Major League Wiffleball
Wiffleball photos, tips, and product reviews

Joe, in my opinion, you had the best wiffleball site on the Internet. Here at Major League Wiffleball, we used to talk about it during our own games and tried to model our league after yours. What gave you the idea to start your own league, and how many wiffleball leagues (excluding mine) do you think you’ve helped get started?

First off, thanks for the all-too kind compliments. We were always, you may have noticed, exceptionally proud of our website and league. Speaking for myself (and hell, my brother Terry), it was probably the lone success we had in life to that point.

The idea to start a league was simply a byproduct of myself, my brother, and good buddy Scott Carmichael simply growing up, ironically enough. We always played “wiffleball” in some form, with a variety of equipment and rules, but as we grew older (by which I mean our early teen years) we found ourselves wanting to track stats and play “official” games instead of farting around in the backyard. We invited some other friends and everything just sort of snowballed. Then the internet arrived and the website made us “international” in a way that the internet makes everything international.

We probably got about 4-5 leagues off the ground throughout the world. Just kidding…probably more like 400-500.

Yeah, that’s about the number that I would have figured, and your story sounds eerily similar to ours.

You’re living in Seattle, WA now. You mentioned before that your brother started a wiffleball league there, but it just wasn’t as fun as the Chico, CA league. What was different about it, and what could have made it better?

I know what you mean. In pro sports you hear about the importance of team chemistry quite often. In wiffleball, it helps to have “league chemistry” to keep players happy and coming back.

Somebody actually wore a buttoned-up collared shirt? That’s bad. Take it from someone who has played games in jean shorts.

Moving on, I often get asked, “What’s the best way to start my own wiffleball league?” I always recommend inviting friends, neighbors, classmates, co-workers, and so on. Then those people can start inviting their friends, neighbors, etc., and you can build upon that. Having put together your own League Starter Kit a few years ago, do you have any other tips on how to start and maintain a successful wiffleball league?

Wow! Those are some great tips. It looks like I could still benefit from some of those. I especially like the “what not to do” tips. And I honestly do get asked that question — probably 2-3 times a week during the summer months anyway.

I also have to stress the importance of being careful posing as others. Many years ago, I wrote a couple of articles posing as Joel Winkelsas, a contestant on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” Within a couple of weeks, somebody that knew him found my site, and Mr. Winkelsas himself contacted me. He wasn’t happy, so I took those articles down.

That reminds me, one time, you had a player’s father dress up as John Jaha of the Oakland A’s and throw out the first pitch at one of your wiffleball games. How many people did this fool? Did you try anything else like this?

I’m not sure what you’re getting at…that really was John Jaha.

Ok, maybe it wasn’t, I forget. And I can’t prove it fooled anybody. It’s plausible I suppose that John Jaha would come out and hang out with us…he wasn’t too bigtime, and maybe he was the uncle of one of the guys in our league. It’s possible.

Sort of like when we pretended Donnie Jeffcoat and Omar Gooding wrote for our site. Many people around our age knew who they were, but I suppose they were unknown enough to have it be minutely *possible* that they could spend their free time screwing around with a wiffleball league in CA. After all, Chico, CA sounds awfully like Chino, CA, and that’s kinda near LA, right?

The thing was, we weren’t trying to fool anybody. It simply worked out that way. We just thought we were being “clever.” But then a month later I’d get an email from some 14 year-old asking how we got Omar Gooding to write for our site. Oh, to still have all those emails from 1998-2001.

I’ll have to look for that Rawlings ball. Other than the Cosom balls, what are some key pieces of wiffleball equipment that you recommend, or wouldn’t want to play without? Are there any wiffleball-related items on your wish list?

I couldn’t agree more. Wiffleball purists that insist baserunning is bad for the game bother me.

Was there anything with your wiffleball league that you wanted to do, but never got a chance to do? Would you do anything differently now?

There were a myriad of things we wanted to do but couldn’t for either financial or technological reasons. We wanted to have our own fields (not playing on some crummy public cul-de-sac), maybe even something with an actual fence. This would have forced a reworking of the rules but would have been worth it.

We wanted to stream our games on our site at least close to live. We wanted to grow to the point where we were turning people away, but we sort of ran out of time on that one.

Multi-camera games were brought up, but ultimately never implemented for whatever reason. Uniforms of some sort would have been interesting and fun. We never really kept track of fielding stats because it just wasn’t feasible, but I wish we’d at least tried. And then tie those into the pitching stats to see who was getting helped, who was getting jobbed, etc. Stats in general would be WAY more advanced than they were back then.

Technologically, there are dozens of things we would do differently if we existed today. We wouldn’t feature those crappy little 160×120 video clips, or audio-only mp3 files. Our website would be exponentially more ridiculous in its size and scope since there are developer tools now that will allow it. We’d probably send out emails/txt msgs/tweets to Donnie Jeffcoat and Omar Gooding and see if they wanted to write for real this time. Maybe Tahj Mowry as well.

I don’t think private fields are something we’d do, unless I came into some Lotto money, but I’d probably try to do something with a fence, because it just adds that much more to homeruns and overall aesthetic. And if I did it all now, I’d be 29 instead of 19 and would therefore be, sadly, much more mature about things, so no more flame wars with east coast leagues.

I’ve always been envious of replica wiffleball stadiums. The problem is, I’m such a perfectionist that only the best would have done, and since that wasn’t feasible, the cul-de-sac worked great. We never really got into posting our videos, but it’s something that I’d eventually like to add, and it really adds credibility to a league’s web site.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that we’re both left-handed, started a wiffleball league, played our games in a cul-de-sac, owned (and apparently broke) the same pool basketball hoop (you used the blue backboard from yours as your strike zone) and started web sites for our wiffleball leagues. Are we the only two people on Earth that fit that description?

By god I certainly hope so. To be fair though I didn’t break the pool basketball hoop. That was a team effort between Terry Creighton, Casey Sylvester, and James Vassar.

I don’t remember who broke mine. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t my fault.

I hear you’re returning to Chico, CA at the end of December for the “Swingin’ For Santa” wiffleball event. Tell me about that. Will Dr. Rapp and Cliff Rancho be covering the games?

“Swingin’ For Santa” is our whenever-we’re-in-town-during-the-xmas-holidays gathering where all past league members are invited out (as well as anyone else who wants to play, really) to throw the ball around one more time. It’s usually cold, possibly raining and miserable, and no one can hit the ball anymore, but it’s still fun. Sort of like a high school reunion, minus the ladies, alcohol, and insincere compliments.

Usually Terry and I provide gifts. In 2005, we produced DVDs featuring most highlight videos we’d ever made, dating back to 1998. In 2006, we produced five varieties of homemade soda (one for each team we had in the league, for example “Horsemen Cream Soda,” “Wiffolution Lemon Lime,” etc), each with its own packaging. This year will be something else. Afterward we sit at a table and see who can eat a huge burrito the fastest.

Swingin' For Santa

And of course Dr. Rapp and Cliff Rancho will be there! We’re hoping to give Cliff my brother’s cell phone and use of our Wiffleball2k Twitter feed to post stuff throughout the day, but we’ll see if he’ll be able to wrap his head around the Rubik’s Cube that is Twitter (not to mention the Blackberry…not positive Cliff’s ever used a cellphone, period).

Dr. Rapp is currently putting together his Sportsbook collection of odds for both the games and the burrito eating contest, and we’re hoping he can provide some sort of insightful analysis after the events. He did suffer a stroke about a year ago, so we’re moving ahead cautiously and planning on not overworking him like we did back in the day.

Sounds like a fun time. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. And please pass along my well-wishes to Dr. Rapp.

Last question: You load up 3 of your best players and your wiffleball gear in the car. I do the same. We both drive until we meet somewhere in the middle of the country and have a 4-on-4 MLW vs. WB2K game. Who wins, and what’s the score?

Hmm, well, it’s tough to say since I’m not totally clear on your guys’ rules and how they may differ from ours…I suppose I’ll assume they’re the same. Also not sure if we’re talking about the “in our prime” days or a game we actually played like next week or something. I’ll assume the former.

I’d bring along Scott Carmichael first and foremost. You can write all the flowery poetry you want about Quentin Jensen but I guarantee Scott is his equal at worst. If Scott has one flaw, it’s that he hits balls too hard, causing them to crack more quickly which causes you to spend more money at Big 5 Sporting Goods. I’ve been around sports all my life and have seen some great athletes, but I have not seen anyone play any sport with the perfection that was Scott holding a yellow bat or throwing a plastic ball.

Dave Cain would be next…slightly below Scott in hitting, merely “good” pitcher who would throw strikes, forcing you guys to take the bat off your shoulder. But he possesses two of the best hands I’ve ever seen in the field. He’ll also pound a case of Diet Dr. Pepper and will provide the transportation as we arrive at our destination in his mini monster-truck (assuming we’re also talking about 2001-2003 era gas prices). You guys urinating in your denim shorts when you see us parking his beast will provide us with our first of many critical psychological edges.

We have better-skilled players, but for the 3rd spot I’m taking Darnell Uhland. Again, he’ll make you put the ball in play and he can rake, though he’s clearly a step below Cain and a couple steps below Carmichael. The main thing though is he’ll ensure the game is fun no matter the outcome. Instead of long, frustratingly quiet drives back home, win (us) or lose (you), most people will be chattering happily in the car saying things like “I don’t even remember who won, but how about that Darnell guy? Remember when he wore that bright orange ski mask and played the entire 3rd inning with it on, even though it was obvious he had no peripheral vision? At first I thought he was sort of mentally disabled, but it turned out he’s just awesome!”

I guess I’m the obvious 4th spot. Assuming it’s only a pitcher and a fielder, it’s guaranteed there’s a hole in the field that my bat will find, and you will literally get NOTHING by me when I’m in the field. I got nothing but hard cheese from the mound but everything’s in your weak zone so have fun with that.

Final score: Bulls, 240 to 87.

You lost me at the end there. Flowery poetry? And you had to bring up the denim shorts again.

I guess that means it’s time to wrap-up this interview. Before I go, is there any chance I can get a link from WB2K? You don’t need to do a fancy writeup, a link to MLW is fine.

Sure…and it’ll be a fancy writeup. We’ll go old school and add one more site to the database, if we can remember our passwords.

If any other leagues want to get added to the sites who haven’t already…then take Shaun’s route and interview me with a bunch of easy questions and/or plug our site and/or send us money.