 | Your Junk my Happy Zone | |
| by Brandon Corbett |
We've all told someone, "I play Wiffleball," before, and we've all seen the bewildered, quizzical look on the people's faces to which that statement has been told. Because of that there's even a long-running joke around the Wiffle community that the only thing more embarrassing than admitting you play Wiffleball is to proclaim that you're good at Wiffleball. This is all due, mainly, to the fact that most laymen see Wiffle as child's play: a small step up from your seven-year-old-self tossing up a rock and hitting it with the stick you found laying next to said rock. Fair enough, I enjoy that game quite a bit. However, the reality is those backyard games that most remember playing as kids now have as much in common with Major League Baseball - which we were emulating back then - as they do the brands of Wiffleball being played around the globe today.
Still, that's a very difficult reality to convey to outsiders. Our friends over in the OCWA recently did the Wiffle-world a great service in that regard by creating this side-by-side video comparison of a batter's reaction time when facing a Wiffleball pitcher to that when facing an MLB pitcher. In the Wiffle corner is Ryan Bush, 2012 NWLA Player of the Year and 2012 NWLA Tournament MVP. In the MLB corner is Aroldis Chapman throwing his record breaking 105mph fastball. Spoiler alert: in the boxing metaphor it's a perfectly fitting double KO. But it really lends itself better to racing terminology... a photo finish!
Still, that's a very difficult reality to convey to outsiders. Our friends over in the OCWA recently did the Wiffle-world a great service in that regard by creating this side-by-side video comparison of a batter's reaction time when facing a Wiffleball pitcher to that when facing an MLB pitcher. In the Wiffle corner is Ryan Bush, 2012 NWLA Player of the Year and 2012 NWLA Tournament MVP. In the MLB corner is Aroldis Chapman throwing his record breaking 105mph fastball. Spoiler alert: in the boxing metaphor it's a perfectly fitting double KO. But it really lends itself better to racing terminology... a photo finish!
"If anyone tells you that wiffleball is easy, just show them this video. For anyone who doesn't recognize the guy on the right, that's Aroldis Chapman's record breaking 105-mph pitch." - Justin Tomkins |
