Here we go again. It was 'deja' poo' all over again. In last year's Championship Game against the Ball
Breakers, the Wombats fell 1-0 in extra innings on a questionable bases loaded walk call against Timmy Davis. This following
a blown call against the Wombats in the top of the inning that negated a possible run.
Fast forward to Round Two of the 2006 KISS-FM 'Iffleball; Tournament. Again the Wombats against the
Ball Breakers. Again extra innings. And again, in the top of the 7th, blown calls. After Ball Breakers' outfielder Bobby O'Keeffe misplayed
a long fly, and it bounced off him for a game-winning homer. It was called a triple. Then when it was followed up by a double,
the Wombats celebrated victory yet again. But the runner was not 'forced' in (what runner on third would not score on a double
... assenine?) and again victory was stolen.
In the bottom of the 7th (of a three-inning game) the defending champion Ball Breakers drew a bases-loaded
walk to beat the Wombat for a second year in a row ... again on shoddy rules and blown calls.
There was no question that, like last year with Timmy Davis, that Jimmy Moloney outpitched perennial winner
Ron Frost. And the Wombat hitting attack of Moloney, Mercado, DiCesare, Casey and Sanchez out hit the Ball Breakers as
well. But once again, the tournament directors failed to provide competant umpiring, and once again they failed to use
stationary strike zones.
I realize it's for charity. We all do. But how many times do players have to work their butts off -
outplay the other team - and lose because of complete incompetance? Each of the three fields were different widths
and lengths. The number of brackets was off. The rules changed game-by-game. The tournament started over 30 minutes late. What
a joke!
Fool me once ... shame on you. Fool me twice ... shame on me. As it stands now, the KISS-FM
Iffleball Tournament is not worth wasting any more time on. Pathetic. Wiffleball players in the Hudson Valley owe it to themselves
to organize another Tournament - on the same day in 2007 - to put this error-ridden dinosaur to bed!
