I Suppose This is a Good Thing
July 21, 2004
No surprise to anyone but me perhaps, but there is an official site for the WIFFLE ball. They even have a simple graphic to show you how to throw the basic pitches. However, what they show to be a slider works like a screwball for me.
A far better site seems to be Tom’s Wiffle Ball Page hosted by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, of all places. Boston has a preciously short wiffle ball season as it is, so I can imagine how Minnesotans value their summer nights.
Only as an adult have I mastered a few wiffle ball pitches. My sons, at 11 and 12, have it all over me. My younger son is a wiffle artiste, throwing a bewildering assortment of curves, screwballs, knucklers, and sliders. Plus he works at it. He will practice a pitch dozens of times in a row. My arm is sore from trying to keep up with him the other evening. A 45-year-old arm doesn’t rebound like it used to.
Which reminds me: Is Jesse Orosco still pitching? Apparently not, though he could be in the minors or in one of the independent leagues. He was one of the few players left in the major leagues who is older than me. Julio Franco is almost a year older than me, and still playing pretty well.
I have wondered (read: obsessed) over the past 12 or so years when middle age begins. Maybe it begins when I am finally older than all the players in major league baseball. I will have to give this some more thought. In the meantime, let’s hope for good health and good at bats for Julio.
Posted by Bill Trippe at July 21, 2004 10:01 PM
