 | Your Junk my Happy Zone | |
| by Brandon Corbett |
Before the season started I wrote about all the fun you can have and the interesting-to-weird things you can do with building your own wiffleball field. Four teams have already built and played on their home fields with a fifth opening this weekend and a sixth still possible. So, of course, this got me thinking about how reality matches up with those crazy dreams. I will start off with looking at two fields that debuted Opening Weekend and have hosted 16 of the 47 WSEM games so far this inaugural season, how they play, and what makes them special.
First up, let's take the trip to Brownstown, MI and have a look at the grounds of Constanti Field. Constanti Field is nestled in an open space between backyards of a residential neighborhood built in the 90s, which was originally intended to be a park. This setting gives playing there an enclosed feel, somewhat reminiscent of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, especially with the all the windows looking down on you from behind the outfield. Even greater, though, is the sense of being a kid again that it brings up: playing ball in backyards, making up the ground rules, the creativity, and the larger than life moments. The Sunday series hosted at Constanti Field take you back to that.
Brushing up against neighboring backyards makes the grounds quite scenic, as well. The trees and landscaping behind left field give batters a lot to aim for and measure home runs by. The white fence in right provides a nice asymmetry. This location does also create some limitations and criticisms of Constanti Field, however. The first is only an occasional, weather dependent issue. After heavy rains the field can turn into a mud pit with right-field even being underwater; making for wild, wet, and wobbly playing conditions. Obviously with the spring we had this was highlighted earlier in the year, and won Constanti Field the nickname "The Swamp."
The second criticism that comes up is that the fences in both right and left field are quite short, and players around the league have not held back in letting it be known that many home runs at Constanti are chip shots. Center field does get respectably deep, however, and has taken away home runs that would have left other yards. So, while Constanti Field does have Pesky Pole short-porch syndrome, the field does a fair job evening out in the vein of Petco Park overall. In my opinion the one thing the dimensions really change about the game is not the long ball, but the positioning of defenders. The short right field wall pretty much puts the right/right-center fielder in straight away center, due to having little room or need, aside from ground balls, to be positioned further right. Obviously, this makes for a tight defense to try to get a ball through in the right-handed pull field; even further balancing out the gifts of the short-porches.
Constanti Field is a nice place to play a series or two. I would not want to play all of my games there, but the enclosed backyard feel and sense of being a kid that you get while playing there is excellent, and that is really what wiffle is about. Definitely a good experience once or twice a season.
Next up, we head downtown to Lafayette Park! This is, without a doubt, the most polarizing field in the league. There are huge issues that players have with the quality of field conditions. First up, let's go with a problem that has been fixed. On Opening Weekend Lafayette Park did not have enough fencing to complete its outfield wall, and used branches to complete the span in right field. Ugly: yes. Effective: not really. Disgraceful: yeah, pretty much. Since that time more silt fencing has been procured to render this quibble with Lafayette moot. However, the bigger (read," longer") problem with the grounds still exists.
Quite literally: the grass is long! This really falls on the location: a public park in the city of Detroit. A city with little resources really is not going to keep its open parks cut short, and even when they do mow Lafayette the grass is still longer than most. This feature has given Lafayette Park the nickname "The Jungle." While the problems players around the league have with the long playing surface vary from "eh, kind of annoying" to "this is a huge fucking problem," what the length really does is change the game play drastically! Obviously a slow playing surface, most ground balls that would cross the dead ball line elsewhere stay foul, and balls that would normally make it to the SS or LF stop short and make for tough plays. Sure, you could be mad about it, but really isn't that the point of home field advantage and building different fields? Different gimmicks? Different ways they play? It has burned me more than a couple times and I do not love the long grass, but I do not completely hate it either.
The third feature at Lafayette that causes contention, but I absolutely love, is the tree in left field! Its branches overhang into fair territory and the ground rule is that it is a live ball capable of being caught, plinko-ing back into fair territory or over the fence for a home run: essentially it is treated just like gusts of wind. I love it! It came up in a Westside Warriors vs. Campus Commandos game, and damn did the Warriors have the total opposite reaction of me when the tree knocked a grand slam over the fence. But hey, unique ground rules are awesome! They keep the game sensational and out of the box. Plus they allow for those perfect "wtf!?!?" moments that are as hilarious as they are puzzling. Much love for the tree and other anomalies!
Even the players that protest conditions or ground rules at Lafayette agree on one thing about this field. The location and scenery it provides are absolutely first rate! The field is half a mile east of I-375, and when viewed from down the right field line or behind the right field has Greektown Casino, the Renaissance Center, and the rest of the Detroit Skyline as a backdrop. A lot of teams have been hesitant to make the trip, but after playing down there were thrilled by the experience. Similarly, after seeing pictures from games teams have jumped up to excitedly set up their own games at Lafayette. It is a polarizing setting - not just between people, but sometimes within one person - but Lafayette Park is definitely one of the fields with the most personality, intrigue, and draw in WSEM.
Next time we will trek to our most northern and southern fields, as we take a look at the twice used and coming into its own Westside Reservation and the field that has been improved on each week while being the workhorse for WSEM so far this year, Frenchtown Field. Until then check out this field the Winston Salem Wiffleball League just recently debuted, and somebody get on finding a site like this!
- Constanti Field - Brownstown, MI
Brushing up against neighboring backyards makes the grounds quite scenic, as well. The trees and landscaping behind left field give batters a lot to aim for and measure home runs by. The white fence in right provides a nice asymmetry. This location does also create some limitations and criticisms of Constanti Field, however. The first is only an occasional, weather dependent issue. After heavy rains the field can turn into a mud pit with right-field even being underwater; making for wild, wet, and wobbly playing conditions. Obviously with the spring we had this was highlighted earlier in the year, and won Constanti Field the nickname "The Swamp."
The second criticism that comes up is that the fences in both right and left field are quite short, and players around the league have not held back in letting it be known that many home runs at Constanti are chip shots. Center field does get respectably deep, however, and has taken away home runs that would have left other yards. So, while Constanti Field does have Pesky Pole short-porch syndrome, the field does a fair job evening out in the vein of Petco Park overall. In my opinion the one thing the dimensions really change about the game is not the long ball, but the positioning of defenders. The short right field wall pretty much puts the right/right-center fielder in straight away center, due to having little room or need, aside from ground balls, to be positioned further right. Obviously, this makes for a tight defense to try to get a ball through in the right-handed pull field; even further balancing out the gifts of the short-porches.
Constanti Field is a nice place to play a series or two. I would not want to play all of my games there, but the enclosed backyard feel and sense of being a kid that you get while playing there is excellent, and that is really what wiffle is about. Definitely a good experience once or twice a season.
- Lafayette Park - Detroit, MI
Quite literally: the grass is long! This really falls on the location: a public park in the city of Detroit. A city with little resources really is not going to keep its open parks cut short, and even when they do mow Lafayette the grass is still longer than most. This feature has given Lafayette Park the nickname "The Jungle." While the problems players around the league have with the long playing surface vary from "eh, kind of annoying" to "this is a huge fucking problem," what the length really does is change the game play drastically! Obviously a slow playing surface, most ground balls that would cross the dead ball line elsewhere stay foul, and balls that would normally make it to the SS or LF stop short and make for tough plays. Sure, you could be mad about it, but really isn't that the point of home field advantage and building different fields? Different gimmicks? Different ways they play? It has burned me more than a couple times and I do not love the long grass, but I do not completely hate it either.
The third feature at Lafayette that causes contention, but I absolutely love, is the tree in left field! Its branches overhang into fair territory and the ground rule is that it is a live ball capable of being caught, plinko-ing back into fair territory or over the fence for a home run: essentially it is treated just like gusts of wind. I love it! It came up in a Westside Warriors vs. Campus Commandos game, and damn did the Warriors have the total opposite reaction of me when the tree knocked a grand slam over the fence. But hey, unique ground rules are awesome! They keep the game sensational and out of the box. Plus they allow for those perfect "wtf!?!?" moments that are as hilarious as they are puzzling. Much love for the tree and other anomalies!
Even the players that protest conditions or ground rules at Lafayette agree on one thing about this field. The location and scenery it provides are absolutely first rate! The field is half a mile east of I-375, and when viewed from down the right field line or behind the right field has Greektown Casino, the Renaissance Center, and the rest of the Detroit Skyline as a backdrop. A lot of teams have been hesitant to make the trip, but after playing down there were thrilled by the experience. Similarly, after seeing pictures from games teams have jumped up to excitedly set up their own games at Lafayette. It is a polarizing setting - not just between people, but sometimes within one person - but Lafayette Park is definitely one of the fields with the most personality, intrigue, and draw in WSEM.
Next time we will trek to our most northern and southern fields, as we take a look at the twice used and coming into its own Westside Reservation and the field that has been improved on each week while being the workhorse for WSEM so far this year, Frenchtown Field. Until then check out this field the Winston Salem Wiffleball League just recently debuted, and somebody get on finding a site like this!
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