2013 Wiff Cards, continued

Dayenu

So, someone parked this shiny Subaru in the Commish's parking spot this morning:

So we all tried our best to hit it with foul balls, but no luck.  It was never hit even once.

That cannot be said for today's four pitchers; all of whom gave up many hits and at least a few runs.  Some more than a few. Some a lot.

It would have been enough to have played six innings, but we also were treated to Kurt hitting for a cycle.

It would have been enough to witness the cycle but we also got to see Glen throw an underhand pitch that landed behind the pitching rubber.

It would have been enough to see Glen gaffe, but the Commish made lawyer puns.

It would have been enough to hear Peter's clever word play, but we also got to see Matt hit many batters. He didn't get enough sleep and was distracted.

Glen, Matt - 8
Kurt, Pete - 15

W: Mosser
L: Lindsay

HR: Mosser, Cebulash

Why?

Why do we do the things we do? I mean, why do we do things? And why do we do those things?

Why do ten people gather in a very strong sun and throw plastic at one another and scratch calcite markings on the ground?

Bueller?

Take a Wiff of these Cards!

All artwork here courtesy of Da Commish - 'cuz he loves this here game.

New Season, New Rule

Well, the battery in my phone is all crapped up, ya know? That's what happens when you don't fully charge it, then you use it and then you partially charge it again, then maybe you run it down and then you partially charge it and use it again. So I've got this "phone" which is really more like a little computer cum camera cum GPS cum MLB score tool. But most of the time, when I want this device to do one of the things I want it to do, the battery is low and it craps out while I'm doing it. Or not doing it.

[This is known as the "memory effect," a term for the very real changes that can occur in NiCad rechargeable batteries, but is often misapplied to what is actually just a aging power cell. Wikipedia makes me smart.]

So, my phone was dead this morning before I went to wiffle. So there's no picture of the final score to share.

Sorry. It was Visitors 5, Home 3. It would have looked something like this:

Diagram 1:Simulated Final Score Photo (Do Not Attempt)

Except that the pavement isn't really pure black, and the slanting morning sun has richer tones this time of year.

As you can easily deduce from Diagram 1, eight runs were scored today.  What you can't tell is that none of these runs were scored, as they say, in bunches. No team put up more than two runs in any inning.  To make that clear we would need a different kind of score board.  One more like this:

Diagram 2: Simulated experimental scoreboard (maybe attempt)

Again the pavement here is wrong, but the score diagram does tell you more about the game. I think you'll agree. Of course, Diagram 2 has a lot of blank squares, wherein more game did happen. For example, in the square that is the bottom of the fourth inning, Kurt allowed the first walk under the "hit the pole" rule.  He walked Kevin Campbell, a wise choice as he had two triples and a homer on the day.

But the blank spaces continue to beguile, and so maybe the proper use of this, shall we say, "Hand-Operated Score Board" would look more like this:

Diagram 3: Simulated "Hand Operated Score Board" (liking this more and more)

This can be a little confusing because the mixed use of tally marks and Arabic numerals, but we're all adults here, eh? Try to see past the pavement color. It would not be necessary to use three colors of chalk; indeed that would use a lot of chalk.

It occurred to me today that a new battery would make an ideal Father's Day gift.

Kurt, Matt - 5
Kevin, Pete - 3

W: Lindsay
L: Berwald
HR: Campbell

The Greatest Comeback in Wiffle History that Actually Happened

Another AL vs. NL day as Pete and Matt took on Kurt and Cubs fan du jour, Jeremy. Once again the AL proved the superior squad, but the road to victory was a path less traveled: the Walk Off.

The visiting NLers built a big lead on Pete's one bad inning on the mound.  Six runs were plated on a series of Mosser singles and Long doubles. But other than that top of the third, they could not find another rally all morning.

Still they took a six run lead into the bottom of the sixth (and final) inning, with Jeremy hurling the Long relief. There were some Long at bats, and a lot of them.  The ALers (hey, that's kinda like ale-ers) sent 12 batters to the plate. Only two were retired, and three were stranded. Scoring math says seven of them must have scored, and so they did. Matt was cold early but found his stroke late; Pete made not a single out in the dramatic final half inning.

Here is the final score and the feet of the MAN who drove in five of the seven winning runs.

NL: Jeremy, Kurt - 6
AL: Matt, Pete - 7

W: Lindsay
L: Long

HR - none

By the way, it was, and is, the birthday of one Dr. Kurt Mosser.  Raise a glass to him today!

Vintage Wiffle

No need to prolong the suspense; here is the final score:

 Brent was dealin'

Pete was swingin'

Brent's outfield was chatterin'

Seven inning, no stats affair. Kurt and Matt hit offsetting Grand Slams (Kurt for the losers, Matt for the winners). 

But the moment of the game came in the bottom of the fifth when Hansoo BELTRAN-ED THE SIDE. Three up; three down; three backwards Ks. 

You should'a been there.

Brent, Hansoo, Kurt - 7

Matt, Pete - 22

W: Lindsay

L: Mackintosh

HR - Mosser (GS), Lindsay 2 (3R, GS), Berwald