Allstar and Funstar logos released!

Guess that 80's Movie* (Allstars) and Guess that 80's Tv show** (Funstars). This year the American League will be wearing Black shirts and the National League will be wearing Gold. The Tshirts will cost $10 each and can be paid for the day of the event (heck bring a $20 spot and donate the rest to Big Brothers *wink*).

*Hint: Goose **Hint: I ain't gettin' on no plane!

Allstar and Funstar voting begins today!

Monday June 16th will mark the start of allstar voting and will end this coming Friday (6/20/08). The results of the voting will be available online Saturday June 21st.

How does the voting work?
It's pretty simple, just find the ballot sheets (they will be in a vanilla envelope in the field boxes) and follow the instructions on the sheet! Only one ballot per player please! No outside voting allowed this year, sorry fans!

I am on the ballot but not available to play on June 28th, what should I do?
Please let the commish know as soon as possible to make sure everyone gets an opportunity to play on Allstar/Funstar Saturday. Many players that have conflicting plans are already off the ballot (So don't ask why AJ is not on it).

View the ballot online here:
http://www.kzoowiffleball.com/Columns/08/Allstarballot.html

Clarification of the Mercy Rule.

At any point of a game past four complete innings and a team goes up by 10 runs the game is over.

Example #1:
Visiting team is up 9-0 in the top of the 5th inning with 1 out. Johnny Wiffleball stud comes up with the bases loaded and hits a Grand Slam. The game would be over and the score would be 13-0. The home team would not get their at bats.

Example #2:
The home team is up 11-0 going into the bottom of the 4th inning. They must bat through the home half of the inning for the game to be complete. That means, even if they tack on 20 more runs, the game still has to finish 4 complete innings.

When do walks become unsportsmanship?

As the commissioner of the league, I have to address issues like this very often. I have to choice when the right time to say something is; the never ending Walks discussion has finally reached a point where I feel I need to say my peace...

[soap box]
When is the walk acceptable?
In close games, sporadically and against good top tier pitchers walks are acceptable.

Why against top tier pitchers?
Because they CAN hit the board. If they are not giving into you as a hitter and giving a pitch to hit, then take the walk. It sucks to do, but honestly alot of top tier pitchers DO NOT give hitters pitches to hit in 4-1 counts.

When are walks un-acceptable?
If you team is up by more then 5 runs, SWING THE DAMN BAT! The walk does nothing to help the league; it ruins pitching stats and makes everyone angry.

Next, it is 100% un-acceptable to walk against struggling pitchers in the league. They CAN NOT hit the board on command, so please be a good sport and swing at a couple close pitches! Just because it is not hitting the board, does not mean it is not hit-able.

If you have not put in some innings in the league, you should defiantly step up and see how it feels to not be able to hit the board or get hitters to swing at stuff even close. As a pitcher, I can tell you that sometimes you just can't hit the board, even good pitchers struggle with it.

The point of the walk in the league is simple. It is to allow hitters to get ahead of a pitcher (hitters count, 2-0, 3-1, 4-0 ect) and look for a good pitch to hit. If you consider yourself a good hitter, then you should be looking to drive the ball somewhere and looking to avoid the walk.

I understand that everyone wants to win games. Everyone wants to be the league Champ, the MVP ect; but at what expense? We are all friends playing a game that we enjoy and it allows us to be competitive. But in the end, remember that sometimes you need to forget your ambitions and agendas and just be a stand up player and show some sportsmanship!
[end soap box]

2008 Playoff format released.

The 2008 Playoffs don't begin for sometime to come, however it is important for everyone to know how it is going to be handled. Early in the spring we talked about taking four teams from each division for the playoffs, but under careful consideration we have decided to only take the top three this season; the same format we used with sucess last sesaon. The number one seeds will have a first week bye and the two and three seeds will play each other in the first round (NLDS and ALDS). The Purpose of the bye week is to reward the first place teams for their great season showing and make for a more interesting playoff chase.

ALDS begins on August 4th and the NLDS begins on August 7th.

ALCS beings on August 11th and the NLCS begins on August 14th.

The Township Series beings on August 18th.