Broken Bat

Although it was well worth it, three out of the four participants stopped having fun, and the Whiffle Ball League ended when JJ struck out, slammed the bat against the ground and broke it in two. A league that began as a fun way to play a little ball, with easy pitching, copious home runs, home run songs, and not much hustle, turned into some much more competitive somewhere before the halfway mark. Although home runs were still important, the race to the two-team World Series was the key driving factor. The increased amount of curve balls from me, and the increased speed on Bonz's pitches drove T-time to claim he hated the league. I of course was still enjoying it because my Yankees were in first and Mark Teixeira was still in the chase for top home run hitter.

On the final day of competition, I increased my hustle in the field and on the basepath. This immediately made JJ go nuts because my team had already clinched a spot in the World Series. After pulling off the best defensive play of the year (faking the throw home to get Jayj to run to second and then tagging him), JJ threw his usual hissy fit, claiming that was such a garbage play. After giving his team the run, me and Bonz went on to win that game anyway and give the Sox a chance to catch the Mets and put them into a one game playoff. As our number of balls went down from six to two, the play became ridiculously tough, as a normal at bat is around ten to 15 pitches (with mine and Bonz's horrendous pitching). It got to the point where T-time was sitting down in the outfield during an at bat. In the second to last game of the season with my Yanks beating JJ's Mets, JJ struck out and slammed the bat against the ground, breaking it into two pieces. Because no store in the world sells these fantastic nerf bats that are regulation baseball size, the league had to end with the Yankees at the top of the standings and Big Tex leading the league in home runs. Pretty solid ending.

Standings

Yankees.........4-1
Mets...............3-2
Red Sox..........2-3
Devil Rays.....1-4

Batting

Home Runs

Teixeira (Danny)- 12
Youkilis (Bonz)- 10
Beltran (JJ)- 7
Melky (Bonz)- 6
Crawford (T-time)- 4
Bay (JJ)- 4
Sheffield (Danny)- 4
Pena (Danny)- 4
ARod (JJ)- 4
Upton (Bonz)- 2
Cano (T-time)- 2
Lugo (T-time)- 2

Strikeouts

Crawford (T-time)- 7
Beltran (JJ)- 2
Youkilis (Bonz)- 1
ARod (JJ)- 1
Lugo (T-time)- 1
Longoria (JJ)- 1

Pitching

Putz (Danny)- 3-0
--2 strikeouts...1 blown save...1 complete game
Burnett (Bonz)- 2-0
--4 strikeouts...1 save...2 complete games
Hughes (Danny)- 2-0
--4 strikeouts...1 complete game
Smoltz (JJ)- 1-0
--1 complete game
Lester (Bonz)- 1-2
--3 strikeouts...1 complete game
Masterson (T-time)- 0-1
Shields (JJ)- 0-1
Joba (T-time)- 0-1
Santana (JJ)- 0-2
Price (T-time) 1-3

Midseason Breakdown

With six games being played, we are half way through the whiffle ball season. Last night's three games were fantastic, if a bit slick, with many a player falling flat on their face. A couple of major injuries have been endured, but the 14-13 extra inning game between the Rays and Sox was well worth it. Here's a look at the results midway through the season.

Standings

Yankees (Danny).........2-1

Mets (JJ)........................2-1

Devil Rays (T-time)....1-2

Red Sox (Bonz).............1-2

Batting

Home Run Leaders
Youkilis (Bonz) Red Sox- 7
Teixeira (Danny) Yankees- 6
Melky (Bonz) Yankees- 5
Beltran (JJ) Mets- 4
Crawford (T-time) Rays- 4
Bay (JJ) Red Sox- 4
Pena (Danny) Rays- 4
Sheffield (Danny) Mets- 2
Upton (Bonz) Rays- 2
Cano (T-time) Yankees- 2
Lugo (T-time) Red Sox- 1
Reyes (T-time) Mets- 1

Strikeouts
Crawford (T-time) Rays- 4
Youkilis (Bonz) Red Sox- 1
Beltran (JJ) Mets- 1

Pitching

Putz (Danny) Mets- 2-0
--1 strikeout...1 blown save
Burnett (Bonz) Yankees- 1-0
--1 strikeout...1 save...1 complete game
Hughes (Danny) Yankees- 1-0
--3 strikeouts
Smoltz (JJ) Red Sox- 1-0
--1 complete game
Price (T-time) Rays- 1-1
Kazmir (Danny) Rays- 0-0
Lester (Bonz) Red Sox- 0-1
--1 strikeout
Joba (T-time) Yankees- 0-1
Santana (JJ) Mets- 0-1
Masterson (T-time) Red Sox- 0-1
Shields (JJ) Rays- 0-1

Whiff Away

With the lack of television in the summer and my inability to watch much with so much going on here in the great state of Maine, I will not be posting much in the month of June. When the Quiet Pool Perspective does grace you with posts they will mostly be about the crazy happenings around these parts.

With that in mind let's take a look at the squads for the 2009 Quiet Pool Whiffle Ball League.

Yankees (Danny)

Primary Players

Batters: Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera

Pitchers: CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes

Red Sox (Bonz)

Primary Players

Batters: Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay, Rocco Baldelli, Julio Lugo

Pitchers: Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, Justin Masterson, John Smoltz

Mets (JJ)

Primary Players

Batters: Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Gary Sheffield, David Wright

Pitchers: Johan Santana, JJ Putz, Francisco Rodriguez, John Maine

Devil Rays (T-time)

Primary Players

Batters: Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, BJ Upton

Pitchers: David Price, Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Andy Sonnanstine




Here's a look at the field with a fantastically constructed home run fence courtesy of Pops.