Wiffle ball

OPREC Fun Fridays, ages 4 to 10.

Recreation Roller Rink Day, Special Olympics Developmental Program, Volleyball, Wiffle Ball, Winter Bounce Day, and Young Artists, ages 6 to 10.

There are also adult programs, men's basketball, aqua fit, and tennis.

Visit www.oprec.org for more information.

Let's talk about your Sandlot days and who were the guys that you looked up and really admired and why did you end up loving this game of baseball?

Yeah, I mean, for myself, I always remember playing wiffle ball in the front yard, the three, four mad daddies at my parents' house.

So like the grass and how the landscape was, it was very identical to a baseball diamond.

And if you hit it over our, like, little guest house, it was considered a home run.

We've seen a bunch of them in highlight reels.

This is Angels phenom, Mike Trout.

You know, growing up as a kid, it was just wiffle ball in the yard.

I mean, we would go to the closest little league field if we wanted to play like a real game, but it was mainly just wiffle ball in the yard, home run derby.

And even to their beer names.

And we can't forget the full-sized indoor wiffle ball field that hosts some pretty competitive wiffle ball leagues right at Broken Bat in Milwaukee.

So grab yourself a beer and round the bases with us as we swing for the fences with Tim from Broken Bat Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Today, we're sharing a round with Broken Bat Brewing Company out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and are actually at Broken Bat here in Milwaukee, which is awesome, hanging out with co-founder and president Tim Pauly.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

But yeah, I just, I love baseball.

I've retired to wiffle ball.

Here at the brewery and Bar League Softball during the summer.

Fun show.

And afterwards, we played a little wiffle ball.

We had a wiffle ball battle.

No, what would you call the ball? Like a squishy...

Like a tennis ball, basically.

So he could play pretty well.

Travis got hurt at one time.

When we played wiffle ball with Travis, yeah, he tore apart his ankle.

Uh, how does somebody who's a bit undersized figure out a way to go from, you know, your youth baseball all the way to the Major Leagues, if you can?

Well, I, you know, Carl, I just remember as a kid just dying to be in the backyard playing Wiffle ball.

I mean, it was every day with my brothers.

I learned how to spin a ball with a Wiffle ball.

I learned how to throw a curve ball with a Wiffle ball.

Uh, I think that really helped me, you know, uh, as opposed to learning, you know, with a baseball too young probably, and trying to throw too many curve balls during a, an actual game.

So I could be Louie Tiant.

You know, I didn't know if he knew or not, what kind of an, uh, you know, an impression that he left on me or really an entire generation.

You know, the Hogan book, all of that stuff.

And then you become the guy in your front yard in the middle of suburbia with Wiffle balls and a, and a 60-degree wedge trying to hit flop shots, you know?

[laughs]

And the neighbors would go by going like, "What's going on with this dude?" You know? [laughs]

Uh, you've heard me talk, I'm was...

I am learning to golf, and I was really good a couple months ago with at least spending five minutes a day either practicing my swing, you know, out in the yard with the Wiffle ball, with the Wiffle golf balls, which are awesome, uh, and just really being consistent about that and I saw an improvement.

Um, however, that kind of fell off the radar, so that has to c- that has to come back because, you know, five minutes a day, the time is passing.

The days are passing anyway.