The invention of the Wiffle Ball and Bat was inspired by the exact customer the Wiffle Ball was targeted at – kids. It was 1953, and Dave Mullany was 45 years old and out of work in Fairfield, Connecticut. This was before the “convenience” of the internet, so a job search was an in-person effort. Since this was also before the “convenience” of video games, when kids got together to play they actually went to the same place and ran around and competed physically. So each day when Dave would leave to look for a job he would see his 12-year-old son and his friends playing baseball in the backyard. They didn’t have the number of players or space for a real game, and they didn’t want to break windows, so for a baseball they used a perforated plastic golf ball and for the bat they swung a broomstick.
When Dave would return home, he’d find those kids still playing their form of baseball in the backyard. It made sense to Dave, he was no stranger to the game – he’d been a semi-pro pitcher in his youth.
But the long days of trying to throw a curve using muscle on the tiny, light ball made the kids’ arms sore. As luck would have it, there was a local company that packaged some of its products in a plastic ball that would come apart – making the perfect components to experiment and create an easy-to-curve plastic ball. After some trial and error, they found that eight slots one one side created the best ball for the pitcher – but the worst for the batter. The neighborhood term for a strike out was a “wiff,” so the name “Wiffle Ball” was christened. Check out this early commercial for a smile:
The new game equipment was a hit, and so Dave decided to borrow what he could from family and friends, mortgage the house, and bet on the invention. The bet was a winner, and now the company is a part of US production and the Wiffle Ball a part of America. So the next time a young person in your life asks about a new app or another video game program, consider steering them to a good game of Wiffle Ball – and see if you still have that curve.
As an Amazon Associate this website earns from qualifying purchases made though links to products like the one below:
![]("//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?</p)