In the Cards #2: Eric Pfefferle

In the Cards #2: Eric Pfefferle
Campus Commandos

Eric Pfefferle is primed for a card in that he is largely unknown throughout the league. Hell, the commissioner just called him "Pfeiffer" on the last podcast... Not that being referred to in the company of Michelle is necessarily the worst thing. It's just that he is so low under the radar that if the nickname "Pfeiffer" doesn't stick, then "the Stealth Bomber" has a real good shot.

The "bomber" part of that nickname is every bit as viable as the "stealth," too. In 4 games played and 24 AB Eric has 2 HR, 7 RBI, 7 RS, a .500 SLG%, and a .419 OBP. Okay, so these aren't world beating stats, but they are a solid, dependable strike toward getting the job done in concert with his team. Pfefferle has also proven himself capable of coming through in the clutch when behind enemy lines, err... I mean behind on the scoreboard; it was a hit off his bat with the bases loaded that left the yard at Lafayette Park to tie the first game with the Westside Warriors on May 20th and was responsible for sending it to extra innings for 3 hours and 12 innings worth of wiffleball. One last poor stealth bomber comparison and a segue into the next shoddy metaphor: Eric lives in Perrysburg, OH, but plays his home games for the Campus Commandos in Detroit. So, whenever he comes to play he is being sortied across borders on long round-trip missions. You know he wants to make those miles worth it by winning and doing his part in the batters box.

While at Lafayette Park or other WSEM fields Eric is a stealth bomber, in Ohio Mr. Pfefferle is a staff accountant working in tax services. Am I now going to say that makes him an accountable player, or that he knows the numbers and how to run them? Maybe he knows how to hide his teams' assets so they can better use them on the down-low? Or that he just knows how to keep everything balanced? Yes, I will. Consider this entire paragraph as something I just said, because I did, and Eric can and will do all of those things. Just watch. You thought we were outing his wiffle abilities with this article so that he won't be able to surprise you on the field, but you're not that lucky. He has behind the scenes talents that no one can know... until it's too late.

Silly word play aside, Eric's a good guy whose following of sports is equally as good. He loves himself some Lions and Wings, dislikes the Penguins, can't sympathize with millionaires feeling they are underpaid, will call out a manager who consistently goes on streaks of making poor-to-horrible decisions, loves finding gems of pre/post-game quotes (usually those with a laughable-to-ridiculous twist), and won't miss the chance to celebrate while rubbing in a win. Oh yeah, Pfefferle can also rip off some great one-liners that come soaked in sarcasm and the sound effect "zing!" Some examples from his facebook page: Kentucky Derby Day... the only day of the year when people in Kentucky get to see a full set of teeth. ... [accompanying a picture of the rail transit at Metro]Amazing... Detroit Metro Airport has as much of a mass transit system as the City of Detroit! ... It could just be the weather in Detroit, but I think hell just froze over because the Lions won!

Have to say, though, Eric's best quality, like any good ballplayer worth his weight in the dirt he wears home, could be his love for three things that really are one thing: Detroit Beer Company, Jameson, and lunch booze.

Eric's 2011 stats (as of May 27th) to complete the card treatment:

Player	PA	AB	H	BB	HR	RS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RBI
Eric Pfefferle	31	24	6	7	2	7	.250	.419	.500	7

Got the (Light) Blues?

		Your Junk my Happy Zone
		by Brandon Corbett

As a member of the Carolina blue, and now lighter-than-that blue, wearing Flying Squirrels I can tell you that just about every game we get the canned "jock jabbing" comments spit our way: "I see a lot of pastels out there," "how's he gonna hit? He's swinging a baby blue bat," "did mommy pack your bib?" and all the assorted ways of sarcastically saying we look so manly out there. The compliments we get invariably involve the word "cute." Now we have never cared and get a kick out of the bouts of smack-talk that spring up, no matter the nature. Besides we are playing wiffleball, half the game is meant to be taken and treated whimsically (There, you can even rip on me for the use of the word whimsically!) However, a recent facebook post from the Kalamazoo Wiffleball League is making me question if there really is something wrong with wearing light blue on a wiffleball field, whether it might be a cursed and powerless color for a wiffleball team. Could it be that #ADD8E6 is a hexed hex triplet?

The post in question linked to a positively spun article highlighting the current standing of the KWL team Town Hall Posse, who also wear the questionably accursed color of light blue every bit as brashly as we do. On top of that Town Hall Posse are currently 3-8; the identical record to my Flying Squirrels! Two light blue clad teams, two identically abysmal win-loss records: coincidence or by definition? To find out for sure we need to do a bit more research into the status of light blue teams around the nation's leagues. So, here is the breakdown on 6 teams who either wear the shade or use it in their logo... Admittedly, it is not easy to come across them.

Flying Squirrels (WSEM)

- Wins: 3

- Losses: 8

- 7 game losing streak

Town Hall Posse (KWL)

- Wins: 3

- Losses: 8

- Lost their last 3 and slid to 6.5 games back.

Vetrone Cutters (NWBL)

- Wins: 9

- Losses: 3

- 2-3 in last 5 games; not sure the curse has a full effect on the Cutters as they have light blue in the logo, but they may not wear the color.

Phillies (HRL)

- Wins: 8

- Losses: 1

- They wear powder blue Phillies throwbacks, but the primary maroon of the logo may disqualify (or curse-proof) them from this.

Twits (PWL)

- Wins: 6

- Losses: 6

- 4 GB and a -9 run differential.

Rays (TBW)

- Wins: 19

- Losses: 1

- 5 of 6 league awards

- The exception? Is it that the further south you go the more acceptable light blue is?

3 teams well above .500, 1 breaking even, and 2 currently far below seeing daylight... or the baby blue sky (Hah!). Whether or not this research points to yet another wiffle curse, we may know for sure in the next couple weeks after the teams do some extensive field tests. The Town Hall Posse have a 4-week stretch coming up against teams with a combined 12-16 record where they think they can win 7 of 8, and get above .500. The Squirrels next 6 games are against beatable teams in the Commandos (4) and Mattseals (2), giving them a chance to also climb over .500. If these two are able to succeed in getting wins they should during easier stretches of their schedules, then we can safely conclude that it is not a colored curse. However, if they both struggle and can't put together winning streaks, then other variables be damned! This powdery, cute, light, summery color is a curse!

What do you think? If light blue is utterly powerless on the wiffleball field, then could another color be a source of power throughout the wiffle universe?

In the Cards #1: Jeff Biegas

Now that the numbers are coming in, styles of play becoming known, and the varied personalities are starting to shine through, it is about time to start highlighting the players who deserve it. In the Cards will focus primarily on lower profile players who may fly under the radar and have not had their names and high praises tossed around in the preseason "Top ___" lists and the Team Tuesday columns. At least at first; until those big names make it impossible to not talk about them. These will not be all about on-field numbers, some may even be entirely devoted to a player's antics, how just their personality and presence change the game and bring something totally different to this league. This is the fun part, and with that babbling intro out of the way... onto our first In the Cards piece!

In the Cards #1: Jeff Biegas
Jason Mattseals

Jeff Biegas is the perfect player to lead off this In the Cards column. On one hand he is carefree and just having fun out there, even on a team that is 0-10 to start the year. On the other hand he is absolutely raking right now, ripping the ball around the field, and running around making plays in the outfield giving it all he has got. Jeff does not make a lot of noise, in that he is not a shit-talker or going to talk up his own accomplishments; he is far too laid-back for that. He will, however, be Johnny on the spot with a good non-sequitor, clever remark, or joke while kicking back and enjoying a cigarette in the dug-out or peanut gallery.

Biegas has a good athletic background, so the on-field benefits he brings to the team should not be a surprise. He is big into tennis, so that explains his quick reactions and speed. Plus a racket is kind of like a wiffle bat in concept, so that is an added benefit. Jeff played defense in soccer in high school, so there is more of that "speed" thing in his pedigree along with heads-up awareness. Also in high school he had a brief stint in black ops and sabotage, which earned him an additional 45 days of retraining. This man has all the bases covered. More recently Mr. Biegas and teammate Imran Kakli undertook an intensive 10 months of dart training, honing their accuracy and concentration, in which the main focus, surprisingly, actually was on throwing darts and not drinking beers and shots! Above all, you have to admire his dedication. Jeff works the overnight shift at a hotel, checking in guests and handling wake up calls, and yet he still manages to make weekend afternoon and evening games.

Now, what really put his face on this first card is that, more importantly than making his team's games, Jeff has hit safely in each of the first ten games of the season. What can you say? He quickly turns around from checking in guests at his job to reserving a nice corner room for himself 45' down the first-base line. His ten game hitting streak is the longest in the league, and easily puts him the running for a WSEM "iron man" award if he can keep it up. His hitting streak is huge for the Mattseals, too, as it gives some positive news in their clubhouse and brings excitement to their games: will Biegas keep it going? is becoming a common question the day or two before the Mattseals play. The two greatest things about Biegas' streak are that interest in brings to the team, and Jeff's attitude towards it. When he first heard about it he had a shocked look on his face, like we were joking with him. Then, when he saw we were for real, a full ear-to-ear smile and a little nonchalant shrug with a cool-as-a-seal's-belly comment that anyone who knows Jeff should expect: [laughing] really? I just go up there and try to hit the ball... and then run. [paraphrased]

Jeff's 2011 stats (as of May 24th) to complete the card treatment:

Player	PA	AB	H	BB	HR	RS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RBI
Jeff Biegas	60	55	20	5	1	5	.364	.417	.418	7

Yr Jnk

		Your Junk my Happy Zone
		by Brandon Corbett

Damn. I wish there was something to talk about in the league. Really, I do. I like writing these columns. I like finding neat little quirks, delving into and exaggerating the details, and shedding some light on a unique or at least somewhat interesting aspect of the league. But we are at a point in this year where there isn't anything we can do that with.

Poring over stats to find trends is useless, nor can you find the players who are tearing it up and leaping ahead of the rest of the league. It is impossible with as wide of a spread we have in number of games played. Sure we have a ton of numbers, but they are not comparable to one another unless the games/innings played are close to matching up. So, without being able to use the written history, should we just go with something like: man, I saw this awesome performance the other day!, and then proceed to get 75% of the details wrong in retelling the account?

Or do you want us to talk about how the teams look so far? Well, that is another problem. Many teams have not even played with there full lineups yet. Ass Kickers, Belgian, and Westside have only played with three-man rosters. GRD played with four, but were missing a key component in Nick Braden. Then you run into the problem of not seeing teams like the Mattseals or Commandos play in two weeks. The DeLoppes are one team who have been playing amazing, and also working just as hard behind the scenes to keep the league running smoothly, so I could gush over how incredible the start of the season has been for them. Oh wait, I pretty much wet myself doing that over on the Week 4 Preview.

I guess I could talk about how the DeLoppes home field, Frenchtown Field, has become an incredible place to play with the doubled-up tall wall, always dry, fast playing surface, eight-inch elevated pitchers' mound, and kick-ass, thick foul lines. Okay, so I did that. What now?

I will say that since the introduction of the calender for scheduling last week, many teams have really stepped up and the rest of the season is shaping up nicely. Kudos to the Adam Grant (CC), Mike Constanti (AK), Chad Hoppe (WD), and Carl Coffee (FS) for helping things move along so well with scheduling. The Commandos and DeLoppes both have 20 games scheduled, the Squirrels are at 19, and the Ass Kickers are at 14 with a few more possible games pending. All four of these teams have also set their full season series against each other. See, using this calender to schedule works. Now, if only the Mattseals, Westside, GRD, and Belgian would get on board and serious about it we could have the season set in a couple days!

Then once we start moving through that schedule we can have substance worthy of being written about in these articles. We'll have stats we can compare to make power rankings, maybe some kind of regular "top pitchers/hitters" lists, identify and follow the prevailing trends in the league (batters getting better? Pitchers improving?), and just flat-out have fun with the numbers. Plus, once we start seeing players regularly, we will be able to pick out the stand-out, flashy performances by players who deserve to be profiled and celebrated on here. So, while we have been stuck in the mud here at the start (yes, both figuratively and literally by weather), this 2011 season is now starting to roll and when the final few pieces get in gear WSEM will be clicking on all cylinders, finally, and able to bring the on-field fun off the field and turn it into the insight and entertainment our players deserve!

Week One Fun

		Your Junk my Happy Zone
		by Brandon Corbett

Sure, there was long grass on Friday night, the wind was up and there was a chill in the air on Saturday, and Sunday was played in a mud pit, but Opening Weekend went great and featured a ton of exciting game play resulting in some early season surprises, both positive and negative. Let's count our way into talking about the week in WSEM:

1 undefeated team
2 angry neighbors
3 very different field locations
4 home runs by two players to lead the league
5 -hundred on-base percentages for half the league!
6 games played by the Jason Mattseals!
7 teams participating
8 I ate Checkers... and I'm out of ideas...


Jeff Biegas of the Jason Mattseals swinging for the
fences in front of fans at Lafayette Park in Detroit

One [not the start of another random list, I promise!] great thing about a league is building up expectations and then the surprise of watching completely unexpected things happen. Joe Seto of the Commandos put on possibly the most surprising, dominant on-field performance. 4 HR, 10 RBI, a .571 AVG, and 1.429 SLG% at the plate, and 12 K, 0 BB, and 2 wins on the mound; he took control of every facet of the game and took the Commandos to the top of the WSEM standings after week one. I will not elaborate much on the Commandos 2-0 start as the wins came against the 0-6 Mattseals, but it is great to see them off to a winning start and showing they can play the game well.

There are a couple other players who are happy surprises atop the league. The always hilarious Josh "Truffle Shuffle" Roberts (Git r' Done) leads his team in more than just ridiculous on-field antics with a .462 AVG, and Cliff Comstock (DeLoppes) leads the entire league in hitting with a .625 AVG. [Update:] In a simultaneously hilarious and head-scratch-worthy stat the Flying Squirrels lead the league with 32 hits, but are dead last in the league with only 15 runs scored. On the mound Matt Murtha (Squirrels) leads the league in strike outs with 27, while Michael Constanti (Ass Kickers) is 2-0 with a 3.25 K/BB ratio and surpassing his brother, Brian, as the ace of the team. David Buhr (Belgian Wiffles) blew even himself away by slugging out of the park what he described as, "the only two home runs (he'll) get all year."


Chad Hoppe and the Wiffling DeLoppes cruised
and clawed their way to a 3-1 start to the season
Outside of individual players and teams, the big shock of the weekend, just by looking at the stats, is the high offensive numbers across the league. You have heard it a thousand times if once: this is a pitchers' league. So, seeing half the league batting over .300 is completely out of left-field [home run pun intended]. The numbers do not paint an exact picture, though, as the weather and field conditions hindered pitchers' accuracy, thus driving up offensive numbers. Still, an impressive start for the offense, and think of it this way pitchers: it is a lot easier to bring an ERA down than to bring a batting average up. So, you have that going for you.

Now for a couple fun observations with a bit of a "what the...?" touch to them. First, the Jason Mattseals are one game short of being a quarter through their season! Take a second to process that... three days into a twelve week season; they are 3 weeks ahead of schedule! It is an anomaly, and it is due to them being good guys, good sports for stepping up and filling the slot left vacant on Saturday by the Warriors. We had intended to ease the Mattseals and Commandos into WSEM with two games against each other, and that happened Friday night, but things sped up quickly for the 'Seals on Saturday; as it was put on the NWLA boards by Brian Meyers, "those poor Mattseals." We here in the front office have a lot of gratitude and respect for "those poor Mattseals" and are giving them the unofficial Oberon All-over Performance Award for their efforts on and off the field to help the weekend run smoothly. Thanks, 'Seals!


Ass Kickers' Mike Constanti pitching out of a jam
against the Belgian Wiffles with David Buhr on second
A second "laugh out loud, then stare at each other silently for a few uncomfortably long moments," absurd account from the weekend: twice, at two different fields (Detroit and Brownstown) neighbors who do not think parks are to be played in felt the need to come over, or yell from upstairs windows, about how we should not be there. Both mentioned something about baseball fields, but we were not playing baseball and baseball fields invariably make terrible wiffleball fields - outfield walls are terribly shaped and gravel infields are a nightmare. So, their arguments in that regard were invalid. General consensus around the league is that they thought we should just be sitting in basements doing drugs and playing video games, and while some of us are down with that, we are not always down with that. We are going to keep an angry neighbors tally over the season, and maybe we will make an honorary award for best (read: "worst") outrage from one of them. When delivered we will make sure not to walk through public spaces.

Lastly, one serious, not funny in any way incident from over the weekend. Dennis Pearson, Git r' Done fireballer, injured his pitching arm on Saturday in a game against the Mattseals. The extent of the injury is not yet known, but information gleaned from Facebook threads has it sounding like he may be sidelined, or at least not taking the mound, for some time. He had thrown 20+ innings two weeks prior at the Wind Up Tournament and 10 Saturday putting wear on his arm before the damage was done attempting to peg a runner out at home from left-field. Dennis, we wish you the best and a speedy, full recovery for your arm.

I'd like to take the chance to point out that Dennis' right arm is missing
in this picture to lighten the mood here at the end of this article ...