leagues are generally caught in the CCWA leading me to believe that they can get games moving along pretty well. I wonder how long an average game lasts for them?

The List No Team Wants To Be On

This is an article I wrote for the National Wiffleball League Association that was published on their site yesterday. Winless Wonders are teams still in search of their first win of the season...I guess you could consider these teams to be among the worst in the country right now. I know it sounds hyper critical but really it is much needed press for the teams that are rarely be in the spotlight. Do you ever get a little tired of mostly hearing about the good teams? Seems like overkill at times for me. If you feel that way too then this article is something you may appreciate. If you don't feel that way then this article can serve as some laughter for you at another teams expense. BUT what I think the article does best is highlight what it is the teams are doing wrong to make them lose every game. In some cases the only difference between the worst and best teams is fortune.

Wiffleboy Gets Into Local News

I find it incredible that Sean Steffy has been under the radar in his own town all this time while he's been gaining a steady following on Youtube numbering in the thousands and a recent guest appearance on national television on Tosh.0. Wiffleboy doesn't just pitch for Golden Stick but is in his pitches for his college baseball team (this is his senior year). Nice to see Steffy getting some local recognition for his talents.

Best Radio Station Ever?

Man, I wish one of my local radio stations hosted a celebrity wiffleball game. Kansas City's 99.7 The Point covered the Big Slick Wiffleball Game that featured former Royals players and Paul Rudd. It looks like they had a lot of fun.

Slim Pickings

I'm not going to lie. Today was slim pickings when it came to finding something for a post. There are days when all wiffle videos uploaded on a given day are just garbage. You know the videos I'm talking about...some kid throwing a ball at the camera and not even having the decency to edit the parts out where he walks to go get the friggin' ball. It's mind-numbing. Sometimes it really is hard to find a decent new wiffleball video and today was no exception. Instead of showing a video I think you should watch I'm going to show you a video that really makes me want to kill myself. Ever since winter these two kids have been making extremely boring videos and one of them had the nerve to make a negative comment on one of my league's videos. Bitch please!
Who wants to watch two goofy looking preteens talk in a monotone fashion about games when they don't even have no highlights? The goofy hair cuts, the wiener lips, and those vests... Cripes! I might have to go to the optometrist now! I just don't understand it. The SportsCenter parodies have been done over and over again and they're never impressive. Do something unique and maybe you'll get some points from me but in the mean time just stop. Please. Unless you are going to actually have some GAME FOOTAGE stop making these videos. One last cut: you named you league Backyard Wiffleball League. How unique! It's not like there are 15 of those around the country already. Okay, I'm done. Have a wonderful evening and hopefully there will be some interesting videos tomorrow.

New Article I Wrote for the National Wiffleball League Association

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy writing this blog and am thrilled that there are plenty of you out there who visit this site daily...but I miss writing the more thorough articles for the NWLA sometimes. I'd been wanting to write an article about undefeated teams for a while. But I wanted to wait until late enough in the year so the article wouldn't be so trite. This week I felt it was time to finally invest in researching the dozen or so teams that have yet to suffer their first loss of the year. I got the idea to write an article about undefeated teams last summer when I was working on my Winless Wonders article (about teams who haven't won a single game all year) but it was already too late and most teams had lost at least one game. I'm currently working on another Winless Wonders article for this year and it should be ready to go by sometime tomorrow. But if you enjoy reading the blog and haven't read any of my articles I've written for the NWLA, you should check it out. Furthermore, if you read this blog regularly and you've never visited the NWLA website then you need to do so ASAP, it's much more than weekly changes in the national rankings.

NWLA Blowing Up With New Content!

With three new articles, a new format for the rankings, and announcing the 2011 Hall of Fame Inductees...the NWLA website is fresher than ever! Here's a list of the three new articles, check them out:

• Minnesota Nice by Luke James
• Wiffleball: Toast of the Internet by Sly Rivers
• Hess Possessed! by Brian Meyers

PWL Invades Nationals Park

9 members of the Potomac Wiffleball League took up positions at Nationals Park as a little pregame ceremony. This is just another reason to believe that 2011 is the summer of wiffleball. The sport has never received this much attention...and we're not even a month into summer yet. Who knows what else could happen before 2011 is done? Congratulations to the PWL for receiving such an honor!

Just in case you missed Wiffleboy28 on Tosh...

Who knows? Maybe you had to work? Maybe you slipped in a pubble of urine at a local grocery store and had to go to the hospital? Or maybe...you even had a date. For whatever reason you might have missed last night's episode of Tosh.0 don't be sad. Someone put it up on Youtube! Enjoy. Feel free to comment on how you enjoyed the video. If you didn't like it, feel free to express that as well.

The Wait is Over...Wiffleboy28 to Appear on Tosh.0 TONIGHT!

Just a friendly reminder that a wiffleball player known as Wiffleboy28 (Sean Steffy) will be appearing on national television tonight on Comedy Central's Tosh.0 at 10 PM Easter / 9 PM Central. Don't miss it! Let us know what you think after you watched the episode.

Human Piñata...Thank You Beer

Seriously? What the Hell? I guess everyone has their own idea of fun. If you've followed this blog long enough, you'll know that this isn't the first video I've posted where dudes hit other dudes with wiffleball bats. Okay. So what makes this one special? Valid question. Well for starters, it's more than a well-placed swing to the face. One guy gets hit in the beer gut and another guy gets hit (more like spanked) on the bare ass (crack blurred out...don't worry). Now for the money shot: the guy actually taking a blow to the face. After initial impact, they abuse the technology we enjoy known as slow-motion. They replay the bat to the face sequence about 56 times. Then it's more party antics after that. This moment was brought to you by beer.

Bonus fact: About 9,000 years ago it is believed that somewhere in the Fertile Crescent that someone mixed water with barley and created the first brew or beer. Beer is one of the oldest prepared beverages concocted by humankind. So it's safe to say that people have been doing really stupid stuff like this for thousands of years and there's no reason to believe that it won't happen thousands of years into the future.

Griffle Ball Pitcher Throws Perfect Game

Kyle Lidster and his team, the Lightning, are apparently dominating the Griffle Ball League (isn't that a great name for a league?) thus far in the season. Their season just recently started, June 5, but a video from opening day just now surfaced on Youtube. The video is Lidster throwing a perfect game against the Coon Hunters. I did some digging through what stats Griffle Ball has available on their website and found out that Lidster has the highest career home runs (65), wins (15), and ERA (0.99) of all the players in their league. The only career statistic he's not conquered is saves. But the career leader for saves is two and Lidster threw his first career save this year. If he relieves on the mound a little more often he'll be on the top of that list as well. This guy is an all-around player and it's no surprise that his team is 5-0 and look to be the team to beat. But I can't help but be more curious about their statistics. They don't have useful statistical data such as batting averages, runs batted in, pitching strikeouts, etc. The only data available is games played, home runs, wins, losses, & ERA. You can find out Innings Pitched when you download the Excel file with that statistics on it. But I find it incredible that this guy throws a perfect game and is hands-down the best pitcher in the league...yet I have no clue how many strikeouts he has.

Japan's WiffleBoy?

Recently I've noticed that there's a Japanese dude that's been throwing the 8-holed ball around and while some aren't impressed, there is obvious potential in this pitcher from the far east. It absolutely blows me away that there are guys like this on the other side of the Earth doing the same thing I'm doing...playing wiffleball. It's a humbling realization. This guy is throwing some pretty good junk. I'm not sure how long he's been pitching but in the couple of videos he's done he's shown progress. He's already picking up on scuffing techniques. Depending on just how widespread wiffleball is in Japan, this guy might be one of the best wiffleball pitchers in his country. Who knows maybe we'll see some videos from China, Russia, or maybe some Western Europe countries someday...

WiffleBoy28 To Appear On Comedy Central

Sean Steffy, or 'WiffleBoy28' as he's known on Youtube, will be appearing on Comedy Central's Tosh.0 this Tuesday evening. According to the Golden Stick website, Steffy returned from Los Angeles yesterday after filming for the show. It wasn't all easy-going for Steffy. He arrived in LA on schedule but unfortunately his equipment (yellow bat, scuffed balls, & strikezone) were not yet in town. You can imagine how this would devastating this was for Steffy. Fortunately for the WiffleBoy there is an equally enthusiastic wiffler in Los Angeles. Nick Benas (of Big League Wiffleball) was only a 15 minute bike ride away from the hotel Comedy Central provided for Steffy. Benas really came through and literally got on a bicycle and brought Steffy a yellow bat, some wiffle balls, and scuffing tools while Steffy was constructing a strikezone. We'll see if it worked out this Tuesday as it airs on Comedy Central's Tosh.0. Be sure to watch! This television appearance just might be the most attention the sport will receive for quite some time...and it couldn't come at a better time, right at the heels of Steve Everett's (Kalamazoo Wiffleball League) mind-blowing catch that gained national attention.

SCWL Finally Get Week 4 Video Online!

Suburban Chicago Wiffleball League has finally gotten their Week 4 highlights video online after having it taken off of Youtube for using copyrighted music (probably owned by EMG). Happens to everyone at one point or another. SCWL has been impressive with consistently posting videos with a nice recap template after each game highlight. This small league is really showing some promise and turning heads. I wasn't sure if this league would get it together when they first started but they have really got a nice league going now. As for this video I noticed two things: they used some pretty good jams for the background music and they might just have the shortest freaking strikezone ever made. Wonder what the measurements are for it?

New League To Watch

I present to you another new league to enjoy what little spotlight this blog provides: the Berkshire Wiffleball Association. I don't know where they're located as of yet but if I had to guess I'd say New York (like every other new league). There's two things I noticed while watching this video: 1) the extreme width of their strikezone and 2) about 3 and a half minutes into the video some kid says "Bite a dick and hit the ball for [once]" as the batter he's scolding hits the ball. They appear to have a nice set up and the fielders can catch well. There's a lot of smart baserunning too, a lot of tagging up. I'm not sure how long this league has been around but I was impressed that they managed to not have rap music in the background. That's a rarity for a teenage league's highlights video.

Washburn Wiffleball League Impresses

I was skeptical when all these NY leagues sprouted up seemingly overnight. I didn't think some of them would have the goods. Surely some of these leagues will be duds, I thought. To my surprise I was wrong, and in this circumstance that realization is met with cheerfulness rather than embarrassment. Chiefly among the leagues I expected to fail or at the very least stay under the radar was Washburn Wiffleball League. They have been uploading videos all season long and although their only in their 4th week I'm already a fan...the least I can do considering I expected them to flop. My apologies. I guess I just couldn't accept the fact that every league that has developed in one area so suddenly to be a success. There's an infant mortality rate of sorts that is very real among new leagues starting up. Many leagues never get a true start before being cut off and abandoned. It's a very easy thing to do, abandon such a big and time-consuming project. But WWL has brought the goods this season so far and I expect them to henceforth. Just what the Hell is going on in New York? What is in the water up there? NY has turned into a Galapagos for wiffleball leagues but I wonder how long that will last...

GSWL NY Region (Fast Pitch) Week 1

Golden Stick is in full swing now and it's going to be hard to look for recently uploaded videos without seeing several GSWL videos, and that's okay. The NY Fast Pitch Region was kind enough to upload this video and displayed just how impossible it is to hit off pitchers most of the time. But when batters do come around with that big bat the ball normally sails...but it's all about probability, odds are you're going to swing and miss. This type of pitching can challenge the "fag bat" school of thought.

Insane Pitching in Southeast MI and OB Wiffle Marches On

Oyster Bay Wiffleball League continues to show up and play games. The backstop/strikezone they've added is a true obstruction when trying to view their videos but the convenience that must serve makes it indispensable, I'm sure. Their videos are still fun to watch if you can get used to watching it through the backstop. Wiffle in Southeast Michigan is still bringing the noise this season as Belgian Wiffles faced Git r' Done. I never realized how fierce the pitching is in their league. I've never seen so many risers thrown in one video. Belgian Wiffles only won 1 of their 4 games in the series making them one of the worst teams in the league. But their name is still the best in their league. That should count for something. The name alone makes me want them to win games.

The Wait Is Over...This Month In Wiffleball Is Back!

Oh yes! I've been waiting for this day all spring and the day has finally come. First episode of 2011 This Month In Wiffleball. If you have trouble following Palisades WBL and want to know just what the Hell is going on with them...you watch these videos. Their videos is what separates them from the rest of America's leagues. Brett Bevelacqua's editing and filming skills are supreme and for this reason Palisades WBL has the best quality when it comes to wiffleball videos, hand down. It's a point that no one can really argue. I mean...just watch it. Yeah they do things that may annoy some more light-hearted players when they really celebrate home runs (ex. "Get that shit outta here!"). Personally, I think it's hilarious when they go nuts over a home run. Regardless of your feelings towards Palisades just about everyone can enjoy their This Month In Wiffleball series.

FT Wiffle/Caputo Complex Unite!

This was announced over a month ago but the wheels have been set in motion for some wiffleball action for their area this summer. For now they're only planning to have a 4th of July Tournament and perhaps that might be all that they can get together for 2011. That will be more than good enough. FT Wiffle and Caputo Complex were two of the finest wiffleball leagues to follow on Youtube. Seriously. The quality and depth of their videos was unrivaled and when both leagues decided to simultaneously call it quits after high school graduation it left a void that other leagues have been trying to fill with their videos. When Steven Gethard shut down the lights of his precious Lancaster Field last summer in their farewell video it actually pulled at you emotionally. I said my piece in comments on each league's final videos pretty much saying 'yeah, yeah, you'll be back. anyone who loves the game this much can't just walk away from it forever.' And I was right. Both leagues, which are actually geographically close to one another are joining forces to create the Monmouth County Wiffleball Association. I'm expecting to see some amazing videos with some amazing plays and in depth coverage. It's not yet known if they'll only be playing July 4th or for the whole weekend but hopefully the video(s) will be worth the wait. I also don't know where they'll be playing...hopefully Lancaster Field. I'll keep you posted as more details arise.

Black Stick Wiffleball League Begins Their First Season

There are those kids out there that have wiffleball channels that are just dreadfully boring. You know the ones I'm talking about. Those kids who have videos where the camera is up in their face and they're telling you what's going on with their league instead of showing you what's going on. It's natural to not give a crap about what they have to say especially when you have an uncomfortable up-close-and-personal view of their bad hair cuts, poor complexion, braces, etc. The voice-cracking is hard on the ears too. You watch videos like this and all the dogs in your neighborhood will be howling for mercy. BUT there are those kids who aren't as boring as Hell to watch as you'd expect. Black Stick WiffleBall started out looking like every other crappy kid channel with a little dude throwing the ball to no one but the channel has progressed. They apparently got a few teams together and started their season. They actually have a real strikezone, which is super impressive since most kids either don't have a strikezone when they first start a league or they use a chair or something similar. They also use a small backstop, which gets them bonus points because it can't be easy moving that stuff around when cars are trying to get through the neighborhood. After watching this video I was really surprised by two things:

1. That kid with the white shirt has a really nice screw ball.
2. Whoever made this video, I'm assuming one of those kids, listens to Bill Withers.

World Wiffleball Classic 2011

An international tournament has once again escaped my attention. The 5th Annual World Wiffleball Classic organized by Christian Cherry happened June 4th and 5th. 106 players from 40 nations faced off at Portage High School's turf football field to find out who was the best team in the world. El Salvador defeated Poland in the final round to win the tournament. Australia took third place and Belgium took 4th. I have no idea where the USA ended up. I'm not exactly sure where the tournament is but I know it's somewhere in northwestern Indiana...clearly the best location to have a worldwide tournament for a sport. I wonder if they really had teams legitimately from other countries. It seems a little far-fetched that people would go through all that trouble and expense just to play in a wiffleball tournament. But if this is legit, awesome. To find out more about this tournament there have been two articles written about it:

• Cherry's World Wiffleball Classic a Big Hit by Jim Peters
• El Salvador Takes World Wiffleball Classic Title by Brandon Vickrey

All Eyes On Michigan

The catch seen round the wiffleball world is now experiencing Day 2 of being the top story on Deadspin.com. Deadspin is typically known for controversial stories such as the budgets of MLB teams, the scandal at BYU involving a black player being suspended for having sex, and Brett Favre's penis scandal. But Deadspin doesn't always do negative controversial news, like talk about how the KWL called MLB umpire Bill Welke to rule on a tough call. Welke with 4 other umpires accompanying him at the time of the call agreed that catching the ball before going over the fence is an out. The story has also been acknowledged by AOL's Sporting News recently and will most likely continue to be discussed elsewhere. Who knows? Perhaps it'll make it on ESPN's SportsCenter. This is without a doubt the biggest wiffleball news story of the year thus far, whether you think it deserves this much attention or not.
Wiffle in SouthEast Michigan has posted their latest podcast, making this episode #4, with Carl Coffee hosting. As always, it's nicely done and entertaining and worth a listen. Finally, the Orioles of HRL: Twin Cities posted a Public Service Announcement within the last 24 hours about staying in school. Who knew there would ever be a wiffleball PSA?

"Awww....Yeah"

The Garrett Drive Wiffleball League finally gets some fresh footage up. This is their first video they've uploaded since spring training and the league just now finished their 5th week of the regular season. I know that this play will be business as usual for some of you but unique plays like this don't happen often in the GDWL...and when they do their rarely caught on video.

"The Showdown"

This video would have a lot more potential if it wasn't filled with weird lines and actually made sense. If you had the capability to stop time and manipulate objects why wouldn't you make the ball hit the little dweeb in the face?

Help WSWL Out

The Winston-Salem Wiffleball League has once again opened voting polls up to decide which play is the best and which play is the worst. So help them determine which plays are the best of the best and the worst of the worst. I'm sure they'd really appreciate it.

Oh yeah...

I'm sure some of you have already seen this clip. I can't believe I forgot to upload it on here this morning. Anyway, this is a nice catch.

Wiffler's Digest Read Outside the United States

As hard as it is to believe it seems that there are actually people outside of the United States that are finding their way to the blog...seemingly on purpose. In the past month alone there's been nearly 20 hits each from Germany, the U.K., and Russia. There's been a steady few hits from India and China as well. I'm surprised there's not as many hits from Canada and no one from Mexico has visited (what's up with that?).

Here's the list of hits for the past month just in case you can't see it in the picture:

United States...........2,686
Germany......................17
United Kingdom..........16
Russia.........................16
India...........................14
China............................8
Canada.........................6
Poland..........................3
Senegal.........................2
Switzerland...................2

Who knows, maybe we'll see some leagues sprout up in these countries one day? The only other league outside of the U.S. to exist that I'm aware of was in Spain but they're long gone now. But who knew that people from other countries would be reading this? Pretty crazy. These numbers are constantly on the rise too, as the months go by the hits from these same countries (particularly in Western Europe, Russia, and India) rise a little.

New Highlights From WSWL and SCWL

Suburban Chicago Wiffleball League's Week 3 Highlights were shot from a different angle, this time behind the pitcher. I like the new view but still prefer to actually see where the ball is going after it's hit unless the highlights is mostly a pitcher dominating on the mound. As for the Winston-Salem Wiffleball League highlights for Week 2 well...it was the usual impressive fielding plays and nice hits. There were actually some balls that managed to get past the grasp of outfielder hands in the form of home runs. I know...hard to believe considering every single outfielder in that league apparently has wings since they can seemingly leap about 20 feet into the air to rob 80% of the home runs that come their way. Seriously...these guys must take a lot of vitamins to jump that high. It's crazy. Watch their videos from this year and last year, there's got to be at least 50 robbed home runs...and I'm really not exaggerating.

PSWL Finally Announces When They Start Season

Well I've been waiting and wondering about if leagues like Parson's Summer Wiffleball League were going to finally start their season. PSWL has finally announced a date for when their 2011 season will begin...June 23. Finally. Perhaps they were waiting on the summer solstice since they're a "summer" league?

2011 HFWB All-Star Game

Somehow Hess Field Wiffleball has already played their All-Star game. AMAZING. Anyway Hess League whipped the Lamb League 7-1 and this video provides some great footage. I only wish they would find somewhere else to place the camera. While their highlights videos have been pretty good I would still love to see balls actually going over the wall or seeing outfielders make plays too. Putting the camera somewhere behind home plate would be perfect. But as you can see there's not much room back there so the current camera view might be as good as it gets.

Oak Shade Stadium Starts 2011 Season

Oak Shade Wiffleball League (don't bother going to their website, it's a hot mess) has officially started their 2011 season. I watched this league last year piece together their field and season on Youtube and it's nice to see them coming back for more this summer. They have 4 teams and appear to be having a blast. I didn't really hear all the voice cracking like I'd hoped while watching this video. They seem to be going with the play horrible music in the background over highlights footage route...which is disappointing. The camera work in this video is awfully shaky too. But with a tripod their videos could be pretty good.

Nice Outfield Grab

This recently uploaded video from the Parson's Summer Wiffleball League features an incredible outfield catch from last year's playoffs. The first time I watched it this morning I thought for certain they hijacked some footage from the Winston-Salem Wiffleball League and integrated it into their playoff video, seeing that WSWL seems to always have an abundance of amazing outfield plays. But it's legit, a PSWL player made that awesome grab. Still no word on when the PSWL season will actually begin. Preseason games were played as recently as May 27. I'm not sure why they don't just start the season already!

SLAM Diabetes Tournament Promo

There's more to this blog than just a daily post with recent videos or developments in leagues. If you'll notice, there's a tournament page that lists several tournaments that I've found with the location, date and website for each tournament listed. Among them is the SLAM Diabetes Tournament in Essex, VT. There's a lot of tournaments for great causes and this one is no exception. They play this tournament at Little Fenway and Little Wrigley, amazing fields located in Essex. If you're wanting to participate in this tournament, you'd better hurry - this is only a 12 team tournament. I don't know how much the cost is for each team but since it's small and for a cause I'd say at least $100/team.

NWBL Game of the Week

National Wiffle Ball League's game of the week was between the Heat and Cutters and they made a short and sweet highlights video. It's worth the watch. NWBL has really impressed me thus far this season. I hardly noticed them in 2010 but I've hardly taken my eyes off them this year...they have my attention.

ORWBL Starts 2011 Season

Yes, it seems that every week a new league starts their season. The Old Republic Whiffle Ball League has one of the shortest seasons of any league (June 1 - July 24) but they get a lot of games in despite being on a tight schedule. Last night was supposed to be full of games but it seems bad weather interfered with some of the games and only 3 teams actually played. The Sour Wowers are in 1st in the American League and the 3-0 Newts are on top of the National League standings. The competition is going to be stiff this year since the league has shrunk to nearly half the size it was last year with just 8 teams. It should be an interesting year for the ORWBL.

HFWB's Chris Hess Throws Perfect Game

Chris Hess leads his braves to a win against Tadd O'Neil and his Red Sox, 2-0. O'Neil and Hess are great pitchers and this would have been one game I'd love to have the opportunity to watch. The Braves could become the top ranking HFWB team in the national rankings after this victory! Congratulations to Chris Hess for the great outing on the mound last night.