Comments on: Putting the "whiff" in Wiffle Ball

Putting the "whiff" in Wiffle Ball

edverb — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:36:15 -0800

This anonymous rightie could be the nastiest wiffle ball pitcher you'll ever see. His buddy is not half bad either.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:54:12 -0800

Yowza. I thought the sound was faked at first. I wonder if that's the equivalent of the knuckleball (chaotic flow) or a curveball (Magnus force). I guess we'd know if we knew if he were spinning it.

By: facetious

facetious — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:00:36 -0800

man who the hell is going to bat against that kid? it's lonely at the top.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:20:42 -0800

DU, I'm pretty sure he is spinning the shit out of it, based on the sound, and the fact that my brother can do something similar (though not to this degree, and without as much control). I love the big dude batting against him who looks back at the strike zone device like it is somehow to blame.

By: popechunk

popechunk — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:36:53 -0800

I could maybe hit the big overhand one, but the pitch that brushes the grass and then pops up into the strike zone, not so much.

By: bpm140

bpm140 — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:49:05 -0800

I'd seriously want to beat the crap out of him if he pitched that. I mean, IT'S WHIFFLEBALL! The game where you carry the beer with you around the bases.

By: Sphinx

Sphinx — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:40:50 -0800

I hate to be "that guy", but when we were JV high school pitching "stars", we threw crazy breaking shit with both whiffle and rag balls all over the place. One can throw a pitch that makes the batter flinch reflexively that crosses over the lower, off-hand side of the plate with a minimal amount of practice. Shit, I'm closer to 40 than 20, and I can still throw a mean whiffle pitch. I also saw a distinct lack of the whiffles best pitch, the knuckleball. Between the knuckler and a mean screw-type ball that broke in on your hands, we had a mean game of neighborhood-street-whiffleball going for like 10 years. Psst: The trick is to wait on it, bring the bat up quickly, and never, never swing early.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:50:41 -0800

Holy shit, it's Baseball Simulator 1.000 (or maybe that was the video playback making it look like the ball had trails). Also, there's no "whiff" in wiffle. But there's a skiff in skiffle!

By: edverb

edverb — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:10:14 -0800

Shit, I'm closer to 40 than 20, and I can still throw a mean whiffle pitch. Same here. I'm that guy that bpm140 wants to beat the crap out of. (yeah, that's bad grammar but "out of whom bpm140 wants to beat the crap" just sounds funny.) This guy is dropping it at an Olympic level though.

By: chrisamiller

chrisamiller — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:22:54 -0800

Wiffle ball should be an olympic sport. I'd watch that shit.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:46:36 -0800

Shit, I'm closer to 40 than 20, and I can still throw a mean whiffle pitch. Same here. I'm that guy that bpm140 wants to beat the crap out of. Well, I don't see you making any videos now do I?

By: jayder

jayder — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:16:16 -0800

I love the rough-and-ready aesthetic of online video, the craptacular films of juvenile home jackoffery.

By: Arch_Stanton

Arch_Stanton — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:19:25 -0800

I see Tommy John surgery in this guy's future.

By: ethnomethodologist

ethnomethodologist — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:52:13 -0800

IT'S WHIFFLEBALL! The game where you carry the beer with you around the bases. Beer? Wiffleball is for little kids. Which is what makes this shit so amazing. It's like watching extreme jacks or hopscotch or something.

By: Kadin2048

Kadin2048 — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:11:37 -0800

Wiffleball is for little kids. The beer is sorta like a handicap for playing it as an adult. Whiffle ball was always the default outdoor game at my family reunions, because it could basically be enjoyed by everyone and contains little opportunity to actually kill or maim other players.

By: glycolized

glycolized — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:00:21 -0800

There is a whiffle ball league here in Kalamazoo that a few guys I work with play in. I'm working with one of the guys from the championship team today. All of them that play say it's quite a lot of fun. The teams are small and the rules are adjusted to make it a fast-moving game.

By: SmileyChewtrain

SmileyChewtrain — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:00:27 -0800

You know what I love about flash video with poor compression? I CAN'T SEE A GODDAMNED THING! It's like wrapping my head with cellophane twelve times, then a screen door 3 times, then more cellophane. And being drunk. I wouldn't want to bat against that guy though. Damn.

By: Ber

Ber — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 06:20:41 -0800

The Minneapolis Tribune had a video last spring with a camera just over the catcher's shoulder and Johan Santana throwing. Watching a kid throwing a mean wiffle is impressive. Seeing a Cy Young winner throw his shit up close in downright scary.

By: chimaera

chimaera — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:32:52 -0800

The video quality is pathetic. I may have actually enjoyed it if, y'know, I could ACTUALLY SEE THE BALL.

By: panoptican

panoptican — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:53:39 -0800

Here's the man pitching that Ber speaks of.

By: slogger

slogger — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:55:21 -0800

Ber: got a link to that?

By: slogger

slogger — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:55:50 -0800

Damn preview.