The backyard version of baseball known in these parts as Wiffle Ball is this week's blessing. We had the chance to play nine innings with my nephews on Easter weekend, and my daughter and I have had our own version of pitchers-and-catchers during the week. She's been batting left-handed as well as right, and she has figured out how to throw the ball where she wants it to go. She is the first female in our family's history to accomplish this.
Wiffle Ball is a variation of stick ball played with a plastic bat and a perforated plastic ball designed to travel only short distances so the game can be played in small areas. It has been around since 1953 and is one of those backyard games anyone can play. You don't have to be especially good at it to enjoy it, and that's a big part of why it's so much fun. It was a staple activity of all my family's backyard picnics when I was growing up. It was the game that got young and old alike out of their lawn chairs and running around in circles on whatever rough approximation of a baseball diamond we had created.
I had some fun this week when I went to the Wiffle Ball website and discovered there are actual rules to the game. I told my daughter, and she said, "Let's not get complicated with rules." That has always been the sentiment of players in my family over the years! But rules there are for this game invented by a dad for his son in Fairfield, Connecticut, so the kid could play stick ball and throw curve balls without hurting his arm. The rules recommend team sizes, a batting order, and more. The website even offers diagrams depicting ways to hold the ball for various pitches. It suggests using a broomstick if you don't have the official plastic Wiffle bat. Nothing like telling people how to play a game if they don't even own the product the company is promoting!
We worked out and warmed up one cold spring day after another thanks to the fun of Wiffle ball. How much did we spend on the bat and balls so many years ago? Three or four dollars. Cheap, clean, easy, portable fun. Timeless, too. What's not to love?
Wiffle Ball is a variation of stick ball played with a plastic bat and a perforated plastic ball designed to travel only short distances so the game can be played in small areas. It has been around since 1953 and is one of those backyard games anyone can play. You don't have to be especially good at it to enjoy it, and that's a big part of why it's so much fun. It was a staple activity of all my family's backyard picnics when I was growing up. It was the game that got young and old alike out of their lawn chairs and running around in circles on whatever rough approximation of a baseball diamond we had created.
I had some fun this week when I went to the Wiffle Ball website and discovered there are actual rules to the game. I told my daughter, and she said, "Let's not get complicated with rules." That has always been the sentiment of players in my family over the years! But rules there are for this game invented by a dad for his son in Fairfield, Connecticut, so the kid could play stick ball and throw curve balls without hurting his arm. The rules recommend team sizes, a batting order, and more. The website even offers diagrams depicting ways to hold the ball for various pitches. It suggests using a broomstick if you don't have the official plastic Wiffle bat. Nothing like telling people how to play a game if they don't even own the product the company is promoting!
We worked out and warmed up one cold spring day after another thanks to the fun of Wiffle ball. How much did we spend on the bat and balls so many years ago? Three or four dollars. Cheap, clean, easy, portable fun. Timeless, too. What's not to love?
9 Comments
Sandy, haven't thought about wiffle ball in a long, long time... Maybe the kids played it in more recent times at a family picnic. I'm not sure! Great game for kids - no hard ball crashing through people's windows either! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your comments on my blog - just heard Dr. Jack is going to run for representative of one of the districts in his state...I'd vote for him! I'm thinking about my "One Single Impression" on laughter. Now I know why you sent that very funny YouTube video! :D
wiffle ball! I remember that! games that are supposed to be fun!
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That sounds like a lot of fun!!
ReplyDeletePlease tell your daughter from me that one of my brothers is left-handed but when playing cricket (a serious pastime among us McMahons) he bowls left-handed but bats right-handed.
ReplyDeletetyhis is a memory i would like to get a dog and teach him how to play
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Wiffle Ball but there are similar things we did as children. You're daughter's right - why complicate it with rules?
ReplyDeleteGreat memories.
...discovered there are actual rules to the game. I told my daughter, and she said, "Let's not get complicated with rules."
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to play, a perfect sentiment!
No rules??? But our rules were so complicated! Interesting: if I call "re-do" on those past games, I bet I really would've won. And I shall this summer. Wingnut and I have the stuff, we have to play. I'm doing my BYB later on today. There are so many blessings to post when you begin this meme, so I have to narrow it down to something appropriate for this weekend.
ReplyDelete"'The Code' is more of what you might call...guidelines."
ReplyDeleteJust because "they" have rules, doesn't mean you have to follow em ;-)
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