In A Pickle
What the Christ, Pee Wee Johnson. Now there’s got a brouhaha going on between pickleballers and tennis players. They’re calling it the Pickleball Wars and it’s all about duking it over court space. Devoted pickleballers say it’s the sport of the people and tennis is for country club elites.
It’s all bullwinkle and horse manure on a stick. The real game of the people and the last pure sport is Wiffle Ball. Eight bucks gets you a bat and ball set. You can play in backyards, driveways, cul-de-sacs, the beach. Anywhere you want, Bucko.
Everything in Wiffle is automatics. A swing and a miss and you’re out. Single is a grounder past the pitcher. Double is a line drive past the pitcher. Hit it over the outfielder’s head and it’s a triple. Ding it over the hedge or the chain-link fence or into the water, you’ve got a home run. The strike zone is a shitbum lawn chair behind home plate. The fastball hits the mesh webbing and you’re out, Freddy Fender.
My son Gainer found a cool website the other day called Streaker Sports. Really neat Wiffle Ball merch. They even have a mesh lawn chair tee. Check it out.
The Mullaney family from Shelton, Connecticut invented the game, and the bat and ball are still American made. I’ve known the Mullaneys for years. The last thing we did together was a team up with NYC-based documentary filmmaker John Fitzgerald who started the Irish American Baseball Society. We got Wiffle Ball to donate bats and balls to send to Ireland to teach kids how to play baseball.
Hey, over the years all the big boy sports and toy companies have tried to buy Wiffle Ball. The Mullaneys always say no deal. They’re keeping it in the family. Independent and American made. Way to go. We need more of that. Wiffle Ball is all about amateur fun and keeping it simple. We need more of that too.
Keep your dukes up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBaOBhcdBYs
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