My own backyard stadium

[wildwoodstadium]

I thought this would interest the baseball stadium fanatics. The local news just did a story on my backyard stadium. http://www.komonews.com/sports/heroes/27790429.html?video=pop&t=a

There's also some old pictures up on my website.
www.myspace.com/wildwoodstadium

When I was a kid we had a baseball field setup with whatever chickenwire and scrapwood we could find. 9 years ago I set up a field again and about 5 or 6 years ago my nephew and I got a bit carried away. We have our own version of wiffleball that we play several times a week. We use a pitching machine that chucks them in at 60mph and have a blast in our just under 1/4 size field. It's about 78' down the lines, about 90' alleys and 95' in center. It takes a decent shot to hit it out and on the news they had the farthest hit of the day, a tape measure shot out of left.

If any of you are from the Western Washington area and want to check it out, just get a hold of me.

[sfgiants29]

This is awesome. I haven't played wiffle ball in who knows how long. I was in Seattle a few weeks ago when the Rays were playing. I wish I had known about your field because I definitely would have taken the trip to see it. Congratulations on the feature and make sure you keep us posted with all your updates!

[Coach Bombay]

That is so awesome, I am pretty jealous, I must say...

[tmorss9]

I'm pretty jealous, too. I've always wanted a wiffle ball field. That's awesome.

[PeteU]

Pretty cool.

As a kid, I made up a rudimentary wiffleball field in my backyard, complete with a home plate, pitching rubber and a single base for one on one wiffleball games with my friends. It had a chalk scoreboard and everything.

But nothing of that detailed magnitude.

[cgcoyne2]

First of all, Congratulations!!!! This is awesome.

A few things though.

1. The field in the video looks too small. When I read the rest of your post, I assumed the outfield was a good size, maybe slightly too small. I would go about 100 feet to dead center, if I could.

2. The infield is too small. I would like a field with a decent sized infield. Probably 60 foot bases. This way you could play all games with runners and fielders whenever you have enough people to play say 5 on 5.

3. The outfield wall is great.

4. The lights for night games is really awesome.

5. I would play wiffle ball every day. EVERY DAY!!!!!

6. Pitching machine is good, but you have to, HAVE TO, use real wiffle balls.

Congratulations, I am super jealous.

[NYFan1stYankFan2nd]

Where does the organist sit?


:D

[wildwoodstadium]

First of all, Congratulations!!!! This is awesome.

A few things though.

1. The field in the video looks too small. When I read the rest of your post, I assumed the outfield was a good size, maybe slightly too small. I would go about 100 feet to dead center, if I could.

2. The infield is too small. I would like a field with a decent sized infield. Probably 60 foot bases. This way you could play all games with runners and fielders whenever you have enough people to play say 5 on 5.

3. The outfield wall is great.

4. The lights for night games is really awesome.

5. I would play wiffle ball every day. EVERY DAY!!!!!

6. Pitching machine is good, but you have to, HAVE TO, use real wiffle balls.

Congratulations, I am super jealous.

1. It's a little bigger than it looks on video, and perfect size for our game and the balls/bats we use. It takes a decent poke to hit it out. The one HR they showed was a monster shot from a guy that is a solid 6'4" 230.

2. We don't run the bases so I made the infield to scale so it would look realistic.

3.Thanks, although we ned to paint it next year.

4.We asked for lights for the field every year for christmas but my dad thought we were nuts. They come in so handy with work schedules etc. Especially early and late season, this is a busy week so we're having a rare 8:30 start time on Thursday.

5. I would too if everybody else could.

6. We love the machine, it makes for quick games. We play 3 inning games and usually play 3 games per hour. The polyball tutor spreads the ball all around the strike zone and the pitch speed varies just enough to keep you honest. Also we're a bit cruel, you only get one strike and somtimes you get some wicked movement.

We us the Tanner ball with holes all the way around because official wiffleball hardly ever goes over the plate.


NYFAN, OMG, that's a great idea. Our next project is going to be cut out fielders so we can get rid of the logs we've had forever. We have talked about putting some speakers up. The other thing we are trying to do is to get as many pro fields dirt as we can on the infield. So far Safeco, Petco Park and CHeney stadium (AAA park in Tacoma).

Thanks for all the comments.

[cgcoyne2]

We love the machine, it makes for quick games. We play 3 inning games and usually play 3 games per hour. The polyball tutor spreads the ball all around the strike zone and the pitch speed varies just enough to keep you honest. Also we're a bit cruel, you only get one strike and somtimes you get some wicked movement.

We us the Tanner ball with holes all the way around because official wiffleball hardly ever goes over the plate.


NYFAN, OMG, that's a great idea. Our next project is going to be cut out fielders so we can get rid of the logs we've had forever. We have talked about putting some speakers up. The other thing we are trying to do is to get as many pro fields dirt as we can on the infield. So far Safeco, Petco Park and CHeney stadium (AAA park in Tacoma).

Thanks for all the comments.

You gotta do what you gotta do, but in my opinion, nothing is better than pitching and fielding as well as running the bases while playing wiffle ball. It's your field, it's your call.

I would even have a guy catching, which I always loved doing in wiffleball. It would be great to have a pitcher, a catcher, 2 infielders and 2 outfielders, for a 6 on 6. You probably do need a strike zone behind the batter without a catcher because some guys stand there all day wearing a pitcher out without strike calls because they can't hit the pitcher's good stuff. They stand there like babies, so you need a strike zone. We always used a lawn chair. Anything that hits the chair from the seat up is a strike. I use to throw the ball on a wicked curve and have it go around the back of a guy's head and then land in the chair when batters were pissing me off and not swinging. Most pitches miss the chair by an inch and they just stand there. Come on!!! Swing the damn bat!!!

Sorry, flashback there.

Question: You obviously play automatic plays. What constitutes an out, a single, a double, a triple? Obviously you have to go yard to get a HR. What's up with the logs?

I'm still jealous.

[beisbolcrazy22]

I think if you look up Mariucci bat company, they also have an awesome field at their facility.

[wildwoodstadium]

I think if you look up Mariucci bat company, they also have an awesome field at their facility.

That's a cool field, truly right in the backyard, mine I guess is like the back forty (really only 5 acres).

[wildwoodstadium]

You gotta do what you gotta do, but in my opinion, nothing is better than pitching and fielding as well as running the bases while playing wiffle ball. It's your field, it's your call.

I would even have a guy catching, which I always loved doing in wiffleball. It would be great to have a pitcher, a catcher, 2 infielders and 2 outfielders, for a 6 on 6. You probably do need a strike zone behind the batter without a catcher because some guys stand there all day wearing a pitcher out without strike calls because they can't hit the pitcher's good stuff. They stand there like babies, so you need a strike zone. We always used a lawn chair. Anything that hits the chair from the seat up is a strike. I use to throw the ball on a wicked curve and have it go around the back of a guy's head and then land in the chair when batters were pissing me off and not swinging. Most pitches miss the chair by an inch and they just stand there. Come on!!! Swing the damn bat!!!

Sorry, flashback there.

Question: You obviously play automatic plays. What constitutes an out, a single, a double, a triple? Obviously you have to go yard to get a HR. What's up with the logs?

I'm still jealous.

The real beauty of wiffleball is that everybody has their own game. It's interesting to read online about all the different ways people play. When we were kids we always thought it was cheating to use the holes for ball movement. Most of us were pitchers growing up and we threw all kinds of junk without help. Also we were lucky that we were all so competitive that we didn't have problems with cheating, the pitchers always called balls and strikes and we never argued about calls. Other stuff yes!

We call our game short attention span baseball. One strike and you're out. We basically call the hits exactly like they would be in a major league game with a couple of exceptions. If the ball hits the wall, automatic hit, if it hits the wall in one of the triple zones. Example, hit a base hit away from the outfielder, the guy on first goes to third. If it's a fifty fifty hit we flip a coin. We flip once every couple of games, but 95% of the balls hit it's obvious what it is. The logs are where the ielders are and it makes it easier to call the hits. Also if you're really lucky and hit one of the logs it's an error.

[cgcoyne2]

The real beauty of wiffleball is that everybody has their own game. It's interesting to read online about all the different ways people play. When we were kids we always thought it was cheating to use the holes for ball movement. Most of us were pitchers growing up and we threw all kinds of junk without help. Also we were lucky that we were all so competitive that we didn't have problems with cheating, the pitchers always called balls and strikes and we never argued about calls. Other stuff yes!

We call our game short attention span baseball. One strike and you're out. We basically call the hits exactly like they would be in a major league game with a couple of exceptions. If the ball hits the wall, automatic hit, if it hits the wall in one of the triple zones. Example, hit a base hit away from the outfielder, the guy on first goes to third. If it's a fifty fifty hit we flip a coin. We flip once every couple of games, but 95% of the balls hit it's obvious what it is. The logs are where the ielders are and it makes it easier to call the hits. Also if you're really lucky and hit one of the logs it's an error.


Pretty cool rules.

You are definitely right about wiffleball being a personal game. Everybody played their own rules growing up.

When I saw your field I thought about a field I found near my house in NJ. It's in Roosevelt park in Edison, NJ near Menlo Park. It's like a baseball field with fences and backstops but it's a smaller version, perfect for wiffleball. I went by today and took some photos. The park is named Level Playing Fields. It turns out it's for handicapped people. I don't know what that means exactly. Do the players have to be in wheelchairs for example, I don't know.
The field is covered with rubber mats or something like it. The mats are about a 1/2 inch thick. The bases look to be about 50 feet and the outfield about 80 to 100 feet. It is awesome. I think you have to rent it through the county.

[wildwoodstadium]

That is amazing. I always thought it would be cool to have something like that at schools or parks. It wouldn't have to be as elaborate and could be grass.

[chris14]

The real beauty of wiffleball is that everybody has their own game.

EXACTLY!
Growing up we played against walls at schools and it was ALWAYS 1 on 1.
A pitcher and batter with a strike zone on the wall.
We would have foul lines marked on the ground and doubles, triples and homers marked.
The pitcher was free to make plays on all balls hit.
It was a great time and it never was boaring.
I think it is great to see how others play their variation of this game.

Way to go on your stadium! It is very impressive.