From the Commissioner's Desk: Final Thoughts on 2015

 

At the conclusion of the 2014 GBL World Series between the GasHouse Gorillas and the Anti-Heroes, I had an idea race through my head that I feared would inevitably happen. I thought that the Griffleball League was ready to come to an end. After five seasons, I felt like it was time for the league to ride off into the sunset. So often, terms are thrown around that encourage quality over quantity, as in "It's better to burn out than fade away." I loved the GBL so much, that I did not want something that was once so perfect to fade away and be remembered for anything less than what it deserved.

The 2014 GBL season was arguably the worst season of Griffleball up to that point. The league had lost most of its integral and beloved players from the early years and replaced them with players who did not seem to care if their team won, lost, forfeit, or even existed in the GBL. In the 2014 regular season, there were only three teams who consistently showed up to their games; and when they did show up, the competitive and professional atmosphere that once made the GBL so perfect was not present at the ball park. The GBL had suddenly turned into a recreational wiffleball league that was at the bottom of most players' personal priority lists.

My-oh-my, how much the GBL had changed from 2011 to 2014. In the 2011 GBL World Series, there was intensity with every single pitch. There were 10-15 people at the Griffle Grounds to watch us play. I remember waking up in the morning immediately excited about playing in the GBL World Series on those nights in August of 2011. Well, my feelings about the 2014 World Series weren't exactly the same. In fact, my feelings were quite the opposite heading into the 2014 Fall Classic. Heading into Game 1, I thought "I hope at least one person comes out to help keep score. Maybe two people so we can have a play-by-play announcer. Maybe three people so we can have someone in charge of walk-up music and action photos. Maybe even some fans to build up a better atmosphere."

Needless to say, my wishes didn't come true. We didn't have a scorekeeper. We didn't have a play-by-play announcer. We didn't have walk-up songs. We didn't have action photos. We didn't have fans. The games did not have the same atmophere that was once present in better days.

As I took the mound in the 5th inning of Game 5 of that series with the GasHouse Gorillas on the brink of winning the World Series and ending the season, I wondered if I was about to throw the last pitch that the GBL would ever see. It was a scary thought and an odd feeling. I wanted to keep the league going, but I felt as if I shouldn't.

With my emotions riding high at the conclusion of the season, I wasn't sure what to do. Every time I remembered how low the league was in 2014, I remembered how high it was in 2011. Every time I remembered how excited I was in the league's early years, I remembered how disgusted I was in recent years. And so on, and so on, and so on...

And then, something happened that convinced me that I should keep the GBL alive for at least one more season. It was a sign. It made me believe that I owed the league a chance for it to return to greatness.

A few days after the season ended, I received a text message from Jackson Buzea who had just completed his rookie season with the Bird Gang. He followed up with an inquiry he made a few weeks earlier about starting his own expansion team in 2015. It was at that time that I decided to grant him an expansion team as a reward for being one of the few players in the league who helped out at the field whenever help was needed and always seemed to care about the goodness of the league itself. By granting him rights to an expansion team, I had ultimately decided that the GBL would live to play one more season in 2015; and after the season that we just experienced this summer, I could not be happier with the decision to keep Griffleball up and running.

The 2015 Griffleball season was the best season we have had yet; and it was due largely in part to Jackson's expansion team, the Taka Drivers. The GBL needed to find another team that was dedicated to the league.. a team that showed up to all of its games... a team that helped out at the field when it wasn't playing... a team that was thrilled to be a part of the league.

 

But even if the GBL added another competitive and dedicated team, it would still need to add one more element to return to the status that it once held; and right around the start of the new year, I realized exactly what and who we needed. My old friend from high school by the name of Tyler Walk had just finished up his broadcasting degree in college. I ran into him one night in January at Family Video and he told me that he would like to announce some of the GBL games in 2015, as he would like to put a broadcasting portfolio together for his potential employers. I told him that I would send him a copy of the GBL schedule, and that it would be great if he could make it out to the Griffle Grounds and call some games when he has free time.

 

Well, I think we all know the rest.

 

Not only did he make it out to the Griffle Grounds to call a few games, but he did just about everything imaginable towards making the GBL one of the country's most exciting, interactive, and popular wiffleball leagues. In the span of just one season, the GBL went from having virtually no YouTube presence to having multiple uploads every week. Tyler requested off from his day-job every Sunday so he could be at Griffleball games. The man spent countless hours keeping score, broadcasting, video editing, tweeting.... you name it. He was the GBL social media king for 2015. He even started his own weekly recap/preview video called Inside The GBL. Oh, and I should also add that he traveled to Columbus, OH with the GBL's National Team to cover the NWLA Tournament.

 

Upon adding the Taka Drivers and Tyler Walk - the two most important pieces of the puzzle for the league's return to greatness - everything else started falling into place. More players from around the region heard about the league and joined. Games played went up. Forfeits went down. Rivalries were established. And most importantly, players looked forward to stepping onto the field every Sunday. The 2015 GBL season was ran so smoothly, that I almost felt as if my comissioner duties were on auto-pilot for most of the season. Everyone knew what to do, and everyone knew what was expected.

 

I remember a moment from the 2nd or 3rd week of the season this year when I looked around the field and I counted over 20 people in attendance. At that moment, I recalled my childhood years when I imagined myself running a premier wiffleball league one day. I remember begging my neighbors to come over so I could play a one-on-one game of wiffleball against them. I think there were only four of us, but that's all it took for the thought to enter my mind that one day, I would like to turn wiffleball into something greater. In the summer of 2015, the Griffleball League turned wiffleball into something greater. It turned wiffleball into everything that I imagined as a kid.

 

People often ask me how long that I think the GBL will last. I always jokingly say that I would like all of the managers to eventually have their teams' home fields in their backyards once they get older and buy their own houses, and that we can one day pass the league onto our children. But honestly, I don't think I can ever accurately predict how long the GBL will last. Sure, I would love to keep this league going as long as possible; but I do realize that some of us are getting older, and other aspects of life might begin to take away from our dedication to the league.

 

But when the day comes where one of our players has to deliver the league's final pitch, I will happily look back on the 2015 season - a season that showed me how much we all love the GBL. After a couple of down years, we all could have walked away, but we chose not to. I know that we have at least another season left, and that is all I could have asked for after being so uncertain one year ago at this time. Maybe we have 3-4 years left. Maybe we have more than that. But one thing is for sure - I will no longer feel so reluctant to put this league to rest when the day comes because I will remember that in 2015, we reached the top of the wiffleball world.

 

Thanks to the Taka Drivers, Tyler Walk, and each and every one of you who contributed to the 2015 Griffleball season. What a great year it has been. Let's make 2016 even better!

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeremy Ratajczyk

Commissioner, Griffleball League

Griffleball World Series Game 3 Recap

When the series started a few weeks ago, both team had ambitions of winning the Griffleball Fall Classic. Three games later, the Gashouse Gorillas hold a 3-0 advantage and are now ten outs away from their fourth consecutive GBL championship.

Gashouse has dominated the competition ever since they fell below .500 in the middle point of the season. The main reason for their turn around has been their outstanding pitching. During the GBL World Series, the Gashouse Gorillas have allowed a total of (wait for it) zero runs. The Stalllionaires have not been able to muster much offense against the Gashouse pitching. Jim Tucker, Ryan Galiher, and Jeremy Ratajczyk have been lights out and there is a good chance they end the series on Sunday night.

To take the 3-0 series lead, Gashouse had to go up against one of the best pitchers of the league, Matt Kuna. The GBL could not have asked for a better pitching match-up between Tucker and Kuna in Game 3. Before the game even began, I wondered how long this game may go. Six innings? Nine innings? Twelve Innings? I thought both pitchers may have been on the mound into the wee hours of the morning but, both pitcher gave up a hit in the first inning of Game 3. This meant that the bullpens for both teams needed to be perfect.

After both Tucker and Kuna (who happened to playing Game 3 with only one eye open due to injury), the game was left into the hands of Nate Bryan for the Stallionaires and Jeremy Ratajczyk for the Gashouse Gorillas. Through three innings, Game 3 was scoreless. Neither team had scored and the game felt like whoever scored one runs would win. That was exactly what would happen.

In the top of the fourth inning, Nate Bryan got himself into some trouble. After Gashouse poked a few singles passed the Stallionaire defense, Gashouse loaded the bases with one out. Jim Tucker came to the plate with a chance to score the games first run. Tucker would come through with one more single to give the Gashouse Gorillas a 1-0 lead late in Game 3.

The Stallionaires needed to one run to keep the game going but, they had to deal with the man who has not allowed a single earned run all postseason. It also happened to be the same man who started the league so may years ago. Jeremy Ratajczyk has been a force this postseason and continued his bid for postseason MVP. With his devastating slider, Ratajczyk was able to get the save and give his team a substantial 3-0 series lead.

With the possibility of the Griffleball season ending on Sunday, the Gashouse Gorillas look to continue their stranglehold on the league. They are one game away from Griffleball immortality and they can almost taste the champagne (not wine, like last year). On the other hand, the Stallionaires are not going to give up that easily. Like any other sport, the series is not over until it is over. The Stallionaires will attempt their miraculous comeback bid and hope to prolong the series long enough to gain some momentum.

The league will find out Sunday if the Gashouse Gorillas will win their fourth straight championship or if the Stallionaires find a way to make it to another week. Either way, it has been a fun season with a competitive balance the league has not seen since its inception. Wiffle Out!

Griffleball World Series Games 1 and 2 Recap

It was a beautiful night for Griffleball. There wasn't too much wind and the summer heat gave the league a break on Sunday. As the sun set, the lights turned on at the Griffle Grounds and the GBL World Series was underway. After a rough introduction from your truly, the Gashouse Gorillas and Stallionaires were ready to get started. Each team stepped on to the concrete playing surface believing they could win but, only one would walk away victorious on this day.

The first week of World Series action would be controlled by the Gashouse Gorillas and more specifically, Jim Tucker.  Tucker was the Gashouse Gorillas Game 1 starter for the World Series and he did not disappoint. He dominated the Stallionaires en route to one of the best pitching performances in World Series history.

To lead off the game, Nate Bryan stepped up to the lawn chair for his 100th career Griffleball game. He tipped his cap to all the fans watching and listening worldwide. As it was a fine moment for Bryan and the GBL, he may want to forget how Game 1 ended sometime soon.

In the first inning, Tucker completed his first of four one-two innings to give his team a chance to get on top early. In the bottom half of the first, his team did not wait long to deliver.  After a few walks from Stallionaires' starter John Reyna, the Gashouse Gorillas' Ryan Galiher gave the 2015 World Series its first home run. With two on base and one out, Galiher hit a rocket over Nate Bryan's head to give the Gashouse Gorillas an early 3-0 advantage.

Already down 3-0, the Stallionaires needed just one big swing and they would have that chance when the game moved to the third. Matt Kuna and Bryan would both draw walks during the inning and Kuna would return to the lawn chair with two runners on base. The 1-0 pitch to Kuna would have the Gashouse fans on the edge of their seats. Kuna ripped the the high fastball from Tucker down the first base line. Off the bat the ball had the distance but, began to slice. The end result, strike one. Tucker would then throw two off-speed pitches to strike out Kuna and end the inning.

The Gashouse Gorillas were looking to take the pressure off their ace, Tucker, and they would add a bit of relief to the scoreboard in the bottom half of the third. After Galiher grounded out to start the inning, Gashouse would single twice and draw a walk to load the bases. The next batter leads the league in most postseason numbers and would add to his incredible playoff resume. Jeremy Ratajczyk crushed the first pitch just out of reach of Bryan and into the right field grass in increase the lead to 7-0.

Entering the fourth, Tucker had not allowed a hit and would be allowed to return to the mound to see if he could complete his no-hit bid. In the last two innings, Tucker struck out three of four and completes the GBL's ninth no-hitter in history as Gashouse would win Game 1 7-0. Tucker's no-hitter was the third playoff no-hitter and second World Series no-hitter in league history.

The two teams had a short media break before Game 2. This was a good time for the Stallionaires to re-group and find a way to even the series. With Tucker off the mound for the second game, the Stallionaires had a good opportunity to steal Game 2 away from the home team. The Gashouse Gorillas had other plans.

After getting no-hit in the first game, the Stallionaires did not wait long for their first hit in Game 2. Nate Bryan led off the inning with a single and the Stallionaires had their first hit in the World Series. After the hit, the Gashouse Gorillas pitching staff would enter lock-down mode once again and only allowed one more hit for the rest of the game.

In the bottom half of the first, Ryan Galiher stepped up to the plate. He would send a David Konopasek pitch into right field that had the distance. Off the bat, Bryan had a good jump on the ball heading to the grass in right and sprinted to its precise location make an over-the-shoulder grab to rob Galiher of a lead off home run.

Looking like a wide receiver making the catch on the sideline.

The next out in the first for the Stallionaires was a little harder to manage. After Bryan robbed Galiher, the next five batters would reach base. The first run of the game came by none other than the commissioner, Jeremy Ratajczyk. With the bases loaded, Rat singled to give Gashouse a 1-0 lead. The next batter, Jim Tucker, would walk after an intense battle at the lawn chair to increase the score to 2-0.

In the top of the second, the Stallionaires had a chance to respond with two men on base. After a walk by Bryan and a single by Kuna, Konopasek made his way to the chair to see if he could put the Stallionaires on the scoreboard. He would walk away empty-handed. Galiher struck out Konopasek to end the inning as the Stallionaires would leave runners on base once again in the second.

With a 2-0 lead, the Gashouse Gorillas were gifted a run in the bottom half of the second. Gashouse had men on first and second with one out when Galiher made his way to the plate. Galiher literally crushed a wiffle-ball into the ground directly at Bryan but, the ball was dented and made a funny hop. Bryan could not field the ball as the bounce ate him up and loaded the bases for Gashouse. Immediately after the error, Tucker would single to put Gashouse up 3-0.

In the third and fourth inning, both the Stallionaires and Gashouse Gorillas did not see a single batter reach base. While Galiher and Ratajczyk shut down the Stallionaires in those innings, the Stallionaires countered with Matt Kuna. Kuna added to his incredible pitching numbers in the playoffs by adding two more strikeouts in two more scoreless innings of work. It would not be enough as the scoreboard still favored Gashouse 3-0 entering the top of the fifth.

Ratajczyk struggled in relief appearances during the regular season but, during the playoffs he has not allowed a single run to cross the lawn chair. Nothing would change in the fifth inning. The Stallionaires threatened once again in the fifth to no avail. During the contest, the Stallionaires left five runners on base and they would be shut-out once again. The Gashouse Gorillas would take the second game and increase their series lead to 2-0.

With the league off this weekend for Labor Day, the Stallionaires have time to rest and get prepared for a must win Game 3. On the other hand, the Gashouse Gorillas enter the long break with nothing but smiles as they are two wins away from winning their fourth straight Griffleball Championship.