STRAWBERRY FIELD - ENCINO, CALIFORNIA
Few of us have what it takes to raise nearly $1 million to build an elaborate wiffleball stadium. Since Strawberry Field was completed in 1998 it has served as the Mecca for wiffleball fanatics and has drawn followers from across the country. So who built this field? A man named Rick Messina. It started out with him building on his property but he needed more space and bought his neighbor's house for $700,000 to expand the famed wiffleball complex, making it easily the most expensive wiffleball field in the world.
The stadium seats nearly 100 spectators, has a scoreboard, lights for night games, a pressbox with announcers, and a pub near the batters box. Strawberry Field has just about every extra desirable feature that you could every hope to have at a wiffleball game. There are lots of great wiffleball fields and ballparks in America but Strawberry Field continues to stand out above all the rest.
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LITTLE FENWAY - ESSEX, VT
Pat O'Connor and some friends of his spent nearly a year constructing their version of a miniature Fenway Field in O'Connor's 10,000 square foot backyard. There have been many attempts by fans of the renowned MLB ballpark to build a perfect smaller version of Fenway...most have failed. Most people focus on the Green Monster and there are some pretty good mini Fenways out there but O'Connor's version captures the spirit of Fenway, making it the definitive Little Fenway.
Little Fenway has hosted many tournaments but is best known for its annual Travis Roy Foundation Tournament, which helps those with spinal cord injuries. The benefit has raised over $1 million as of this past summer. The field constantly makes local and national news during the summer time as fans from across the country make pilgrimages to Essex, Vermont to a field called Little Fenway. To find out more about Little Fenway you can read the book, seriously there's a book.
