A Look Inside the Wiffle Vault

Faced with uncountable Saturdays until one can return to the asphalt of Nance Bradds, how can a Whiffler pass the time of winter?  Well, if you're not into playing hockey in your sneakers, then another possibility is to read books about Wiffle Ball.

One such tome is Michael Hermann's Wiffle Ball: The Ultimate Guide.  Written enthusiastically by the "brand manager" for Wiffle Ball, Inc., this book has all the history, as told by the family that lived it, of one of America's top-ten all time toys. Hermann also wends his way through wiffle's place in popular culture, the science of wiffle pitching, and the recent surge in wiffle leagues and tournaments.  Along the way, sidebars give the reader wiffle recollections from such diverse folk as Grady Sizemore, Julius Erving and Nick Jonas (!).  And trivia: guess how much the Wiffle Ball, Inc. has spent on marketing since 1975?  (Answer below)

The evolution of the leagues had me most interested, because it reminded me of Oakwood Whiffle and Ale at certain points.  Each of these organizations (and by this book's use of the term OW&AC is not a league, but more of a regular pick-up game) found their pitchers rapidly outpacing their batters, and needed to find ways to get away from the 1-0 games and the 0-0 ties.  Comfortingly, they drew upon the same solutions we considered at our rules committee: moving back the mound and homerun derbies.

Mind you, as the book points out, wiffle ball was invented to be a strikeout game: for suburban backyards where it can be a pain to retrieve a ball if it is hit too far, and window breaking is a serious possibility.

I have no idea if it's an accident or by design of the OW&AC Founders, but it seems that most "leagues" start at about a 40 to 42 foot pitching distance, and then gradually extend to about 48 feet.  OW&AC is right in there with our 41 foot mound - part of the great national fabric of wiffle.

There.  That should keep you warm for a few more weeks.

Wiffle Ball: The Ultimate Guide, by Michael Hermann and The Wiffle Ball, Inc. Triumph Books, 2010.

(Marketing budget since 1975: $0)