(Disclosure: Big League Wiffle Ball was created by Logan Rose, 16-year-old son of Jordan Rose, founder and president of Rose Law Group.)
By Logan Rose | Big League Wiffle Ball
Big League Wiffle Ball’s fourth annual season has arrived in style! If you’ve tuned into the 2023 Opening Day Highlight Video, there’s a good chance that you’ve noticed a major increase in entertainment from last season, likely due to the increase in offense. This newly added firepower resulted in one of the most fun series’ in recent history. We’ll be diving into three key takeaways from Opening Day 2023.
- Wiffle Ball is fun – As noted above, the rule changes implemented this off-season have led to a significant increase in offensive production. What does that equate to? More fun. It’s easy to get caught up in the competitiveness of a game and forget the reason you’re playing in the first place. BLW hopes the new rule changes will match the competitiveness of previous seasons and increase the offensive production as a whole. After last year’s pitching-dominant season, the offense should be a refreshing feeling to viewers across the country.
- The Cougars are still a top team – It’s easy to look at a series sweep and write off a team. The Coastal Cougars are not one of those teams. It’s important to note that the Cougars only lost the entire series by a combined score of 20-16. When you add on that it’s only the first series of the year and #2 overall selection Reed Ross wasn’t present, there’s a real case to be made that the Cougars are still a top-2 team. With that said, we’ll need to see other teams around the league perform before placing the Cougars back in the top-2.
- The post-Opening Day changes will only improve the game – Following Opening Day, a meeting was held regarding the amount of hitting in the series. Many players felt as if there was almost too much hitting, devaluing the excitement of big hits such as home runs. This led to a couple of tentative rule changes for the remainder of slate one and potentially the entire season:
- 75 mph speed limit (warnings will be 76 mph). Any ball over 77 mph is an automatic ball.
- Two innings per game (Game one of Slate one will remain three innings to even out stats).
- Balls hit into the oleanders that remain in the leaves and are caught will be played as a live ball instead of being ruled out.
Our hope is that these changes lead to a slight decrease in hitting, making moments such as home runs and big hits more valuable.
