Whiffle ball is a modified version of baseball played with plastic, carbon fiber or fiberglass bats and small perforated plastic balls called whiffle balls. Whiffle ball was invented by David Mullany in 1953 and has evolved into a fun, safe backyard past-time enjoyed by thousands of players around the world.
Bats
Wiffle ball is played with lightweight plastic, carbon fiber and elastic fiberglass bats that are around 32 to 36 inches long and have barrel thicknesses of anywhere from 1 5/8 to 2.75 inches.
Balls
Whiffle balls are made from plastic and sized at just less than 3 inches in diameter and 9 inches circumference. They have eight oblong perforations cut into their top hemisphere, limiting the distance they can fly, but enabling sharp breaks on curveballs, screwballs and sliders that a regular baseball can't match.
Bases
Whiffle ball players do not have actual bases to run, like in regular baseball. Instead, batters are able to hit singles, doubles, triples and home runs by hitting the ball a certain distance from the plate and having the ball land within fair territory outside of the fielding team's reach. Players that are already on base are advanced one imaginary base further on a single, two imaginary bases farther on a double, three imaginary bases farther on a triple and automatically driven in on a home run, along with the batter.
Field Dimensions
The average whiffle ball field is much smaller than a baseball park. The overall length from home-base to the home run area is about 60 feet, in comparison to the nearly 400 feet required to hit a home run in baseball. The foul lines form an open-ended V, converging at home plate, and anything hit within the foul lines that the defense can’t get to counts as a hit for the offense. The single area, double area, triple area and home run area are separated by about 20 feet.
Players
The minimum number of players needed for a whiffle ball game is two, the pitcher and the batter. The maximum number of players allowed is 10, five on each team. The defensive positions include pitcher, catcher, double area player, triple area player and home run area player. On offense, the batting order is typically pitcher, catcher, double area player, triple area player and home run area player.
Outs
Whiffle ball uses very similar rules to baseball for making outs. A batter has three strikes to hit the ball. If he misses on the third strike pitch, he's out. The batter will also be out if he hits a flyball that the defense successfully catches, or a groundball that is caught while in motion in fair territory. Each team gets three outs per inning, and there are nine innings per game.
Scoring
The offensive team scores a run every time a player reaches home base. The winning team is determined by whoever has more runs at the end of nine innings.
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