Be the Story

You may ask..

"How can a wiffler start opening day 6-for-6 at the plate, go 8-for-11 on the day and NOT be the story?" Good question.

It can happen when some other wiffler hits a walk off grand slam to win the game.

Then you might ask..

"How can a wiffler hit a walk off grand slam to win an opening day game and NOT be the story?" Better question.

That can happen if and only if there are two wifflers playing in tweed hats.

Today Jeremy and Fred strode upon the asphalt in true gentlemen's chapeaux.   Their pitcher-batter confrontations, beneath those sterling boaters, were moments of civility and style. The woolly bonnets elevated the whole affair, as the homers beat the guests on a grand walk-off homer, by Dr. Mosser.

Headpieces make the man; tweed makes the wiffler. The millinery work on these tams were a sight to behold, blending browns, grays and blues into classy toppers, worthy of opening day pomp and bunting.

You can have your bowlers, your sombreros, the odd fedora, pork-pies. A skimmer, or even a ten-gallon can be fine, too. Nothing wrong with a Stetson, nor for that matter a Panama or a stove pipe.  But for a wiffler - it simply must be tweed.

Eric, Jeremy, Matt - 6 runs, 17 hits
Fred, Kurt, Peter, Tim - 7 runs, 14 hits

HR - Mosser (1)

Men in Hats.

Early Candidate for MVP

So, did the sidewalk fairy come to your house this week?

These orange X's are a rite of spring in our fair Oakwood.  But let it be said, smooth sidewalk surfaces are the oWAR of city service metrics, because they are indicative of soooooo many other positive parameters. Like sidewalk plowing. Like fewer school days missed because of said cleared sidewalks. So I support the sidewalk inspection regime. 100%.  I do, however, wish some cheeky public servant would be more creative in marking the derelict squares:

That. Would. Be. Eeeepiiiic.

I note as well that our sidewalk fairy did make a pass along Aberdeen Avenue, as well:

Do you recognize this beloved driveway apron as the motor entrance to historic Nance Bradds Field? Note you the X's on said apron??  Looks like the schools will need to do a little work on the sidewalks.

Oh, would that the sidewalk fairy had taken just a few minutes to walk around our beloved asphalt. What would s/he have seen...?

Here's a suggestion from the Jolly Green Sidewalk Giant:

In other words: FIX THE PAVEMENT, SCHOOL BOARD. Whomever gets this done, gets my vote for 2014 League MVP.
*******
In other news, today was the final day of Wiffle Spring Training, with a very Grapefruit score of 11-0. Here are the cumulative Spring Training stats (noted here alphabetically and then to be forgotten since Spring Stats don't count):

Name	BA	SLG	OPS	AB	1B	2B	3B	HR	BB	RBI
Berwald	0.444	0.444	0.889	27	12	0	0	0	0	3
Campbell	0.417	0.542	0.958	24	8	1	1	0	0	3
Lindsay	0.517	0.793	1.310	29	8	6	1	0	0	9
Mosser	0.550	0.600	1.150	40	20	2	0	0	0	7
Zamonski	0.545	0.727	1.273	11	4	2	0	0	0	1

It's a sluggers' league, gents, so make sure you come out for Opening Day next weekend!!

#letsgetthispartystarted

#above40andnotraining

This is the key for playing wiffle - gotta be above forty degrees and not raining.  This is also a typical description of a wiffler - above 40 and no training. Both conditions were largely in play today and five wifflers got in some spring training wiffle this morning.

#springtrainingdoesntcount

This is a good thing from Kurt's and Eric's points of views, since each of them allowed five run innings today.

#seasonofleisure

Low key stats this year. The boys will be counting up the hits, homers, and RBI, but not the pitching stats. We'll know who had monster years at the plate, but we won't know who gave 'em up. Keeping stats today was a little rusty, but here's what got tallied:

Eric - 6-for-11, 1 RBI
Kevin - 5-for-11, 3 RBI
Matt - 5-for-11, 2 RBI

Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy!

Kurt - 12-for-20, 3 RBI
Peter - 7-for-19, 3 RBI

So a 6-6 tie.

#whyget2outswhenyoucanget1?

Not withstanding our annual meeting of the rules committee, the basic rules of this game have not changed in any appreciable way since the dawn of this league. Nevertheless, Eric, who really was just looking to get his Spring work in, eschewed not one, not 2 but three opportunities to turn double plays in the final inning. This is what let the duo of Kurt and Pete back in the game.

#greatestwifflecomebackin2014

Happy Spring, wifflers!!!

The sun was blinding

Program Note: The role of "Chris Anderson" will be understudied by "Glen Cebulash" in today's wiffle action.

Another case of one bad inning.  "Chris Anderson" surrendered 12 runs in his one inning on the mound in a game that was otherwise very close.

Kevin hit a lot of balls that were lost in the sun about 20 feet past the home run line. None of them were caught - the sun was blinding.

"Chris", Eric, Kurt, Peter - 4
Hansoo, Kevin, Matt - 17

W: Campbell
L: "Anderson"

HR: Ha, Campbell (4) (that is not a typo - FOUR)

Eastern Standard Wiffle

Extra hour of sleep, Sunday morning wiffle.  Everything is great.  Until the Commish made the teams. then...

First Inning Dumpster Fire

Then...

Final Score Mushroom Cloud

Eric, Glen, Kurt, Kevin - 16
Hansoo, Matt, Peter - 0

W: Campbell
L: Lindsay

HR: None I am aware of; it was kind of a blur.

One-bad-inning-karma Comes Around

The thermometer read 40 degrees exactly (in the sun) at 8:59 am so the game was ON!

And just as quickly it was over.  Two runs allowed in the top of the first by Stats was the sum-total of the scoring in today's "action."  Pete "Commish" Berwald drove those runs in, an exact reversal of last week when Stats drove in all five runs off of Pete.

Solid pitching performances were turned in by Kurt - one hit allowed; Hansoo - no runs; Eric - no runs.

Stats pitched in trouble all day, and Pete pitched into and out of a couple of mini-jams.  Lead-off triple here, two-out bases loaded there.  Commish got out of that pickle by cradling a screaming liner off Bandit's bat that hit him square in the gut.

As you can see there are no hard feelings. 

Pete, Kurt - 2

Eric, Hansoo, Matt - 0

W: Mosser

L: Lindsay

HR - none.

Fall Ball

Three on three wiffle turned into a playoff game as the visitors took an early big lead and never looked back.

Kurt faced six batters in two innings pitched, and struck them all out ... in a losing cause.

The victorious visitors, Hansoo, Kevin and Matt, each homered at one point or another in this crisply-played, six-inning affair. The winners managed to bat out of order just the one time.

All attendees were witness to errorless play.

Hansoo, Kevin, Matt - 8
Jeremy, Kurt, Peter - 0

W: Campbell
L: Long

HR: Campbell, Ha, Lindsay