February 19, 2008
Reader question: How far can the average adult hit a wiffleball? - K
MLW Answer: That depends. What type of ball are you using?
A heavier ball, such as a Junk Ball or a Blitzball will travel farther. A ball without holes will usually travel farther than a ball with holes.
An official ‘Wiffle Ball’
not only curves when thrown, it also curves when it’s hit. It might travel 100 total feet, but that’s 75 feet straight to left field, and 25 feet curving toward right field, thanks to the effect caused by the holes only on one half of the ball.
MLW uses the Easton Training Baseballs, which have 26 holes cut uniformly througout. We tested many different wiffleballs, and unanimously chose these.
We practiced for a few feeks, and based on our hitting results, chose our deepest part of the park to be 81-feet to straightaway center field. Since we were playing in a cul-de-sac, the other dimensions were determined by default. The left field pole was 63-feet, and the right field pole was 78-feet. Most of our home runs traveled around 100 feet. A few balls were crushed, and probably traveled over 200 feet. However, that was probably helped by another factor…
Wind. The best wiffleball playing conditions are if the wind is lightly blowing out, or not at all. At MLW’s home field, “The Sac”, we dealt with constantly swirling light winds, once the ball reached about 25 feet in the air. The Easton balls were still affected by the wind, but not as much as the others.
Wind speed and strength have a huge effect on the distance and direction the ball travels. It doesn’t take much to slow down, speed up, or change the path of a ball of very little weight.
So there’s more than one answer to your question. Here at MLW, the maximum distance with an Easton ball is probably a little over 200 feet, but more regular home runs travel about half that distance.
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January 31, 2008
Reader question: I play a good game of wiffleball. How old do you have to be to join MLW? I really think I could be good. - J.R.
MLW Response: There are no age requirements when it comes to Major League Wiffleball.
Back when the MLW-Cohoes League was formed, our youngest player, Matt Ceccucci (left), was 19. The majority of players were slightly older, in the 21-23 range. Ceccucci had very little baseball experience, and struck-out a lot at the beginning of the first season. However, he kept practicing, attended all the games, and at the end of the year was a much better hitter (and pitcher). He even won the Most Improved Player Award that season, AND the following season. Ceccucci’s game improved so much, there were times when players would joke that he was taking steroids.
So with wiffleball, it doesn’t matter how old or young you are. It’s all about having a good time, and keeping it fun for everyone.
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January 29, 2008
We were hoping the rumors weren’t true, but ESPN has confirmed that a trade is pending between the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets that will send Johan Santana to The Big Apple for four prospects.
Of all the Major League Baseball players we’ve met, Santana has been the biggest wiffleball fan.
Although the trade sends him closer to MLW headquarters in Cohoes, NY, it’s doubtful that we’ll have the pleasure of meeting with him again, since our primary contact person is a Minnesota Twins staff member.
If the trade goes through, we can only hope that the four players headed to Minnesota (Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey) are wiffleball fans too.
MLW staff is heading back to Florida for MLB spring training in March. While the Mets home of Port St. Lucie isn’t one of our scheduled destinations, we hope to get more Twins photos in Fort Myers and display them on this site.
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January 24, 2008
If your playing surface is grass, this may be of interest to you. Amazon.com
offers a portable wiffleball field. This is the same field used at the FastPlastic National Championships for Wiffle Ball.
This field is an environmentally-friendly alternative to paint. When anchored to the ground, the elastic material will move when contacted, and snap back into place when released. So once the field is set up, players don’t need to spend time fixing the lines, or avoid making contact with them. Players can focus on playing wiffleball.
The MLW-Cohoes League uses an asphalt surface, so this wouldn’t work there, but this is a great idea for grass leagues.
If you’re interested, you can order your own portable wiffleball field today.
Have you ever tried the portable wiffleball field? If so, please leave a comment, and let us know how good it is.
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