For It's 1,2,3 strikes.....

  For a guy who loves to find 'Special
Days' each month I have to admit to
missing a big one yesterday!
  I was watching 'Sunday Morning' on
CBS when I saw a piece celebrating
the anniversary of the invention of the
'Wiffle Ball!'
  Talk about a history making event!
  When I was a kid I had the biggest
back yard in the neighborhood. The
made it the 'stadium' for kids from
blocks around. And one of the most
popular games we played there was
Wiffel Ball!
  We had one-man teams (in one case
one-woman since our neighbor Linda
was as good a player as any of the guys!)
and played a regular schedule of games
we came up with ourselves.
  Of course you had to come up with
ground rules that fit the terrain!
  While my backyard was long it was
not especially wide.
   There were three neighboring yards
to the left of our home plate. Access to
each meant jumping a fence. That was
a nuisance so...over one fence...one
out! Over two fences..two outs!
   The real trouble spot, however, was
a ball hit over the fence to our right!
   That was Mrs ......well we'll just
call her 'Mrs W.' That was Mrs W's
yard! She didn't like kids coming into
her yard for any reason! And if she
grabbed your Wiffle Ball..it was
GONE!
   So the rule was...a ball hit into
Mrs W's yard was an automatic 3
outs! And the batter was the one
responsible for recovering the ball if
possible! That meant jumping the
fence, avoiding splinters, and Mrs
W's dog, as well as Mrs W if she
happen to be out.
  If she wasn't that darn dog acted
like a burglar alarm and let her know
an 11 or 12-year-old had stepped into
'no man's land!'
   Mrs W was concerned about
possible damage to her garden. She
also wasn't very big on kids!
    One of my proudest moments had
nothing to do with a homer or a
pitched strikeout. It involved a
confrontation between Mrs W and
my Mom!
   During one of her tirades over our
attempt to get our Wiffle Ball back
Mrs W proclaimed that she was
raising flowers. My Mom, who
didn't play Wiffle Ball responded
by saying..."And we are raising
kids!"  Mrs W looked like an
umpire had just tossed  her out of a
game as she retreated to her dugout...I
mean..her house. Score Mom 1..Mrs
W zero!
   David Mullany of Fairfield,Conn.,
invented the Wiffle Ball in 1953 so
his 12-year-old son could throw a
curve ball.
   A lot of flowers have come and
gone since then. But a lot of kids
have grown up, hopefully made a
difference in this country,or the world,
and..maybe...played a game or two of
Wiffle Ball with their kids or grand
kids during those years.
   Hope you've played too, haven't
'Whiffed', and that all your NEWS
is good!