Celebrating Wiffle ball’s endearing—and enduring—appeal

Posted May 11, 2010 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated May 11, 2010 at 09:02 PM

I grew up loving Wiffle ball. In fact, most of the kids in my neighborhood loved playing the game with the plastic ball and bat, too.

My parents’ driveway in Boynton Beach was the perfect field of dreams. It was about 50 feet long and 15 feet wide. Here were our rules: Hit a grounder past a pitcher for a single. A fly ball that fell into the street was a double. A ball hit on the fly to the shoulder across the street qualified for a triple, and a homer was a ball that landed in the yard of our neighbors across the street, the Bairds.

The Bairds were a kindly old couple and didn’t mind us whacking plastic balls into their yard. And conveniently, their driveway was flanked by a pair of palm trees — perfect foul poles.

Their next-door neighbor was a little more grumpy and hated when we pulled foul balls down the left-field line into his yard. To discourage us, he’d turn on his sprinklers. Now that was rich — here we were in humid, sweltering South Florida, playing in 90-plus degree summertime weather. Do you think sprinklers were a deterrent?

The best part of playing Wiffle ball was that I could play solo against my brother (he never beat me) or we could pair off in teams of two or three. My neighbor next door had a three-car garage and a huge driveway, so that was even better. But those aluminum garage doors made an awful sound when the batter missed a pitch.

There are plenty of Wiffle ball stories around the country, no doubt. But Michael Hermann, in conjunction with The Wiffle Ball, Inc., has produced a paperback book that traces the history of one of the 20th century’s most loved toys.
“Wiffle Ball: The Ultimate Guide,” (Triumph Books, $12.95) is a book that is informative and will bring back plenty of fond memories. It tells the story of David N. Mullany of Fairfield, Conn., a former semipro pitcher who invented and patented the Wiffle ball, a toy that “curves like crazy, won’t break windows, and delivers a satisfying baseball experience.”

Some fun facts from the book:

VH1’s “I Love Toys” ranked the Wiffle ball and bat as the 10th best toy of all time, between the Slinky and Play-Doh (The Hula Hoop was No. 1, by the way).

The first Wiffle balls went on sale in 1953, created at the Mullany’s kitchen table on Aug. 14, 1953. It was patented on Jan. 1, 1957. Original price? A mere 49 cents.

There’s a how-to section on how to throw certain pitches, and information about Wiffle ball leagues and famous Wiffle “fields.”

This book makes me want to go back to my parents’ old driveway and swat a few pitches from my brother again. After all, I never lost (wink).

I smile at the memory. Thanks, Wiffle ball.