Wiffleball

World Wiffleball Federation (WWF)
Logo for the World Wiffleball Federation (WWF)

Introduction

Alright, gather around folks, I’ve got a story to tell. It’s about that time in my life when Wiffleball was the thing. Forget your smartphones, we had... the World Wiffleball Federation.

Wiffleball Scoreboard
The scoreboard had working lights thanks to the ingenuity of Dennis Koch

So, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 2002-2005 – a time when kids roamed freely, drank from the hose, and the height of technology was a flashy scoreboard with lights for balls and strikes. This wasn’t your average backyard Wiffleball league; no, this was the WWF. And not the one with the wrestlers, although I wouldn't have been opposed to putting on a cape and running the bases.

The Rage Jersey
The Rage Jersey
Orange Crush Jerseys

We didn't have capes, but we did have jerseys...

Now, every good sports league has an arch-nemesis. For us, it wasn’t the team with the best pitcher or slickest batter – it was the next-door neighbor. This guy! Oh, this guy... He would keep all the home runs that flew over his fence. Exactly like the plot of the Sandlot, except replace the Beast with a bitter old man.

He once called the cops on us and the police officer told us he had an entire garbage can filled with Wiffleballs. I mean, c'mon, dude! I imagined his garage looking like Scrooge McDuck’s vault, except with Wiffleballs instead of coins. But of course, he didn’t swim in them; he probably just stared at them, reminiscing about all the dreams he crushed.

To combat this ever-growing Wiffleball shortage, the league invented the "Mesh Monster". No, not a rejected Muppet. It was this glorious net supported with PVC pipe, set up to catch our homeruns. It was like our own little Green Monster, stopping balls from becoming the neighbor's trophies.

Mesh Monster
Brilliantly designed to be easily installed on game day. Yes, we even painted the foul pole yellow (thanks for your boundless patience Mr. and Mrs. Koch).

Now, here's where it gets wholesome. You see, back then, cliques were all the rage. You had your jocks, nerds, preps, emo kids... and yet, the Wiffleball door? Open to anyone. That’s right. The WWF was a haven where every kid, no matter how cool or uncool, could swing a plastic bat and feel like a legend.

At the end of the season, the prize we all aimed for was the Seabee Cup trophy. It was named after a parking lot shipwreck at the Allendale Shopping Center. Quite poetic, if you ask me. A trophy named after something broken and forgotten, awarded to kids playing a game with plastic balls. There’s probably some deeper metaphor in there, but I'll leave that to the philosophers.

So, kids these days with their TikToks, and VR headsets, and whatnot... they're missing out. Because in a tiny backyard in Pittsfield, we had dreams, friendship, and a whole lotta lost Wiffleballs.

And to the neighbor who kept all our balls – I hope you enjoyed them as much as we did. Just remember, every time you looked at that can full of balls, you weren’t looking at stolen goods; you were looking at memories. Cheers to the World Wiffleball Federation!

Kevin Dias - Rage
Time Koch - Orange Crush
Minimal Effort Concert
Minimal Effort concert; maybe that neighbor had a reason to be grumpy (?)

2002 Awards

MVP Tim Koch
Roger Clemens Award Tim Koch
Batting Champion Kevin Dias
Post-Season MVP Tim Koch
Gold Glove
Pitcher Tim Koch
1st Base Jill Tooley
3rd Base Andy Manns
Catcher Dave Proskin

2003 Awards

MVP Kevin Dias
Roger Clemens Award Tim Koch
Batting Champion Kevin Dias
Post-Season MVP Kevin Dias
Gold Glove
Pitcher Kevin Dias
1st Base Liam Tierney
3rd Base Derek Davis
Catcher Nick Kuni

2004 Awards

MVP Tim Koch & Kevin Dias
Roger Clemens Award Tim Koch
Batting Champion Kevin Dias
Post-Season MVP None
Gold Glove
Pitcher Kevin Dias
1st Base Pat Gariepy
3rd Base Tommy Hamilton
Catcher Nick Kuni

All-time Stats

Standings

Team G W L PCT RS RA
Pirates of the Pontoosuc 16 11 5 0.688 100 41
Orange Crush 22 14 8 0.636 125 77
Flying Squirrels 12 7 5 0.583 83 81
The Shockers 12 7 5 0.583 62 28
The Rage 34 19 15 0.559 208 139
The Deadites 12 5 7 0.417 55 77
Purple People Eaters 22 4 18 0.182 87 205
Los Angeles Angels of Pittsfield 4 2 2 0.500 27 30
The Associates 4 1 3 0.250 16 25
Ninja Blacksox 4 1 3 0.250 23 36

Batting

Leaderboard (green) requires a minimum 100 plate appearances

Batting GP PA AB H R 2B HR RBI SB E BB SO AVG OBP AB/SO Slug Pct. RGA (FOX) OPS
Kuni, Travis 3 14 10 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0.600 0.714 3.33 0.600 0.43 1.314
Dias, Kevin 36 245 191 105 78 4 18 61 26 14 54 24 0.550 0.706 7.96 0.853 0.60 1.560
Cohen, Seth 4 13 13 7 4 0 1 2 0 1 0 5 0.538 0.615 2.60 0.769 0.47 1.385
Cronze, Jay 12 62 44 23 20 4 3 9 9 3 18 9 0.523 0.710 4.89 0.818 0.58 1.528
Smith, Dan 1 6 6 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0.500 0.500 2.00 0.500 0.25 1.000
Koch, Tim 38 256 219 106 60 6 10 69 18 11 37 27 0.484 0.602 8.11 0.648 0.39 1.250
D'Avella, Matt 21 125 91 43 41 3 15 38 1 7 34 21 0.473 0.672 4.33 1.000 0.67 1.672
Proskin, Dave 8 42 28 13 8 0 3 9 4 0 14 5 0.464 0.643 5.60 0.786 0.51 1.429
Davis, Derek 17 85 64 29 17 3 5 21 0 6 21 14 0.453 0.659 4.57 0.734 0.48 1.393
Laviolette, Bill 10 41 36 16 10 0 4 5 0 3 5 11 0.444 0.585 3.27 0.778 0.46 1.363
Sweener, Brian 12 89 77 33 24 0 4 15 0 1 12 18 0.429 0.517 4.28 0.584 0.30 1.101
Murphy, Mike 4 17 14 6 3 0 1 2 0 0 3 3 0.429 0.529 4.67 0.643 0.34 1.172
Tierney, Liam 24 126 99 41 36 0 15 39 12 2 27 32 0.414 0.556 3.09 0.869 0.48 1.424
Manns, Andy 11 88 83 34 17 1 0 7 0 6 5 18 0.410 0.511 4.61 0.422 0.22 0.933
Mnemineh, Nabil 30 182 164 67 43 1 25 62 3 2 18 47 0.409 0.478 3.49 0.872 0.42 1.350
Webber, Owen 8 30 25 10 10 0 4 11 0 2 5 9 0.400 0.567 2.78 0.880 0.50 1.447
Gariepy, Shaun 25 128 105 40 29 2 5 18 0 4 23 36 0.381 0.523 2.92 0.543 0.28 1.066
Mackin, Andrew 1 8 8 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0.375 0.375 2.67 0.375 0.14 0.750
Wickenheisser, Eric 16 76 65 24 23 1 5 19 0 8 11 13 0.369 0.566 5.00 0.615 0.35 1.181
Chandler, Andrew 21 119 103 38 23 2 8 38 0 3 16 30 0.369 0.479 3.43 0.621 0.30 1.100
Keegan, Jared 27 127 103 35 32 2 12 28 0 5 24 44 0.340 0.504 2.34 0.709 0.36 1.213
Manns, Nick 30 165 128 43 41 0 23 58 0 8 37 53 0.336 0.533 2.42 0.875 0.47 1.408
McKeever, Andy 1 9 9 3 3 0 1 4 0 1 0 3 0.333 0.444 3.00 0.667 0.30 1.111
Dutelle, Dorrie 4 17 9 3 3 0 0 1 0 1 8 5 0.333 0.706 1.80 0.333 0.24 1.039
Gariepy, Patrick 21 104 82 27 26 0 8 22 1 2 22 37 0.329 0.490 2.22 0.622 0.30 1.112
Roy, Wayne 7 35 31 10 10 0 4 7 0 1 4 8 0.323 0.429 3.88 0.710 0.30 1.138
Caprari, Evan 6 17 16 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 0.313 0.353 2.29 0.375 0.13 0.728
Polo-Neil, Jesse 8 28 23 7 5 1 2 6 0 3 5 9 0.304 0.536 2.56 0.609 0.33 1.144
Tooley, Jill 25 153 126 38 36 0 1 19 0 1 27 45 0.302 0.431 2.80 0.325 0.14 0.757
Koch, Jeff 24 160 130 39 50 1 17 49 3 10 30 37 0.300 0.494 3.51 0.700 0.35 1.194
Ruess, Kayla 3 10 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.300 0.300 3.33 0.300 0.09 0.600
Myers, John 4 28 25 7 5 1 2 4 0 1 3 10 0.280 0.393 2.50 0.560 0.22 0.953
Sheran, Brendan 6 20 18 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0.278 0.350 3.60 0.278 0.10 0.628
Hamblin, Brittany 1 8 8 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0.250 0.250 2.67 0.250 0.06 0.500
Koch, Denny 6 31 28 7 3 0 1 2 0 2 3 9 0.250 0.387 3.11 0.357 0.14 0.744
Pendergrast, Steve 9 25 21 5 2 1 0 0 0 1 4 8 0.238 0.400 2.63 0.286 0.11 0.686
Abramovich, Danny 3 10 9 2 1 0 1 4 0 0 1 5 0.222 0.300 1.80 0.556 0.17 0.856
Kuni, Nick 21 115 86 18 24 0 9 22 4 6 29 29 0.209 0.461 2.97 0.523 0.24 0.984
Polo-Neil, Haili 27 124 98 20 16 0 0 3 0 3 26 42 0.204 0.395 2.33 0.204 0.08 0.599
Hamilton, Tommy 16 87 75 15 16 1 7 17 0 5 12 43 0.200 0.368 1.74 0.493 0.18 0.861
Kunes, Kenny 1 6 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.200 0.333 5.00 0.200 0.07 0.533
Fisher, Woon Chul 2 12 10 2 2 0 0 3 0 0 2 4 0.200 0.333 2.50 0.200 0.07 0.533
Rusk, Kate 12 42 35 7 3 0 1 6 0 0 7 13 0.200 0.333 2.69 0.286 0.10 0.619
Myers, Lauren 4 29 25 3 4 0 0 2 0 3 4 6 0.120 0.345 4.17 0.120 0.04 0.465
Walczak, Laura 6 27 26 3 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0.115 0.148 4.33 0.115 0.02 0.264
Tierney, Abby 23 95 89 8 5 0 0 9 0 0 6 16 0.090 0.147 5.56 0.090 0.01 0.237
Enos, Monique 7 22 18 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 10 0.056 0.273 1.80 0.056 0.02 0.328
Tucker, Sean 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000 0.500 N/A 0.000 0.00 0.500
Eric 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000 0.000 1.50 0.000 0.00 0.000
Irvin, Cate 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.000 3.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
Battaini, Andrew 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.000 0.000 1.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
Fabry, Linden 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.000 0.000 1.33 0.000 0.00 0.000
Wendling, Michelle 1 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.000 6.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
TOTALS 612 3,279 2,708 966 750 35 215 696 81 127 571 802 0.357 0.507 3.38 0.608 0.31 1.115
League Averages 11.3 60.7 50.1 17.9 13.9 0.6 4.0 12.9 1.5 2.4 10.6 14.9

Pitching

Leaderboard (green) requires a minimum 50 innings pitched

Pitching GP GS W L S IP H R ER K BB E CG SHO ERA WHIP K/6IP Opp. BA
Caprari, Evan 3 3 2 1 0 17.5 0 1 1 23 14 0 3 2 0.34 0.800 7.89 0.000
Koch, Tim 30 22 17 7 3 155.5 109 64 44 178 24 18 16 4 1.70 0.855 6.87 0.249
Cronze, Jay 2 2 2 0 0 11 5 6 5 12 12 1 1 0 2.73 1.545 6.55 0.179
Dias, Kevin 25 20 12 5 1 107 86 57 52 106 57 16 7 1 2.92 1.336 5.94 0.272
Kunes, Kenny 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 1 4 0 0 0 3.00 3.000 3.00 0.333
Proskin, Dave 5 3 1 2 1 18 20 10 9 13 11 2 2 1 3.00 1.722 4.33 0.345
Wickenheisser, Eric 14 11 9 3 0 65.5 62 44 37 56 63 2 7 1 3.39 1.908 5.13 0.318
Tierney, Liam 9 7 2 4 1 36 37 26 25 34 32 1 3 1 4.17 1.917 5.67 0.336
Keegan, Jared 16 10 5 6 2 62 52 51 45 82 49 6 6 1 4.35 1.629 7.94 0.286
D'Avella, Matt 18 10 5 4 3 58.5 46 49 43 60 57 5 5 3 4.41 1.761 6.15 0.274
Koch, Jeff 11 4 2 3 0 32.5 47 37 25 16 16 12 2 0 4.62 1.938 2.95 0.379
Hamilton, Tommy 8 6 2 4 0 29.5 36 27 23 35 14 3 3 0 4.68 1.695 7.12 0.367
Davis, Derek 6 3 1 1 1 22.5 24 20 18 12 12 3 1 0 4.80 1.600 3.20 0.333
Gariepy, Pat 6 2 2 1 0 16 20 22 15 21 12 6 1 0 5.63 2.000 7.88 0.345
Kuni, Nick 5 3 0 2 0 17 22 21 16 10 10 3 2 0 5.65 1.882 3.53 0.373
Myers, John 2 2 0 2 0 12.5 21 13 12 15 3 1 0 0 5.76 1.920 7.20 0.447
Sweener, Brian 6 1 0 3 0 15.5 20 19 15 12 19 3 0 0 5.81 2.516 4.65 0.370
Kuni, Travis 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 6.00 3.000 6.00 0.500
Manns, Andy 7 2 1 1 0 18.5 26 23 21 12 14 4 1 0 6.81 2.162 3.89 0.388
Manns, Nick 21 15 6 9 0 83 148 116 100 80 32 12 6 0 7.23 2.169 5.78 0.454
Mnemineh, Nabil 17 13 2 10 0 58.5 102 115 105 39 81 13 5 0 10.77 3.128 4.00 0.440
Cohen, Seth 1 0 0 0 0 0.5 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 12.00 4.000 0.00 0.667
Walczak, Laura 1 0 0 0 0 0.5 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 12.00 4.000 0.00 0.667
Webber, Owen 2 1 0 2 0 3.5 7 8 7 4 2 1 0 0 12.00 2.571 6.86 0.467
Gariepy, Shaun 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 7 6 0 1 1 0 0 36.00 6.000 0.00 0.625
Laviolette, Bill 2 0 0 1 0 2 17 18 14 1 6 2 0 0 42.00 11.500 3.00 0.739
Tooley, Jill 1 0 0 1 0 1 6 9 8 0 3 1 0 0 48.00 9.000 0.00 0.667
Hamblin, Brittany 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N/A N/A N/A 1.000
TOTALS 223 140 71 72 12 849 929 768 651 824 550 116 71 14 4.60 1.742 5.82 0.339
League Averages 8.0 5.0 2.5 2.6 0.4 30.3 33.2 27.4 23.3 29.4 19.6 4.1 2.5 0.5