Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
September 12, 2003, Washington Post

Get a Whiff of This!

This summer's sports schedule was so busy that I missed an important birthday. The Wiffle ball, the ever-popular, plastic baseball with holes on one side, turned 50 this year.

The Wiffle ball was invented by David N. Mullany, a former semipro baseball pitcher. One evening in his back yard in Connecticut, he watched his 12-year old son, David A. Mullany, trying to throw a curveball.

It's tough for a kid to throw a curveball with a real baseball (you shouldn't even try because it might hurt your arm), so Mullany tried to design a ball that would make it easier. He figured that some holes would make one side of a plastic ball lighter, so that it would curve on its own.

Mullany and his son tried lots of designs. They tried square holes and diamond-shaped holes. None of the designs worked very well. Then they tried eight oblong-shaped holes. They called their new invention the Wiffle ball because in baseball language when a batter strikes out you say that he "whiffed." Before long, kids everywhere were playing Wiffle ball.

Fifty years later, Wiffle balls still are made with the same eight-hole design. Kids still have lots of fun trying to hit Wiffle balls with a yellow plastic bat. And the 12-year old kid who couldn't throw a curveball is now president of the company.