New Rules Review As Opening Day Approaches

You may recall that on December 10th last, the rules committee met and approved two new rules for the 2011 Wiffle Season. Actually, considering the quantities of beer consumed, some of you may be excused for not remembering. Anyway, for the refreshment of all, here are the new rules for the 2011 Whiff Championship Season:

1.  "Either Hoop!" By a close vote is was decided that the batter who successfully bats a foul ball through either basketball hoop shall be credited with a home run and four runs batted in (RBI). This is known as a Grand Slam on the Cheap. It does not matter how many runners are on base at the time of the feat. After such Grand Slam, the bases shall be considered empty, and the batter's time at bat is over. The pitcher shall be charged with a HR and four runs allowed. This is known as a Tough Break.

Either one: HR, 4 RBI

2.  Ground Out Line. A new line will be added to the "infield" that runs parallel to the brick wall at the same distance from the wall as the pitching rubber. Ground balls must be fielded by the pitcher in front of this line to count as an out. Batted ground balls passing this line will be recoded as a single. One point on this rule that is not clear is if extra defenders are allowed to be positioned between the Ground Out Line and the Doubles Line. Details.

Finally, since more and more players are adding the "Cebulash Pull" to their batting repertoire, I think it wise to review the ground rules regarding hits to the short right porch at Nance Bradds Field. Please study this field diagram:

Right Field Ground Rules

Fair fly falls striking the building on the fly are hits according to the following guide:
Red - single
Orange - Double
Green - Triple
Blue - Home Run

Purple - Foul Ball

Weather looks good for Saturday's Opening Day!!

Spring Intra-Squad Game

First things first: let's all remember what Spring Training is for: getting in your swings, finding that release point and running the warning track. For Whifflers, two out of three ain't bad.

Today, what started as just batting practice for Matt, Kurt and (Rookie of the Year candidate) Mike Lucas turned into a seven inning intra-squad game with the arrival of Brent and Dave (R-OH). And the fans were treated to plenty of "finding the release point." More like "searching for the release point." Not all release points were actually found.

There was also a good amount of getting swings in, as the contest featured a fair amount of offense. For the record, we kept the score but not the stats.

Brent working on his "eye" (i.e. not swinging)

Take note, reader, in the photo above one of the high notes of the day: Starbucks coffee and DLM doughnuts delivered mid-game by Robyn. Nowhere is the term "Better Half" more apt than in the Mosser home. In the background you can make out Brent "getting in his swings" whilst waiting for Kurt to "find his release point."

Emphasis in the preceding paragraph is placed upon "one of" because there was another high note of the morning. In what was his fourth inning of pitching of the day, Kurt got shellacked. It started with four straight singles before Kurt struck out Matt. He'd see 6 more runs score before he got the second out. It got so bad that even when Matt was laughing so hard in the batter's box that he could not see, Kurt still couldn't hit the strike zone. When Matt did get it together he laced a single up the middle for another hit. Brent, Dave and Matt sprayed singles to all fields, and Dave hit a 3 RBI triple in the middle of it all. When the third out finally came, Kurt in that inning had surrendered more runs (9) than he did in all of 2010 (7). A one-game ERA of 20.25. Ice, Kurt. Ice.

9 runs allowed by Kurt, 2 driven in by him (off Brent)

But, hey, that's what Spring Training is for.

REMEMBER: Da Commish has declared next week Opening Day. Come on out and get in some swings that count.

How League Leaders are Made

Click to enlarge

Mid March. Saturday morning. 48 degrees.  Who's on the asphalt tuning up for the 2011 season?  Krash, Commish and Stats (not pictured).

Pictured above is Peter Berwald, 2010 leader in ABs, IP, RBI, 3Bs and tied for the lead in HR, is snapping off a curve to Kurt Mosser, 2010 MVP and league leader in Avg, Hits, 2Bs and K's as a pitcher. That is how league leaders are made: Pre-Season work.

Pre-Season is all about finding that release point, getting your work in and taking your swings.  The scouting report for today's one hour of batting practice? Peter's pitching is in regular season form, as is Kurt's bat.  Matt ... needs a lot of work ... which he'll get NEXT Saturday at 9:00 am.

Prepping for the new season

Early March, Whifflers, means we are just weeks away from wiffle-tolerant weather on Saturday mornings.  To get ready for the season, I have set up some of the 2011 stats tables - available on the right side for your perusal.  The tables are set up with dummy stats, taken from the Reds/Dodgers Cactus League game from Saturday, March 5.  The "All Stats" link is the same look at the standard batting and pitching stats for all players.

What's new is the "Clutch Batting" link that provides (via tab links across the top) a look at how players bat with runners in scoring position (RISP), how players bat with 2 outs and RISP, and finally how players bat when their team is behind.

Missing is the Matchup Matrix, which in addition to being a little bit of a pain to create, really added nothing to our understanding of the game or league.  Really, what does it matter how Zamonski hits off Ben?

If there are suggestions on what would be a good look at "Clutch Pitching," I'd welcome that.  Is there any such thing as clutch pitching?  Discuss, in the comments.