Winter Meeting 2010 - 1/5/10 - As dedicated wifflers made their way into the great halls of the immortality, (Anthony's gym) the 2010 season had officially shifted into drive. The great minds of the HFWB sat and discussed everything from rule changes to beautiful women. The biggest moment of the meeting came from Tadd O'Neil. TO actually contributed something useful to the meeting. Tadd won the Budweiser 'Turning Point of the Meeting' moment, with his comments on the overthrow rule. However I shall digress. Let's talk about what changes we will see in season VI.

Overthrow Rule:
Probably one of the most confusing rules in the league. Hopefully with these changes, we can create a concrete standard at which teams must obey.
Old Rule: On an overthrow, when the ball goes out of bounds, players may only advance one base. This however, created mass amounts of confusion. Determing where players were, and which base they were allowed to advance was a headache.
New Rule: Runner may advance as far as 3rd base, at their own risk. The base is not guaranteed. Base runners are not allowed to score unless they are beyond the half way point between 2nd and 3rd base (when the ball is being released). Which brings up our next change; we will be adding spray painted markers half way in between bases (thanks TO).

The lines will dictate how far runners may advance and help umpires make the correct call. The player must cross the entire line to be considered past the half way mark. The new rule change will also increase the number of base runners in scoring position. Scoring runs was rather difficult in 2009, because pitching has been dramatically improved. One thing worth mentioning though; The ball must be out of play in order for the overthrow rule to used. If the ball is on the field and being used, base runners may attempt to take any base at their own risk.

 

Glove Rule:
The much debated Glove Rule. Do they really give players an advantage in the game of wiffleball? Some think so, some think not.
Old Rule: Only a pitcher, 3rd baseman and 1st baseman were allowed to use them.
New Rule: Only two gloves will be allowed on the field at anytime. They could be used by any player on the field.


Rookie Qualifications:
In the past, players who played 1 game were considered to have used their rookie year. Now players must play at least 25% of the seasons games to not be considered a rookie the following season.

Tie Breaker Rule
This is more of a clarification incase several teams are tied at the end of a season. Here are the tie breakers in order:

  1. First tie breaker is head to head record.
  2. Second tie breaker is divisional record for their respective division, not league.
  3. Third tie breaker will be one game playoff.
Teams
W
L
GB
Red Sox
6
10
--
Yankees
6
10
--
Pirates
5
11
--

Construction of new field
The league ran on only two fields last season because of complications with several of the fields. Hopefully we look to add another premier field to the HFWB. The field will be maintained by Mets captain Gary Merritt. Gary already has the plans laid out for construction. Building of the field should begin ground breaking work in early April. Stay tuned for more information on the new field. We will have pictures, dimensions, and any weird quirks the field might offer.

Rumor of a 4th field?
There is also the possibility of Indians captain Brian Kelly making a field. With a fourth field, it would allow for easier scheduling. We hope to know more about the field sometime in March or April.

Playoff Eligibility/Injuries
In order to be eligible for the playoffs, a player must play in at least half the teams games played. If a player cannot play in half the games because of injury, the Commissioner will look at each issue on a case by case basis.