Throwing ‘Em for a Loop

Tips for getting a grip on that summer staple, the Wiffle Ball.

orn in a Fairfield, Connecticut, backyard in 1953, the Wiffle Ball is probably the most unaerodynamic projectile ever conceived. It will dip, rise, twist, wiggle, and do a fair rendition of Chuck Berry’s duck strut, depending on how you grip it. One early customer sent inventor David Mullany Sr. a diagram illustrating 30 different ways to throw a Wiffle Ball. Basically, it will do anything but straighten up and fly right.

As every serious student of pitching knows, the grip is a most important first step in throwing a pitch that will fool the batter. In baseball, the pitcher positions his fingers on the raised, stitched seams of the ball so that it will spin when released toward the plate. This creates turbulence that produces uneven patterns of high and low air pressure, which in turn cause the ball to dip or swerve as it approaches the hapless hitter.

With the Wiffle Ball, the oblong holes serve the same purpose as raised seams; however, they create the necessary turbulence without the rapid rotation a hardball pitcher must apply at the expense of his wrist and elbow.

In short, anyone can throw a major-league curveball with the Wiffle Ball:

■ Hold the ball with the holes on the side to which you wish the ball to swerve. Without your having to strain your joints, the holes will work their magic, confounding both you and the batter.

■ Experiment with variations in the grip and the position of the holes.

■ And finally, when all else fails, just throw the ball toward the plate unmindful of the above information. The wind blowing through those oblong holes will often do the most unpredictable things.

—Adapted from “The Gift of Wiffle” by Ric Bucher, October 1985

Uncommon Sense

—Juliana Hatfield (born July 27, 1967, in Wiscasset, Maine). A leading light of the ’90s indie-rock scene in Boston, this singer-songwriter recently marked the 25th anniversary of her debut solo album, Hey Babe. Unlike many of her peers from that era, she’s still putting out music, and it’s as independent-minded as ever: In the span of a year she released both the political protest album Pussycat and the heartfelt tribute Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John

GEORGE M. COHAN

7/3/1878

Day that George M. Cohan was born in Providence, RI

7/4/1878

Day that the famously patriotic composer claimed he was born

15

Age at which Cohan made his Broadway debut, singing and dancing with his sister in a sketch called “The Lively Bootblack”

500

Approximate number of songs he wrote in his lifetime, including “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “The Yankee Doodle Boy”

$5.75M

Value of war bonds sold for the New York premiere of the 1942 Cohan biopic, Yankee Doodle Dandy, starring James Cagney

10,931

Estimated number of performances during Cohan’s lifetime of Broadway plays he wrote, produced, directed, and (or) starred in

56

Number of years of Cohan’s 64year life devoted to the stage

1.5M

Number of sheet-music copies sold of “Over There,” which Cohan wrote in 1917 as the U.S. entered World War I

ONE

Number of performers’ statues on Broadway (an 8½-foot bronze likeness of Cohan, unveiled in 1959)