Wiffleball is a Life Style

Fresno Pacific Green
Sunday, July 13
History was made at Fila field today. Or that is my new name for it bacause of all the advertisments. On this day two best of three series were played. The first pitted Jimmie and John(Team Double J) against Dana and Craig(Team DC).
Game one- This is were history was made. the game started out normal. The wind was blowing and pitching seemed again like it would be a challenge. Dana and John took the mound for their respected teams. Both pitchers came out pitching very well. Retiring hitters like it was their job. It was not until the third inning that team JJ took control, they exploded for 6 runs on a barrage of hits. That was more then enough for john to work with as he mowed down hitters all game. going into the fifth he had a no hitter going. He rolled right through the fifth and registrared the first no hitter in wiffleball history. John was amazing, he made hitters look bad all day. Jimmie and John danced on the field in celebration. Dana and Craig left before we could get any comments from them. John has now been put on the ballot for Wiffleball Hall of fame. If he is voted in he will be the first active player to have this honor.
Game 2- This game featured Craig against Jimmie on the mound. On paper this should be a real mismatch considering Craig has nothing and Jimmie has the devastating knuckleball. But when the wind is blowing the playing field levels out. Craig started slow giiving up 4 runs in the first, he was hit hard early and it did not help that he walked batters left and right as well. Finally Craig got out of the inning only to have Jimmie get a quick one-two, forcing Craig back out on the mound. Craig surprisingly enough got tow quick outs and was able to rest a little more. Dana and Craig's bats came alive in the second against Jimmie. They got the bases loaded and Craig hit a line drive off the wall for a triple. The score was now 4-3. Dana then hit a single to knock in another un tying the game. Shortly after that Craig hit Jimmie's knuckleball over the left field fence taking a 6-4 lead. After that Jimmie was able to get out of the inning. In the forth John and Jimmie sarted to make a comeback. Jimmie lead the inning off with a double. John quickly hit a fastball high inot the air. Craig did not even turn around as he knew the score was now 6-6, but some how the ball came up short. It bounced off the top of the wall and stayed in play for a triple. the score was only 6-5. Craig somehow recovered from this and made it out alive. Dana and Craig added another un in the forth and closed out the game. tying the series at 1-1.
Game 3- Whenever you have a Hall of Fame pitcher on the mound it makes life a little unfair. John took the mound again and faced off with Dana one more time. Jimmie and John quickly scored a couple in the first. John was again very dominent, giving up 1 hit in the first four innings. Going into the top of the fifth the score was 4-0. The top of the fifth is where John showed some fatigue. He let up a line drive homerun to Craig and a hard hit double by Dana. He was able to get out of the inning and win the game and the series.

This is a report given to us by a future Hall of Fame writer, John Wiebe

Sunday, July 6 saw a group of Fresno Pacific University alums gather back at their old stomping grounds for an afternoon/evening of Wiffle Ball action.


Craig Haviland, primary proprietor of this humble website, ignored his impending move to Sacramento and the various chores associated with such a move and drove to Fresno for the day, just to participate.


John Wiebe, now living in Shafter, CA and in the midst of a logistical nightmare thanks to a job change, ignored the tasks of updating his own website (see link on sidebar) and drove 90 minutes for a chance to play on the historic Fresno Pacific University Green.


Brian Penner, history teacher at Sanger High School, was the elder statesman of the group. Having graduated from FPU in 2000 and gotten married in 2001, Brian had not played competitive Wiffle Ball for an estimate two years, citing lack of time to play. However, Penner was able to find time enough on Sunday to drive the 30 minutes in from Reedley, where he now resides.


Jimmie Nixon, the newest married member of the group, does not have a job and lives a mere 15 minutes from the field. There was little if any sacrifice involved in his attendance. Jimmie has two favorite teams, the Dodgers and Angels. If Jimmie doesn't relinquish fandom of one of those teams before he is 25 years old, one of his friends is going to do something terrible to him. You can't have two favorite teams, Jimmie! You hear me?!


Dana Doris, who also does not have a job, made the trip to the school from his residence 20 minutes from the field. How Doris was able to overcome the crippling affliction of being a San Francisco Giants fan long enough to play Wiffle Ball for five hours, no one may ever know.


First Game


As the day began, as it usually does, with a pitcher struggling. If there is one pitcher in the Wiffle Ball world who does not at least give up a hit or a walk in his first inning of a game, we have yet to meet him.


Sunday, it was Brian Penner who drew the unlucky straw of having to start the day on the hill. He quickly walked two, and with one out, gave up a home run to Jimmie that put Dana and Jimmie ahead 3-0. Jimmie's towering drive to left-center was more than obviously wind-aided and cleared the fence by about four feet. Since the fence was about 85-90 feet from home plate, the estimated distance of the homer was 95 feet. With Craig not back from Sacramento yet, it was agreed that the game would go seven innings.


Brian quickly settled down, however, and after allowing a cheap run in the second on a few bloop hits, he began mowing down Jimmie and Dana left and right. Despite sprinkling in a few walks, his control improved dramatically as the game wore on. The only problem was, Jimmie was pitching a typical Jimmie Nixon game.


Staked to an early lead and with the light breeze blowing in his favor, Jimmie and his patented knuckle ball did not allow a base runner until the fourth inning, when Brian lined a double to left field. After striking out John, he allowed a single to Brian that put runners at second and third. On a full-count, Jimmie snuck a slider past John, who was looking for the knuckle ball and didn't lift the bat off his shoulder.


The game moved to the sixth with the score still 4-0, but more than one observer could tell that it was only a matter of time before Brian and John broke through. Finally, they did. With one out in the sixth, John laced a double to left center, and another double by Brian got his team on the board. A walk and another single gave Brian and John their second run, but John was retired for the second out with the bases loaded to end the inning.


The seventh saw Brian and John put runners on second and third with one out, and it looked for all the world like they would at least tie up the game. Alas, John struck out with the game on the line, and Dana and Jimmie had secured a sloppy victory.


Second Game


Craig Haviland was now in the picture, and a best-of-three game series was proposed. John and Craig vs. Brian, Jimmie, and Dana. This was at the same time a great deal for John and Craig was well as a bummer. As teammates, they both knew that they would not have to pitch to each other during the series, which would definitely not hurt their respective ERAs. However, from an offensive perspective, both were slightly disappointed that they would not have a chance to feast on the other's pitching, as is the custom whenever they are head-to-head.  


The first game was a dog fight from the beginning. John started slowly, walking in a run in the top of the first but eventually limiting the damage by getting outs when he needed to. John and Craig scratched across a run in the bottom of the inning to tie it up off of Dana, whose curve and slider were working wonders for him when the wind blew the right direction.


The top of the second saw the three-man team threaten to score using the usual formula: draw walks off John and wait for the big double or three-run homer. There would be no three-run homers off John today, however, as he consistently found his control only when he absolutely had to have it. The Fresno breeze, which certainly picked up more for the this game, limited John to one or two pitches, but he was able to spot them effectively enough to get out of a tough jam in the second.


John and Craig struck again in the bottom of the second, but not without a little help. With runners at the corners and one out, Craig hit a hot grounder right to Brian, who was playing halfway between the mound and the foul line. Despite the long grass on the Green that slowed down most ground balls during the day, the ball snuck through Brian's legs and into left field to score the go-ahead run. John was retired to end the inning.


The score remained 2-1 in the fifth and final inning. Brian, Dana, and Jimmie had one last chance to score off John or they would be down one game to none in the series. After getting a man on base, they failed to score, and their worst fears were realized: they trailed John and Craig, 1-0, with the knowledge that even if they somehow beat Craig, John would be well-rest for Game 3.

Game 2 was a pitcher's duel, as Craig walked the house all day but didn't allow a run until the bottom of the fifth, when Jimmie's bases-loaded single scored the only run of the game. The series was now tied, 1-1. It should be noted that Brian was dominant on the mound this game, leading some to speculate he would pitch Game 3 on five minutes rest.

Game 3 was an Instant Classic. John and Craig had two identical innings at the plate in the first and second:

On the first pitch of the first inning, Craig lined a single to left. On the second pitch, John homered deep to left center. It was on a knuckle ball that was on the middle-in part of the plate, and actually a little lower than John usually likes them, but despite not being able to fully extend his arms on the swing, John hit a line drive that kept rising, clearing the fence with plenty of room to spare and finally coming to a rest somewhere by the new Student Commons building. It was subsequently agreed by John and Craig that hitting a home run, especially off the great knuckleballer Jimmie Nixon, was one of the best feelings on Earth.

On the first pitch of the second inning, Craig singled to center. On the second pitch of the inning, John took a hanging knuckle ball that was high and on the outside portion of the zone and homered, this time to right center over the soccer-goal portion of the fence. Despite claims that this home run was of the Dave Lockridge variety, the fact remains that John still homered against the wind to what is almost the deepest part of the ballpark, over the highest fence.

Craig later homered to left center and John finished off a shutout as Team CJ took the series, 2 games to 1 by winning Game 3 5-0.
 
****Awards****
 
Best Pitching Performance, No Run Support: Brian Penner, Game 2. Dominated John and Craig for five innings without any run support.
 
Best Pitching Performance, No Defensive Support: Dana Doris. Brian's error cost Team JDB Game 1 of the series they would eventually lose.
 
Best Pitching Perfomance, No Weatherman Support: John Wiebe. Struggled through Game 1 of the series but came away with the victory despite strong winds blowing from all directions. Relied on a trusty riser to get out of a few jams.
 
Best Pitching Performance, Completely Out Of Character: Craig Haviland, who pitched four shutout innings before losing Game 2 1-0 on a hardluck single by Jimmie. John's feelings of self-loathing and guilt have yet to subside after being Craig's teammate but not helping him out when Craig pitched the game of his life.
 
Best Pitching Performance, Knuckleballer: Jimmie Nixon, who wins this award by default. He's seen better days, and he will see better days in the future. He's got a lot of upside.

A friend of mine gave me a great idea. This is an official challenge to anyone who thinks they are good at wiffleball. Jimmie, John, Dana and I will be willing to take on all challengers. If you want to play against us e-mail me at craig_haviland@hotmail.com We will understand if no one has the courage to play us.

Quote of the Week:
"It's like deja vu all over again."
-Yogi Berra

Here is a game one summary from Jimmie Nixon
The matchup was John and Brian vs Dana and Jimmie.  The pitchers were Brian and Jimmie.  In the top of the first Dana started the game off with a walk.  Jimmie (as normal) struck out badly.  Dana once again walked.  Then Jimmie took a hard slider deep for a three run blast.  Some say that it was a wind aided home run.  But Jimmie contests that if there had been no wind it would have been a tape measure shot that would have made John's homerun later in the day look like a "David Eckstein barely over the fence" homer.  Jimmie came out pitching strong holding Brian and John to mostly weak pop flies and even weaker gound balls for the first five innings.  Then in the top of fifth Brian walked in a run literally.  He filled the bases with walks and then walked in Dana to make the score 4 to 0.  In the bottom of the sixth Jimmie looked a little vulnerable.  He allowed a single to Brian and then a double to John.  After Brian hit two long foul balls Jimmie threw a dancing knuckler that got Brian to whiff. Once again John came up and hit another double off the knuckleballer, making the score 4-2.  But Jimmie gained his composure and got Brian to ground out.  Jimmie went on to get the complete game win by finishing off John and Brian in the seventh.

Fresno, Ca
FPU Green
It was a beautiful day yesterday, a good day for baseball even. But when the ball is light as a feather and has holes in it the wind will make life difficult on everyone. With that said here is a look at what went down. First and foremost i would like to commend Jimmie, Dana, John and Brian. They did a great job of building the new field. We lost our old one in a construction controversy. I missed the first game so can not really comment on it. The second game pitted John and Craig against Jimmie, Dana and Brian. John squared off agianst Dana on the mound. The game started the the wind instantly picked up. John pitched through the gusty winds and struggled. He walked enough batters to give up a one run lead. But it could have been a lot worse, with no outs and the bases still loaded he was able to get out of a jam with a pop up and a strike out. The bottom of the first started out with a bang for John and Craig. Craig hit a double to the opposite field and John quickly followed that with a double of his own. The score was 1-1. Craig then hit a single to put the runners on 1st and 3rd. Next John grounded out. So it was first and third with one out. Craig stepped back up to the plate with a chance to knock in a run or two. Dana through a great pitch and Craig hit a weak ground ball to Jeff Kent oh, I mean Brian who watched the ball go right through his legs. The scored was now 2-1 and that is how it stayed. The series was 1-0 CJ
Game 2- Same teams, different pitches. Craig matched up against Brian. This matchup looks as if it should be very lopsided. Craig is the worst pitcher and Brian is one of the best. Brian dominated the game with his heat, and variety of in-shoots and sliders. Making John and Craig look worse and worse as the game went on. Craig on the other hand could have been compared to Kaz Ishii. He walked just about everyone in site but was some how able to get out of innings without giving up runs. So while John and Craig could not get on base, Jimmie, Dana and Brian threatened every inning. But for some crazy reason no one was able to score until the bottomof the fifth when Jimmie "swings from his shoes" Nixon decided that base hits were more important(what is he thinking). But he hit a double to start the inning and after two more walks he hit a single to win it. Series 1-1
Game 3-This was the final game of the night and it pitted two teams who by now hated eachother. JOhn was again on the hill to face the Man himself "Powder". Otherwise known as Jimmie Nixon and his crazy Knuckleball. The game started and John had some how found his pitching groove and started throwing with some consistency. He walked three in the first inning but they were able to get out of another jam. The bottom of he first was very interesting. Jimmie's first pitch was hit sharply (by Craig) up the middle for a single. His second pitch was hit so hard that even with the wind blowing in, it registrared as one of the longest homeruns ever. Jimmie quickly came back and made Craig look bad on three straight knuckleballs and then got John to ground out. But the damage was done and the score was 2-0. John's pitching started to pick up in the second inning and he made short work, getting two of the first three out. Once again Craig step up and hit Jimmie's first pitch for a single and John hit his second pitch out of the park. It reminded me of something Dave Lockrigde would have hit. A million miles in the air and then it lands two inches past the fence. ONce agian Jimmie settled down and got the ext two outs. John once again got two quick outs. Craig came up to the plate again looking to add to their 4-0 lead. He battled with Jimmie until Craig hit a line drive that almost went as far as John's homerun. The score was now 5-0 and looking worse and worse for Jimmie's team. The rest of the game had little excitement, John continued picthing well and Jimmie picked it up and pitched strong at the end. The final score was 5-0 and John and Craig won the series.
A look at what happened- Dana pitched well using the wind to his advantage, he was the only one who did not have to throw through the wind. An error cost him the game. John pitched well enough t get himself two wins. Craig pitched better than expected and was somehow able to keep the game close. Brian was the only pitcher who was not effected by the wind.He threw too hard and the wind did not do to much to his pitches. Jimmie as his scouting reports says struggled with the wind and left his knuckleball hanging and allowed John and Craig to win the series. John now has the longest Homerun. Craig's winning streak ended at 8.

Pitching Scouting Reports:
(R)=Right Handed
(L)=Left Handed

John Wiebe(R)- He will come at you with several different pitches. And he is always working on several more. When his in-shoot is on he is basically unhittable. His in-shoot starts right over the plate and dives in on your hands at the last minute. There is nothing you can do with that pitch. But if it is off he resorts back to his over the top release which hitters feast on. Also when he begins to struggle he gets down on himself. The more upset he gets, the harder he throws. This hurts his control a lot. By walking people and giving bases away it usually gets worse before it gets better. Some have compared him to Kevin Brown..... only not for his pitching but his anger management problem.

Jimmie Nixon(R)- He will come at you with one pitch and one pitch only. The knuckler. The ball has so much movment taht it makes Wakefield jealous. This pitch will make many hitters look bad, and when it is on only the most disiplined hitters have a chance. If the wind is strong or for some reason he does not have the good stuff he is forced to throw his fastball, which is a pleasant sight for a batter after watching ten straight knuckleballs. He is very confident in his knuckleball, so even if you hit it, you will still see your fair share of dancing wiffleballs.

Craig Haviland(R)- At 6'10" he is physically intimidating on the mound....then he throws his first pitch and hitters all around the league start licking their chops. He has two pitches. a fastball and a AA slider. If he gets ahead in teh count he might try and throw an in-shoot. He moves his pitches around the plate fairly well but after a while hitters are able to jump on his mistakes. When he gets frustrated he rushes his pitches and his control goes downhill. Hit him hard early and you will be fine.

Dana Doris(L)- ONce again he has an automatic advantage in being left-handed. Players get used to hitting against righties and then Dana makes them look silly. He has a couple of pitches but none work as well as his curveball. This pitch will start outside of the strike zone and dive through the zone to catch the inside corner. It looks really good to the hitter, but it always ends up in on the hands. His weakness is the fact that he has a bad back. Once it starts to tighten up he becomes very hittable. His curveball looses a lo of movement and is often left hanging in the middle of the zone. But when he is feeling good he rolls right along.

Hitting Scouting Reports:
(R)=Right Handed
(L)=Left Handed

John Wiebe(R)- Usually he is a very patient hitter. He hits the ball well for base hits but he also has home run power. He will make the pitcher work for every out. He is the typical hitter you might see in an Oakland A's line-up. He usually pulls the ball but he is able to hit to the opposite field. The key to get him out is to rattle him while he is pitching. His only weakness is the fact that he carries over his emotions from pitching to hitting. This causes him to become impatient and he will swing at bad pitches. He hits a lot like Shawn Green.

Jimmie Nixon(R)- This is your usual swing for the fences type hitter. There are only two places he will go. Either he will walk back to the dugout or trot slowly around the bases. While he runs the bases he taunts the pitchers. This has caused him to be thrown out of many games. He swings big and he misses big. But he can change the corse of a game in a single swing of the bat. His swing has been compared to Sammy Sosa's but the results often compare to Brett Boone.

Craig Haviland(R)- He is probably the streakiest hitter ever. One day he will hit everything he sees and the next he will not register a base hit at all. He has officially become Jimmie Nixon's Nemesis. He has both Home run power and the ability to get base hits. He tends to get cocky when he is hitting well causing him to miss the ball as if he is Mike Cameron in an All-star game. But when he is hot he can carry his team to victory (which is good because he can not pitch).His main weakness is the fact that he can only hit the ball to left field. His hitting is his best asset so if your looking for a guy who can produce runs, he is your man.

Dana Doris(L)- He starts with an automatic advantage. He is the only player who hits left handed. This causes trouble in wiffleball because a pitcher get used to pitching only to righties. He is probably the most consistent hitter of the group and has great bat control. This allows him to spray hits all over the field. One scout said "If I have to choose between pitching to him or John, I will intentionally walk Dana to get to John." because he is able to do so much, he draws a lot of walks because pitchers are scared to throw him a pitch he can hit. He is often compared to Barry Bonds.

Quote of the Day
"I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball."
-Pete Rose