VINELAND- This year's Wifflepalooza Media Day was much like those of past years. Some of the usual characters offering some of the usual quotes, both nothing-burger and sensational explicit content alike. We spoke to a representative from 5 of the 6 teams in this year's tournament, & we'll address them one by one.
The field for this year's tournament is slightly
different than it's been the last couple of years. Due to the unfortunate
withdraw of the Ironballs, a now staple of this fine tournament, the field had
to shift, adding in a new squad on a 1-year agreement, "Temp Agency
WP", who were referred by the defending champion PA Pork Missiles. Nothing
is guaranteed obviously, but the hope is that Temp Agency WC will work out well
enough that they may be invited back as a permanent participant, should a spot
open up full-time.
A lot of familiar faces return once again to this
year's tournament. Bert Brigade enters as the odds-on favorite, just a
year removed from back-to-back titles. They were upset in the semifinals last
year by the Flapacamingos, led by rookie star Kevin Engasser. They look to
rebound in a big way. We spoke with their captain Jake Hatki, as well as
all-star LHP/IF Ken McCormick. We asked both of them the same question.
"After falling short of the title game for the first time ever, there’s
certainly no more motivation needed. Given this team’s history, given the
roster you guys have. 1) Do you view anything less than a title this time as a
failure? And 2) Do you view this as a window closing or for how much longer is
this title window open?
KEN: A: Our goal has been to win it every
year. Last year we had a letdown but are confident in our roster and believe we
can return to championship level. As long as our pitching returns to dominance
we believe will be the team to beat for years to come.
JAKE: A: It’s trident or bust, every single year.
Last year promoted some false confidence in the other teams and we’re looking
forward to exposing them. This year is the easiest path to victory yet. We’re
looking to break records and stay undefeated on our stroll to the trident.
We followed up on Hatki's statement. "Some may say that
type of approach comes off as condescending and arrogant. Most fans would find
that off putting and hard to cheer for. What would you say to those
people?", but unfortunately, we received no answer back.
It's not unreasonable for Bert Brigade to feel that way. They
have the deepest roster in the tournament for essentially the 5th straight
year. They boast two stud arms at the top of their rotation. But as we saw last
year, anything can happen on tournament day.
Another set of familiar faces, for better or worse, are the
Goondingos. They deflect from it, but they've had what feels like a bit of a
rejuvenation this year. They return most of last year's squad, but they are
also bringing back former all-star hitter Tyler Martini on a 1-year deal. It's
completely unknown what Martini still has in the tank. He was clearly on the back
side of his career when he last played a few years ago and has spent much of
the time since in rehab for anal fixation. If he can give the Dangos anything
close to what he once had, they'll be a dark horse team to watch. As usual,
team co-captain Jeff Ronchetti had plenty to say when we spoke with
him. G’Dangs. "Jeff, there seems to be a renewed sense of involvement
and optimism around this team, and I don’t just mean the manufactured-on
twitter kind. Old faces have returned. What caused this change and what makes
you think THIS is the year for you guys to finally get over the hump?"
A: There is no renewed sense of involvement and
optimism. Since the merger, we have always seen ourselves as the most talented
roster in the league and it's not particularly close in our eyes. The stats
back this up, three of the top 10 all-time leaders in average present the core
of our batting order in Jeff, Mark, and Hutch. Of the other seven, two are
retired, and two are not participating in this tournament, which means this
year, 3 of the top 6 hitters by average in the league are batting 1, 2, and 3
for us. I could go on and on about how many statistical feats the three of us
are in the top 10-12 for, and again, when you discount those lists for
retired/inactive players this year, which leaves us with mostly 3/5-6 guys in
almost every major batting category. The lineup is then rounded out with Dustin
and Gumby, who in their own right are mostly in the top 10-20 for every major
category. Complete this with the fact that our top prospect, Patrick Hennessy,
finally had his breakout tournament at the plate last year, putting up elite
numbers across the board, we are confident that we have the best lineup in the
league by a significant margin. All of this combined with the fact that we
also have one of the elite arms in all of Palooza taking the mound as our ace,
and without touching on all of my pitching accolades, arguably the biggest one
is that back in the Purple Drank Squad days of WP3 where I was barred from
pitching, I taught Hutch to pitch and he threw 2 no-hitters including one in
route to the title/title game MVP. We also have a key advantage in LHP Patrick
Hennessy being one of the only LHP in the league, who I am also coaching and
running through an intense training regimen. The only renewed sense we have is
that I am overseeing all pitching operations, and there will quite possibly be
a return to form for Hutch on the mound, and the rest of our bullpen will be
locked and loaded with top-of-the-line stuff, and that's all I'm willing to say
about that at this time. The return of an old face is not a welcome one. We
unfortunately had our hands tied due to an old handshake deal with Gumby's
agent, and had to let him back for this tournament, despite the pushback from
current players, coaches, and even the GM. Gumby is known around the league as
a locker room cancer that can sometimes be difficult to control. We have the
culture present to keep him in line, and hopefully, to bring a return to form
from his prime which was well over 5 years ago. A return to form from Gumby,
who I must emphasize will not be in his signature leadoff spot, is a big piece
of this puzzle. The plan is to start Gumby lower in the lineup, possibly last,
and use him as a spiritual second leadoff hitter to get someone on base for the
top of the order.
Q: Rivalries have often been a staple of what's made
this tournament great over the years. The Goons & Mandingos had no shortage
of them. Given all the new faces in the tournament now, do you think that
aspect has lost something?
A: It's great to see so many new faces that aren't
Irish. Given the retirement of two key Irishmen in Al and Pat the Rat, the
tournament is presumably boasting all-time low figures for Irishman
involvement, which is a massive step in the right direction. As far as
rivalries go, I don't feel it's lost anything. Every team knows they have to
throw their best arm against us (last year we saw Pork's Ace game 1, Ricci game
2, Geri/Ted in game 3 vs the Goodfellas, and in game 4 Allen vs the Ironballs),
and we take that as a sign of respect, but also it brings us in with a chip on
our shoulder, not to mention the countless times over the past few years Bert
has thrown Tony against us, and the GF have thrown their top arms. Everyone at
the tournament knows we're the team you have to keep out of the playoffs, we
know that if we make it to the playoffs, we very likely win the whole
thing, we also will not hesitate to charge the mound and square up with any
team, especially the new guys. The Flapacs are always circled on our list, and
they better pray we don't see them in the playoffs, as we will not hesitate to
have Gumby incite a brawl, and many members of this team were participants in
the infamous brawl before the WP3 title game between PDS and the Goon Squad. We
have been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to unleash 17 beer Gumby on some
poor sack of shit, and August 5th may finally be the day.
Q: So this would be a bad time to tell you
that Etter actually is on the Flapacs roster as a DH? Either way, a counter
argument to your point could be, that most of those prolific hitters you
mentioned put up the majority of their stats in tournaments 10+ years ago. The
game has always been, get on base and hit homers. You guys are 1-7 since
merging, & given the lack of a true 2nd ace, it’s tough to see where your
path through is. What would you say to all that?
A: Al playing changes nothing about what I've said
besides another player in the top 10 being present, we still overwhelmingly
have a stranglehold on it. While true, many of these stats are
accumulated sheerly from being present for so many tournaments, it's also
true that if there was as drastic of a fall-off as you seem to think, all of us
would've dropped in the rankings, especially average. Over the past 3-4 years,
I know Mark and I have had exactly 1 poor batting performance each, while Hutch
has underperformed for a few years, we expect him to bounce back this
year. It's not so tough to see the path when you consider the
development/re-emergence of the pitching staff. As long as we don't lose any
games by 10+ runs we're confident about our postseason chances. While yes, we
are 1-7, all of the games besides the inevitable bullpen game have been close
and/or winnable. As long as we make it through our bullpen game without
bleeding runs, we are confident in not only making the playoffs but winning the
championship. Measures have been taken to make sure P-Money Gervasio doesn't
see the mound this year, which is usually where the bleeding begins and ends.
If we can get some serviceable innings from Gumby, Hutch, 1pac, and possibly
even Dustin, I see us as an absolute lock for the playoffs.
We also got a chance to catch up with former MVP,
champion and team captain Ryan Hutchings, who is entering his 8th year with the
Man/Goondingos organization. Given the rumors swirling around, we had to ask
him, "Can you give any info to the rumors that the recently merged Goon
Squad/Mandingos mashup “Goondingos”, will be transitioning back into the former
championship franchise, “Purple Drank Squad?”
A: “In due time. Yes, we are rebranding,
and we were waiting to announce it, but we are henceforth until then known as
the Mangoons.”
An exciting proposition for those who harken back
to the old days of this tournament.
Next, we chatted with the host squad, last year's
runners up, the Flapacamingos. It was a brutal end to a magical run in last
year's tournament for the Flapacs, and they've spend the entire offseason
stewing on it. However, unlike a lot of previous off seasons, they didn't make
many changes this time. They've added back former all-star Eric Bomenblit, who
was out injured last year, as well as his brother Joey, a fine young prospect
the squad has high hopes for. As always, we spoke with team captain Jake Lambert,
who was rather spicy this time. "Jake, it’s rumored that you are going to
be relied on in the middle of the order. After inconsistent results over the
last number of years, both personally and team wise, how confident are you in
being able to provide the level of service needed to win hitting
clean-up?
A: I refuse to comment on the premise.
Anyone who listens to rumors are schmucks. I won’t be giving away any of our
team’s strategy to our opponents. And the fact is only the esteemed Ryan “La
Flama Blanca” Ricci and I have won an MVP for the Flapacs, that should be
enough proof of production.
Q: Speaking on that, you and Ricci, &
now with Etter returning in a DH role, you 3 make up the most experienced trio
in the tournament. How do you use that experience to help the rest of your
teammates adapt within the chaos of this
tournament?
A: The only thing that can be learned is
to embrace the chaos and hit the shit out of the ball. No other advice is
needed. And if you haven’t figured that out yet you’re playing this tournament
wrong.
Q: You’re giving big Clubber Lang vibes right
now.
A: 100%. I’m blaring Eye of the Tiger in
my head right now.
We also caught up with the
aforementioned Ryan Ricci, who many feel has something to prove after a
great year on the mound, but a rough year hitting. "After a down year at
the plate last year, your manager has expressed tremendous confidence in you.
So much, it’s expected you’re going to lead off. What does that say about the
overall team environment and how confident are you in a bounce back year?"
A: Our organization has great confidence in our
whole team this year and should be an exciting team to watch. We put
in a good offseason, and I am hoping that will translate into a strong showing
this year.
Lastly with the Flapacs, we spoke to manager Pat
Ney, who while being elected to the Hall-of-Fame this week, has been hard at
work preparing his squad for the main event. There's ALWAYS pressure on a
Flapacs manager in this town, we asked, "Managing this team, with these
expectations. How does that weigh on you?"
A: With the history of this franchise there are
always high expectations, and this year is no different. We want to win and are
willing to kill for that trident. It’s my job to put the fellas in the right
positions to do what we need to do, good or bad. These aren’t the first holes
we’ve ever dug.
Another familiar face, but this year with a
twist, are the Goodfellas. The 4-time champions return yes, but they will have
a much different look than last year. Due to a scheduling conflict, the
G'fellas will be without former MVP's Billy Jackson & Brian Stanzione, as
well as former title game MVP Justin Geri. Those are big holes to fill, which
the G'Fellas will try to do with rookies Carmen Daddario, Nigel Lunsford, Tyler
Lunsford & Brian Catalozzo. The free-agent and trade market didn't play out
like team captain and owner Rocco Lombardo hoped, so a youth movement was the
best way forward. We asked him, "You have half a new roster. Filled with
interesting prospects again, how are you blending “win now” mode with
integrating this youth movement, AND, where does this leave current
rostered guys who won’t make it this year?"
A: I want to start off by saying the
players that cannot make it this year will be deeply missed. The two greatest
hitters in tournament history and a recent-years addition powerhouse with the
bat. However, we're seeing one-of-a-kind energy from this year's prospects as
only a true Goodfella could generate. These men know the goal at the end of the
day, don't take us lightly. It's been a while since we've been considered
underdogs and that's all the fuel we need.
Q: As one of the OGs of this tournament,
here we are 14 years after it started, in the 17th tournament,
rapidly approaching 20. How do you feel about this thing you’ve helped create
and build?
A: In my youth it always felt great to be
a part of something that brought so many competitors together on a day we all
made special. I still feel the same to this day and always love seeing new
faces experience the same glory we've all had these past 14 years. Nowadays the
day after the tournament my body feels like I've been hit by a semi, but I
wouldn't have it any other way. As I write this response, 12 years ago I
captured my first title. I still feel that same butterfly in my gut and mamba
mentality heading into year 14.
While in G'Fellas camp, we also chatted with
former Cy Young winner, Mike Tedesco, a personal favorite of ours. Ted, as he's
affectionately known, might just be the hardest working player this tournament
has ever seen, building himself from the ground up into a bonified Roy Halladay
type ace. We asked him, with a bigger load to shoulder than ever before,
"Without Geri & Jackson, you’re being relied on as THE # 1 pitcher
without question for the first time in years. How does that feel? And are you
preparing any differently than you normally would?"
A: Team is dealing with a bit of adversity this year.
Without Justin, Billy and can’t forget Stanz, it will be tough to replicate
their production but with the depth of the Goodfellas organization we have some
key call ups who will help us. The goal will be to pick our spots wisely and
keep the arm as fresh as possible for key moments. Excited to see what this
team can do. As far as preparation is concerned... The arm has one job one
day of the year to throw everything it has. It may hurt until January, but it
is ready to go once again. Nothing different, let’s just hope the ankle doesn’t
snap on the landing and that I don’t pass out from heat exhaustion. Had some
good success last year adding a new pitch so looking to build off of that this
year and cause some confusion to the hitters on what to expect. SYK
Lastly, we spoke with the defending champions.
The repeated questions they got had a theme from the media contingent on hand,
a much bigger crowd than the last two years. Captain Tim Durante stepped up to
graciously answer every question thrown his way. We asked, "The target is
there now. You don’t have the luxury of flying under the radar after winning a
title, but you guys did it with only a 3-3 record. What steps have you guys
taken to be able to take on and overcome each team’s best?"
A: Good question, we like our odds
against the competition. Think we have grown with our time in the tournament. I
don’t think our focus is on how to handle the opponents but making sure we
focus on playing our game. I think last year we showed resilience. If we play
our game, I like our chances.
Q: The identity it seems you guys have taken
on is just that, resilient. Where does that type of team culture come from for
you guys?
A: Idk if there is a team culture, we’re just a group
of friends that found a reason to be competitive. It’s a reason for us to hang
out and pal around. I think we bust balls but a lot of it also comes with
accountability. We’re not afraid to call each other out because we have the
same goal in mind. It’s a loose feeling, we don’t feel too pressured to play
after it all it’s for a fun time. We have trust built from years of friendship.
Q: You guys will be replacing one of your
key players from last year, Jody, a big hole to fill. How will, and to whom
will his production need to be spread out?
A: We expect bigger contributions from our 2nd year
players at the plate. Such as James Obrien and Kevin Glynn. Last year they got
to experience the tournament as rookies and this year we believe they’re ready
to step into bigger roles. Their competitors I know their contribution will
have a positive impact. Jody’s presence will be missed but we have plenty of
firepower in the lineup to compensate.
Wifflepalooza XVII starts at 10:30 am, this
Saturday, August 5th, at the Willie J. Huff Wiffleball Complex in Vineland, NJ.
Be sure to watch on ABC/ESPN, and get tickets at www.preownedairboats.com
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