Wiffle ball
Two teams of one to five players each attempt to advance imaginary runners to home plate, and score, based on where each batter places the ball on the field.
[1] Miniature versions of baseball have been played for decades, including stickball, improvised by children, using everything from rolled up socks to tennis balls.
[citation needed] In April 2011, the Health Department of the State of New York included wiffle ball on a list of recreational activities that present a "significant risk of injury" to children.
Under a state law passed in 2009, any program for children that included two or more such activities would be defined as a “summer camp” subject to government regulation.
[3] The story became a frequent source of ridicule and amusement, with Parenting.com sarcastically commenting, "According to new legislation introduced in New York State, to survive classic schoolyard games like capture the flag is to cheat death.
"[4] Wiffle Ball executives originally thought the order was a joke, because the company has never been sued over any safety issues in its 50+ year history.
[5] The disapproval of people from across the nation pressured the New York legislature to remove wiffle ball and other items such as archery and scuba diving from the list of risky activities.
Some Wiffle ball leagues allow tied games and the points are shared equally by the two teams whereas others will insist on one more innings each, with the highest score being declared the winner.
The World Wiffle Ball Championship remains the oldest tournament in the nation, having moved to the Chicago suburbs in 2013, after introducing regional stops over three decades in Baltimore; Los Angeles; Indianapolis; Eugene, Oregon; and Barcelona, Spain.
"[13] The NWLA (National Wiffle League Association) tournament is held in various Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic locations, which change on an annual basis.
The Usual Suspects were crowned champion, as the squad captained by Danny Lanigan defeated Black Dog Country Club 5-3 in the championship game.
The league consists of eight teams, which are the Eastern Eagles, Western Wildcats, Coastal Cobras, Midwest Mallards, Great Lakes Gators, Pacific Predators, Metro Magic, and Downtown Diamondbacks.
MLW has a strong following on social media, uploads highlights of all of their games to YouTube, and has also hosted open public tournaments in 8 different states (Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania).
AWA Wiffle Ball launched in 2020 in a backyard in Edmonds, Washington, where the eight-team league remains based; over the course of the next four years, it expanded in popularity through its social media presence, airing live games on TikTok and later YouTube.
Rick Messina spent over $700,000 constructing Strawberry Field, which features lights for night games, bleachers, and a press box.
In 2008, The New York Times published an article about Greenwich, Connecticut teenagers who were forced by the city to tear down a wiffle ball field they had built because of neighbor complaints.
[34] In his 2003 book The Complete Far Side, cartoonist Gary Larson reproduces a letter he received after including a "wiffle swatter" in his cartoon.
