Hit or Error?
written by TWIF
Brian Ford was perfect for 7.5 innings, but Scared Hitless couldn’t score a single run to give the hurler his 4th perfect game. Brandon Carter ripped a line drive to second in the 8th inning to bust up the perfecto. Hitless held on and ended up winning in the 10th.
A controversial scoring decision in the 8th followed a questionable managerial decision to put Kyle “Hands” O’Grady in the field when Matt Dreyfus had to leave the game early for a pap smear.
Scared Hitless skipper Pat Browning, perhaps to make up for the previously referred to managerial decision, has formally asked Commissioner Gallaway to review the play. The PWL policy is to review scoring decisions upon request, as long as they are submitted within one week of the game. The game was scored by Alex Filides.
At issue is whether the dropped ball by O’Grady would have been caught by an “outfielder at that position making ordinary effort.”
Thanks to our friends at YouTube you can watch the clip in 1080p.
Color Commentary [8] - posted 2010-08-30 22:16 in Blog
Winter Wiffleball: An Armory Awaits
written by Commissioner Gallaway
For years I’ve been looking for a place to play winter wiffleball in DC. Whether it’s a league, or a one day tournament; November to March is far too long not to have any wiffle action.
The problem, of course, is the venue. You have to have a place that’s indoors, and thus not covered with snow. You have to have a place that has a high ceiling. Ideally you want a place with carpet (or artificial turf) rather than hardwood. A place that’s affordable is also important.
A high school gym is rented cheap, but a gym with a regulation basketball court can only hold one field. And, it’s hardwood. Indoor soccer fields have the right turf, and can fit one field…maybe two if we squeeze…but they all have low ceilings. Home Runs, people…home runs. In the winter these places are expensive by the hour.
After five years of frustration…it finally hit me the other night. The DC Armory.
In additon to a floor space that is 380’ by 183’, (that’s 4 to 6 wiffleball fields), it has a ceiling height of 88’. More than enough room to let the home runs soar, and the pop flies fall harmlessly back to earth. Certainly, like any domed stadium we’d need ground rules to cover the inevitable ball hitting the ceiling, or more likely ball hitting one of the lights which hang lower. But, all things considered, the perfect solution for winter.
When the floor seating is pushed back, as we’d need it to be to make room for the fields, the spectator seating is all in the upper deck on second level. Of course, we’d arrange fields so that home run balls hit really well could reach the top tier of the stands into the stadium seats.
It’s hardwood in its natural form, but the indoor football team that played there brought in a rug, and if it works for football, it will work for wiffleball. 70,000 square feet of carpet isn’t the kind of thing you put in a rental van and transport each week, but the Armory is too expensive to use weekly for a league anyway. At $7,500+ a day, this is a one day tournament or special event.
So, that leaves us with a single day tournament in January or February. An all day event with a pool play round that then seeds a double elimination tournament in the afternoon. With six fields, we’d be able to max out at about 24 teams for a pool play and then 16 teams seeded in the double elimination tournament.
As Chris Knight would say…“it’s a moral imperative”. We must do this. I’m now on a mission from god to make this happen.
What do you think?
Color Commentary [5] - posted 2010-08-26 20:18 in Blog
Barnburners #3 Team in Nation
written by TWIF
The National Wiffle League Association Rankings for Week 20 have put the Blandsford Barnburners in the #3 spot nationally.
The site follows 28 leagues around the country and ranks teams based on whatever factors “Senior Anaylst” (sic) Stats Stenson deems appropriate. It appears to be mostly on regular season win-loss record, and it’s unclear if playoff success is a factor.
The PWL has had as many as five teams ranked, and is now down to three. Most leagues play one long season, so the PWL model of two seasons in a calendar year causes some issues with the rankings. The Barnburners only play in the Spring season, so while their record has been unchanged, they’ve moved from #9 in the rankings at the end of Spring to #3 now.
Additionally, it’s unclear if standings for teams that play both seasons are combined. Currently, no Summer Season standings or results have been incorporated.
The rankings website, as well as the PWL are always looking for guest columnists to write feature stories. If you would like to represent PWL as the official blogger on the National Wiffle League Association or just write content for this page, email the Commissioner at commissioner@potomacwiffleball.org.
Color Commentary [6] - posted 2010-08-22 17:55 in Blog
Box Scores or Scoresheets?
written by TWIF
For detailed game coverage (in addition to the complete game videos of course) do you prefer the league post the Box Scores with the play-by-play, or the PDF scoresheets?
Do you prefer the box scores or scoresheets?
Box Scores - The play-by-play is great, you should post the Spanish version also
Color Commentary - posted 2010-08-08 16:41 in Blog
You're F'ing Out! Paid Umpires This Season
written by TWIF
League offices are buzzing this week that the Commissioner will soon make a final announcement that the 2010 Summer Season will be the first to feature paid umpires for regular season.
Paid umpires have been used the last two postseasons, but they are expected to be used for all games this summer.
Color Commentary [3] - posted 2010-08-03 17:57 in Blog
OFF SEASON MOVES: Gossip, Trades, and Fresh Meat
written by TWIF
8/3 – Updated Teams and Players List
- 9 TEAMS (Less than a day left)
- New Teams: Flea Bitten Varmits, NWO
- Non-Returning Teams: Alcoholics Anonymous, Blandsford Barnburners, Brosephorous Rex, On the Fence, Rossi Posse
- Filides finally gets his shit together and will have a team…sorta.
Read the full entry - Color Commentary [23] - posted 2010-08-03 17:34 in Blog
London: Format Change Could Be Huge
written by Commissioner Gallaway
Brian Wheeler, the Commissioner of the London Wiffleball Tournament, announced a format change this past week which could make a HUGE difference in the number of teams headed to home early, or staying late.
The tournament, which will have around 64 68 teams, begins with pool play. There are 16 17 pools of 4 teams each, and each team gets 3 guaranteed games. (They play each other team in their pool once.)
After that, it gets interesting.
All teams with a winning record, advance to stage two of the tournament, double elimination. The teams will be seeded by won/loss record and then run differential. The only problem…we won’t know until the round robin is finished how many teams move on. What a team will know when the pool play is over, is whether or not they’re going home.
With the way the pools are split up, it’s mathmatically possible to have as few as 16 17 teams move on, or as many as 48 51 teams could go on. For those of you not educated in the way of brackets, this is huge difference in the amount of games.
Games to Decide the Double Elimination Tournament:
- 17 Teams = 32 games (33 games if losers’ bracket winner is champion)
- 51 Teams = 100 games (101 games if losers’ bracket winner is champion)
Of course, we’ll likely be someplace in the middle, but it’s going to be an interesting day.
In the past, a specific number of teams has advanced, or a certain percentage of the teams in the tournament. In this model, you always knew how many teams made it, you just sometimes didn’t know if your record and run differential would be good enough to keep you in. This year, it will be clear if you’re in or not. It won’t be clear if the World Series will be played Saturday, or in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Color Commentary [2] - posted 2010-07-26 20:30 in Blog
London: Field Photos and Dimensions
written by Commissioner Gallaway
Field layout information for the 2010 London Wiffleball Tournament.
Follow @londonwiffle for “unofficial” updates and live scoring from the tournament provided by the PWL.
Bases have not been measured and placed yet. The distances were based on the assumptions that bases would be placed at the proper distances according to the rules, and that second base would be lined up directly centered between the foul lines. Some distances, H to 1, 3 to H, H to 2, are specified in the rules. The other distances vary because the width of the fields vary.
- Field: Official MLB Foul Lines
- Width (1st/3rd): 67
- Angle of Foul Lines: 90
- Home to 1st: 50
- 1st to 2nd: 48
- 2nd to 3rd: 48
- 3rd to Home: 45
- Home to 2nd: 68
These are the dimensions using the official baseball…
Read the full entry - Color Commentary - posted 2010-07-26 19:30 in Blog
Burning a Barn...Now Do You Get It?
written by TWIF
Moments after officially picking up the Commissioner’s Trophy as the 2010 Spring World Series Champions the Blandsford Barnburners unveiled their new team logo.
The boys from Manassas, ranked in the Top 10 in National Wiffleball Rankings, have been logo-less for their two championship seasons.
Manager Colin Gannon called the announcement “a watershed moment in history and a day that Barnburner Nation will long remember.” He was then asked for his ID when he attempted to order a beer to celebrate.
The logo was selected in a design contest sponsored by the league, a tradition that Commissioner Gallaway announced would continue for future World Series Champions.
Despite the new logo, the Burners have confirmed that they will not be back in the Summer season to defend their title. They have promised to return for the Spring 2011 Season, opting to “let a lower caliber team like Clubber Lang or Brosephorous Rex” win the World Series this summer.
Color Commentary - posted 2010-07-01 23:04 in Blog
Another (different) Take on Value
written by Nicole Murray
About the Author: Nicole Murray just finished her rookie season with the The Gnats. She works for DC’s other professional, though less successful, wiffleball organization, the Washington Nationals. While she throws and hits like a girl, she plays poker and talks stats like a man.
Jake Tomko brought up that “if your team can lose despite your great stats, they surely can lose without you.” But let’s look at the flip side. Wouldn’t the Most Valuable Player be the one that his or her team can’t win without?
This season, not including forfeits, the Gnats went 4-6 with Eamon Murray in the lineup. Outstanding? Hardly. But when you consider that all-time, the Gnats are 0-29 (not including forfeits) without Eamon in the lineup, he is literally the player his team can’t win without.
Read the full entry - Color Commentary [14] - posted 2010-06-29 13:25 in Blog
