LowBall Comes of Age

Sunday's Belgian Wiffle represented, I think, a turning point in the Lincoln Old-School Wiffle Ball organization's development. Allow me to set the stage: The commissioner, Trot Thompson, called me a couple of times on Saturday evening to discuss the technicalities of manifesting such a momentus and complicated affair as the first annual Belgian Wiffle, a celebration involving masterfully handcrafted waffles and belgian beer. After the success of Sunday Bloody Sunday, an event in which we enjoyed incomperable Bloody Marys along with a fine game of wiffle -although for the life of me I can't remember anything that happened that day - and to a lesser extent the success of Gin and Tonic Wednesday, a crowd favorite, I thought there would be no problem bringing off this event. However the commissioner called me and said that there were some reservations being expressed by some of the participants about the timing of the game and a possible conflict with some sort of chicken barbeque going on down at the Lincoln Fire station. The commissioner mentioned that the people involved had said that we should just bag the whole event because it might cause the game to run over the allotted time - which usually corresponds to how generous our wives are feeling. Well now, I am a very understanding person when it comes to the "Widows of Wiffle" (W.O.W) and their needs, but the fire department? "Come on," I said to the commissioner, "don't you think we need to put our foot down when it comes to this kind of encroachment on our sacred time? Don't you think these guys need to get their priorities straight? I mean for god's sake they don't even get to man the barbeque! All they are doing is pushing mops around and taking out the trash." The commissioner agreed that, in general, the naysayers were being whining, snivelling wusses and that we should go ahead with the plans as scheduled which really only required a trip to the store for a twelve pack of Stella Artois, some batter, a waffle iron, and a couple of extension cords.
The dawn came bright and misty to the hallowed grounds of Gap Bridge field. The day was as perfect as anyone had seen for wiffle, with a brisk but uneven wind blowing from north to south across the field. This was definitely a pitchers breeze, as everyone throwing that day was a righty, and the wind added considerable break to the curve ball. At times the wind was blowing straight in toward the batter making well hit balls hang up and would-be home runs become long fly outs. Indeed this breeze would prove to be the deciding factor in the game.
The home team the Lincoln Loggers took the field consisting of Mike "El Guapo" Moriarty, Dan "The Plastic Surgeon" Guy, and the commissioner, Trot Thompson. The away team, the Lincoln Lagers, consisted of Seth "Hot Rod" Beck, J-Mack, and myself, Lonichiro.
Trot Thompson got off to a rough start, giving up six in the top half of the first, and then the game settled into what would become one of the more epic pitching duels of LowBall history. Notable pitching performances were given by El Guapo, Hot Rod, Lonichiro, and The Plastic Surgeon. Hot Rod and Lonichiro each turning in one-hit performances. Even Thompson came back after his rough first inning to throw two more scoreless innings. J-Mack's pitching was decent but he didn't drop the patented J-Mack H-Bomb, a pitch that comes in high and slow and drops into the strike zone for devestating effect. Perhaps the wind was a factor. Special mention must go to the pitching performance of Dan "The Plastic Surgeon" Guy. There is a reason for that nickname, and the reason became all too clear when he took the mound. He was nearly unhittable as pitch after pitch sailed in with a resound thump on the battered silver foam of the Gap Bridge strike zone; (A relic which should soon be retired to the hall of fame). He did this with apparent effortlessness, never breaking a sweat, and never losing his calm and affable demeanor as he stood out there with the wind helping to add a little extra zip and twist on his pitches.
He even made the spandex bike shorts look cool. J-Mack summed up the veracity of the nickname with the statement, "He cuts you open when he's at the plate and he sews up when he's on the mound."
The game went at a brisk pace, waffles not withstanding, and was the first LowBall game ever to go into extra innings. In total, it went eleven innings and ended in a tie, another LowBall first. It is my firm belief, after having watched this league from it's infancy, that this game showed that LowBall has finally arrived. There was mature pitching, excellent hitting and some fairly spectacular fielding, including two game saving catches from Hot Rod Beck in the final innings, one of which robbed Trot Thompson of what would have been a walk off double in the tenth. All in all I'd say this was one of the best games I've ever been a part of, and even though it ended in a tie, an offense we forgive the fire department for, it proves the addage that when you play wiffle ball, everyone wins.