About The HBWL/2000 Archives

The HBWL was founded by Michael Shults on July of 2000. He and his friend, Carl Ziegler, organized the scheduling and rules. The league began playing on July 19, 2000 with four players playing twelve one-on-one games throughout the season. The games take place at Dante Park at Fair Oaks Yards, also known as Michael Shults' backyard. The fences are relatively short but the "fence" is ten feet high. The "fence" is a chord that extends from my house in right field and a tree in left field. The chord is yellow where it wraps around the tree. When the ball clears the chord it is a home run, and when it hits the tree above the yellow chord it is also a home run. If it hits the tree on the fly below the yellow, it is a foul ball. We play with four balls and three strikes, just like baseball, and we use "ghost runners" for baserunning. We use a net behind home plate with ribbon for a strike zone. A tree, nicknamed "Mr. Varitek" by Carl and Michael, serves as a backstop along with an old beat hockey net the prevents the ball from going into our neighbor's yard. Luckily our neighbors are very forgiving of us hoodlums chasing our wiffleballs in to their yard, and we've yet to be punished. If you have any more questions about our league or if you would like to ask me about the game itself and some of the pitches I throw, email me at mcdyessfan@hotmail.com.................................The inaugural HBWL season, in 2000, was cut short by poor scheduling on the part of the league's still earning commissioner--myself. The season had many highlights, though, and the following is the recap of every game played during the season. Enjoy: Current standings: Michael 6-0; Eli 3-2; Tad 1-3; Carl 0-5. Monday night featured one solitary 6:30 game. The matchup featured the league's top player, Michael Shults against Carl Ziegler and his revamped pitching style. The game was a pitching duel between two players who will be teammates in the HBWL all-star game. It was a chess match between the two players, ending in dramatic fashion. Through the first two innings, the two had a combined no runs on one hit. The only offense of the day was a first inning single by Michael. In the top of the third, Shults led off with a single and then was walked by Carl two straight times to load the bases with no one out. Shults then walked again, this time on a 3-2 count forcing a run in to ruin Ziegler's shutout. Carl then preceded to fool Michael in two straight at bats, causing him to pop up and then ground out. In the bottom half of the third, Carl finally ended Shults' no hitter with a bloop single with a runner already on first base due to a walk. He then drew two straight walks, tying the game at 1-1. In the top of the fourth Shults scored three runs on two hits, helped out by being hit by a pitch and being walked several times. He narrowly missed hitting a grand slam on a pop fly that hooked about a foot foul of the left field foul pole, a shot that nearly broke the game open. In the bottom of the fourth Carl struck out to start the inning, and was down to his last strike on his next at bat. He then hit a little dribbler down the third base line and easily beat out the throw from Shults. On Ziegler's next at bat, he again reached his final strike. Shults then threw a fastball about a six inches high of the strike zone and a little inside. Ziegler smashed it a good twenty feet over the center field fence, showing some rarely-seen positive emotion. Suddenly it was a one run game. Shults walked the tying runner on base and had to face a determined batter who represented the winning run. Once again Shults threw Ziegler a fastball. Again Ziegler took a big cut, but was just a little under the ball, popping up over third base. Stats will be updated soon. Sorry for the delay. Current standings: Michael 5-0; Eli 3-2; Tad 1-3; Carl 0-4. Wednesday's action featured some exciting matchups. The first game of the day was between Tad and Carl, with the winner moving into the third playoff spot. It was a matchup in which neither player could throw strikes and the winner was likely to be the player who "drew" more walks. The game was generally boring as Tad found some sort of sick joy from standing in the batter's box without any intention of swinging, scoring 5 runs from walks. Carl did nearly the same but managed to cork two home runs. In the fourth inning, Carl was down to his last out with a runner on, down by one. Ziegler hit a fly ball that carried near the wall until it was caught by Wasowicz. The ball came within inches of leaving the yard in one of the most exciting games played at Dante Park, including the pre-HBWL era as Tad came away with a big 9-8 victory. The second game featured the top two players in the league, Michael and Eli. A win by Eli would tie him for the league lead in the standings. Shults gave up 5 runs in the first inning as he couldn't throw a strike, and when he finally did it was a hanging curveball that was demolished by Collins, a home run that ripped through the leaves on the giant oak tree's branches. Shults then went on a tirade in which he ripped apart several plants and screamed, coming oh so close to using profanities. Shults answered in the bottom half, tying the game. The match was a back and forth affair, seeing Michael finally break loose with a flurry of runs in the bottom of the third and finally gaining control of his pitches, shutting down Eli other than giving up a home run in the fourth. The final score was 12-8 as Michael solidified his spot in first place in the HBWL standings.................................... Current standings: Michael 3-0; Eli 2-1; Tad 0-2; Carl 0-2; CARL HITS HOME RUN ON FIRST PITCH SEEN IN HBWL HISTORY, ELI CALLS SHOT, MICHAEL HITS 17 HOME RUNS IN GAME...........It was an eventful day in the HBWL today. In the first game of a doubleheader, Eli faced Carl in Carl's first HBWL game. The game began out fine for Ziegler as he hit a home run on the first pitch of the game and the first pitch of his HBWL career. However his pitching was very much off and his good start turned into embarrassment. It became so bad that Eli eventually commented "This next pitch is either a home run or a ball." Unfortunately for Carl it was a home run. The game was a disappointment for Ziegler and for the whole league, as his woes reached a climax when he fouled a pitch off his face and fell to the ground. Eli hit four home runs in the game and very briefly took the HBWL home run lead, winning 13-3. The second game was an even more dismal performance by Carl Ziegler, as he gave up 11 home runs to Michael in the top of the first, seven of them before an out was recorded. Shults went on to hit seventeen home runs and threw a perfect game as Ziegler never hit the ball hard. The final score was 27-0 as Shults scored more than his 7-0 seventh grade football did in most games this season. In the first game in HBWL history, Michael beat Eli in an offensive shootout. Michael's pitches had great movement on them but he could not find the strike zone. But in the end, Eli's inability to come through with runners in scoring position did him in. In the bottom of the fourth and final inning, Michael hit a three run home run to beat Eli, 10-7. In the second game, Tad's debut in the league was a loss. He could not find the strike zone, but still managed to stay close with Eli for three innings, until Eli broke loose in the top of the fourth for 7 runs. Tad was unable to recover, falling 12-5. The third game, between Tad and Michael, was a well played game, but Tad's below-average hitting cost him a win as he lost, 5-2. Carl was unable to play because he is a dork and skipped the inaugural day of the HBWL to go to Boy Scout Camp.