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The History of the Neighborhood Wiffle Ball League started all the way back in 1992. Matt was two, and hitting wiffle balls off the tee in the garage with his father. Slowly as Matt grew older, he grew out of the tee and started playing in the front yard with his dad, always hitting with a giant plastic bat.
Then came the big move in 1998. When Matt moved into his current home, he brought with him his love for wiffle ball. The game wasn't played much the first year, as he was just moving in. However, when his pool was put in it now served as the right field fence and the game completely changed. There was now fences for both sides of the field, and there was even a quirky little gap between the left and right field fence, causing for a unique playing style.
The playing of the NWBL itself first started with Matt and Jon playing against Kyle, probably in 1999. By this time Kyle had started showing his dominant pitching and Matt had started his quest to hit the ball off the face of the earth. Over time, Luke started playing, and then Nate, then Rebecca even joined in.
2003 was the first year that awards were voted on and handed out, which was of little success other than a footnote. 2004 was when the real fun started. The league started keeping track of statistics for a couple of games, but only prominent games that had 2 on 3 or 3 on 3.
Things were going well, playing each summer, everybody looking forward to wiffle ball season. A new player, Josh Pedersen had moved in down the street, adding more possibilities to the members of the league. Then in 2006, one of the leagues best and most prominent players, RJ Montle, announced that he would be moving. The league struggled and had a couple of games in 2006, but after the move it wasn't the same and the season was over before June.
2007 was a huge year for the league, with the most games played overall. Surprisingly, all of them were played in April and May. Statistics were boosted, awards given, and trophies were made out of Powerade bottles. It was a little odd, and had little success, but was still of note.
2008 was not looking to be a good year for the NWBL. Matt and Kyle were busy finishing up their senior year. Kyle had track after school and Matt worked often. The summer was not much better, with Kyle working all day and Matt working nights and going on church trips. The summer came and went without one game.
2008 was nearing an end and still no games had been played. It seemed like the NWBL would truly be dead. Then, in November Matt, Alex, Luke and Abe decided to play a game. This game rekindled some of the old flame that the NWBL had once held near and dear to its heart. There was then another game in February. Matt discussed having the league with Kyle in summer 2009, which would be the 10 year anniversary for the league. Remarkably, there is a chance that despite the recent hardships, the league still has some legs to stand on. Time will only tell if these predictions are true. Until then, we can only wait...
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