Sunday, February 12, 2006
Kids get baseball basics with a Wiffle ball spin
League play re-creates ballpark action in church gym
Rookie Kristina Geiger's pitches can be a little wild at times.
Reminiscent of "Nuke" LaLoosh, the fictional baseball pitcher played by Tim Robbins in "Bull Durham," she'll throw one into the carpet and then the next pitch will sail over the hitter's head. Sometimes the batter connects, and there is a hollow thwomp! as bat hits ball.
It's easy to forgive the rough edges of her delivery style, though. She's only 7 years old, and she's not pitching a baseball, but a hollow Wiffle ball that has a tendency to do some strange things when the thrower puts some spin on it.
"She's never played baseball before, and she loves it," said Kristina's mother, Kathi Geiger of Wausau.
So Kristina makes up for her inexperience with enthusiasm. She rears back and delivers with a quick step off the mound, throwing with a blur of arm. Her long pony tail, which rests on her back when she's standing still, flies up in a fan of hair when she throws.
Kristina's learning the game through the Woodson YMCA's Wiffle ball league, which is open to children ages 7 to 11. It's held at Highland Community Church once a week, alternating between Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. These kinds of leagues are common, but Steve Foster, the league's commissioner, takes it to a whole other level for the league's 100 players, spread out over 10 teams.
Foster, the youth pastor at Highland Community Church, is a former manager of the Wausau Woodchucks. In partnership with the YMCA, he is the driving force behind the league. He uses thin plywood sheets, paint and a little imagination to recreate professional ballparks in the church gymnasium. On Friday, it was Dolphins Stadium, the home park of the Florida Marlins.
Foster adds to the professional flavor of the experience by being the announcer and using the church's sound system to pipe in music. It gives the kids a bit of a thrill, and parents and relatives, who pack the stands made of folding chairs, love it too.
"It's a great baseball league," Kathi Geiger said. "It teaches them the fundamentals of baseball. It's a baseball atmosphere."
But there are limits to how far the league goes to provide an authentic baseball experience. There is, for example, no talk of random drug testing.
"Steroids have not been an issue -- hyperactivity has," Foster said. "Tobacco is not an issue, but spilled coffee on the carpet is."
The instant replay discussion also is muted.
"In a league like this, I don't think it's necessary," said umpire Nick Schilling, who is also the YMCA youth program director. "It's about fun and sportsmanship."
The league does teach kids a lot about the game, Foster said.
It's not easy.
"You never know where the ball is going," Kristina Geiger said, after her Friday night game.
By Keith Uhlig
Wausau Daily Herald
kuhlig@wdhprint.com&nbs ¶ 1:41 PM
Rookie Kristina Geiger's pitches can be a little wild at times.
Reminiscent of "Nuke" LaLoosh, the fictional baseball pitcher played by Tim Robbins in "Bull Durham," she'll throw one into the carpet and then the next pitch will sail over the hitter's head. Sometimes the batter connects, and there is a hollow thwomp! as bat hits ball.
It's easy to forgive the rough edges of her delivery style, though. She's only 7 years old, and she's not pitching a baseball, but a hollow Wiffle ball that has a tendency to do some strange things when the thrower puts some spin on it.
"She's never played baseball before, and she loves it," said Kristina's mother, Kathi Geiger of Wausau.
So Kristina makes up for her inexperience with enthusiasm. She rears back and delivers with a quick step off the mound, throwing with a blur of arm. Her long pony tail, which rests on her back when she's standing still, flies up in a fan of hair when she throws.
Kristina's learning the game through the Woodson YMCA's Wiffle ball league, which is open to children ages 7 to 11. It's held at Highland Community Church once a week, alternating between Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. These kinds of leagues are common, but Steve Foster, the league's commissioner, takes it to a whole other level for the league's 100 players, spread out over 10 teams.
Foster, the youth pastor at Highland Community Church, is a former manager of the Wausau Woodchucks. In partnership with the YMCA, he is the driving force behind the league. He uses thin plywood sheets, paint and a little imagination to recreate professional ballparks in the church gymnasium. On Friday, it was Dolphins Stadium, the home park of the Florida Marlins.
Foster adds to the professional flavor of the experience by being the announcer and using the church's sound system to pipe in music. It gives the kids a bit of a thrill, and parents and relatives, who pack the stands made of folding chairs, love it too.
"It's a great baseball league," Kathi Geiger said. "It teaches them the fundamentals of baseball. It's a baseball atmosphere."
But there are limits to how far the league goes to provide an authentic baseball experience. There is, for example, no talk of random drug testing.
"Steroids have not been an issue -- hyperactivity has," Foster said. "Tobacco is not an issue, but spilled coffee on the carpet is."
The instant replay discussion also is muted.
"In a league like this, I don't think it's necessary," said umpire Nick Schilling, who is also the YMCA youth program director. "It's about fun and sportsmanship."
The league does teach kids a lot about the game, Foster said.
It's not easy.
"You never know where the ball is going," Kristina Geiger said, after her Friday night game.
By Keith Uhlig
Wausau Daily Herald
kuhlig@wdhprint.com&nbs ¶ 1:41 PM
