Rutland Wiffle League

Any player can be lost amid all of the excitement surrounding the normal RWL series. July 2nd was "RWL Family Fun Day" at Rutland Yards, which made it all the more difficult for rookie Nicholas Dunn to concentrate on the task with which he was charged: to make his first appearance in the RWL. "This is very stressful for just wiffle ball" said Dunn in the understatement of the year thus far. Armed with a full head of hair and 6'2 frame, the Wiffle Gods would watch Dunn take the field for the first time.

Before we get to the action, a quick note about Family Day at Rutland Yards. In this reporters favorite day of the year, RWL officials (including Sam Malone himself) greeted fans and their families at the gates. A discount was given to any family of more than two members to come and watch the entire series. Commissioner Sam Malone, who is married to his job at the RWL has no time for family, but was there to greet the paying customers as they came in along with former RWL greats Bobby Hastings and Roberto Trujillo.

This wonderful idea did cause some problems however. First off, because of poor wording in the Family Day announcement, the RWL had to allow guests from Polygamist sect "Eight Wives and Mai Tai's" into Rutland Yards ("Any family of more than two members" did not state it must be Man/Wife/Child). Rabid fans Vincent and Moose (last names withheld due to pending legal litigation) were so upset they stormed the field during the third inning of game 1. More on this story as it comes.

Game 1
The first game featured MVP frontrunner Mike Beland and Tim Dunn taking on Greg Childs, Bryan Dunn and rookie Nicholas Dunn. Despite giving up a pair of solo homers early, Childs looked sharp on the hill. Beland would have his knuckler working as well, but would run into trouble in the 2nd and 3rd when Bryan Dunn and Greg Childs would supply two-run homers and Nicholas Dunn would add a solo shot (1st career) to give the home team a 5-2 lead. The lead would not last long however as both Tim and Mike contributed two-run shots of their own to give the visitors a 6-5 advantage headed into the 6th.

3-time league MVP Bryan Dunn would not allow a Beland win however as his towering shot to left knotted things at 6. A scoreless top of the 7th led way to the bottom, where Rookie sensation Nicholas Dunn hit a low line drive that wrapped around Trujillo's Pole to end the game. As far as first games go, this one may be the best ever.

Game 2
After receiving his first overall loss of the season (7-1) in game 1, Tim Dunn took the hill at home working to build on his 4-0 record on the mound. Tim uncharacteristically walked the first four batters of the game to give the team of N. Dunn/M. Beland/B. Dunn a 1-0 advantage. Barely able to keep his team in the game, Tim would pitch out of a pair of bases loaded, no out jams in the first two innings. Trying to keep his team in it at the plate, Tim's pair of solo homers made it a 4-2 game after 2 in favor of the visitors.

Things would not get too much better for Tim however as his control problems manifested themselves into an 8-2 advantage for the firm of Dunn, Beland and Dunn. Bryan Dunn worked his way to an easy victory, yielding just 3 hits and striking out 5 to earn his third victory of the year (3-1, 2.61). On another note, Bryan has yet to walk a batter in 23 innings this season.

Game 3
Nearing darkness, Sam Malone was adimate about getting the players onto the field for a third game. Game 3 pitted Nicholas Dunn in his first RWL start on the mound along with Greg Childs and Bryan Dunn against Mike Beland and Tim Dunn. Mike would look to avenge his game 1 loss. With impending darkness, play began without the normal warmup routine.

This game did not start well for Beland. A pair of runs in the first followed by a 7-spot in the second gave the visiting team a 9-2 advantage. Nicholas Dunn was able to pitch through a couple of jams early, getting help from his cousin Bryan who robbed Tim Dunn of a pair of early homers (one with the bases loaded) to keep this game a laugher.

Now during a laugher, you would expect most players to be laughing. Noticeably absent from the laugh-fest was Mike Beland. Mike and Tim were able to string a few singles together, followed by a walk to start the third. Beland would work the count full after being down 1-2 and hammer a ball into the seats in left making it a 9-7 game. Realizing they needed some insurance, the Dunn/Childs/Dunn team were only able to scrape together another run in the 4th, making it 10-7. Professional hitter Tim Dunn would make them pay for their lack of production by hammering a 3-run homer to right knotting things at 10. Beland would then add a couple more to give his team a 12-10 advantage going into the 6th.

With fans rabid after the comeback, Beland worked quickly in the sixth getting Childs to ground out. Bryan Dunn would cut the lead to 1 with a solo homer, and Nicholas Dunn would hit another clutch homer to knot things at 12. A scoreless bottom of the 6th (thanks to a fantastic theft by Childs who robbed Beland of a walkoff homer) and top of the 7th set the stage for Beland again. Childs would not be able to get his hands on this ball as Beland walked his team off with a towering shot just inside Trujillo's pole to end it.

What a series. No word yet on whether Nicholas Dunn will be available the rest of the season, but with all the requests pouring in for N. Dunn replica jersey's, you can bet he will be offered a spot in the RWL asap.