Wiffle Ball FINALLY Inducted Into The Toy Hall of Fame! Celebrate With Some Mind-Blowing Wiffle Ball Moments

wiffle ball toy hall of fame

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FINALLY, Wiffle Ball has received the extremely long overdue honor of being officially inducted into the Toy Hall Of Fame. How it has taken since 1953, when the Wiffle Ball was first invented, to have had this happen is most definitely one of life’s greatest mysteries. I would have thought it would have been a first ballot shoo-in. (Do they even do ballots for toys? I have no idea how this really works.)

The AP reports…

David Mullany began by cutting holes in round plastic parts from a factory, eventually developing a ball with eight oblong slots that allow the ball to grab air and change and slow its trajectory. A strike-out was called a “wiff,” according to the family-owned Wiffle Ball Inc., which has produced millions of balls each year ever since.

Some initially pegged the lightweight ball as a fad, said Stephen Mullany, who with his brother represent the third generation to run the company. He credits its ability to level the playing field despite players’ ages and ability with helping to keep it around.

“Here we are 60 plus years later,” Mullany said, “so it’s pretty neat.”

Uh, yeah, and about time!

The board game Clue and the paper airplane are the other inductees for the Toy Hall of Fame Class of 2017. All three toys will now displayed proudly inside The Strong museum in Rochester, New York.

Other toy finalists who did not make the cut and will have to wait for next year were Risk, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox cars, My Little Pony, PEZ candy dispenser, play food, sand, Transformers and the card game Uno.

Sand? Sand is a toy? C’mon now.

Ah, here we go, this is how it works…

The annual hall of fame inductees are chosen on the advice of historians and educators following a process that begins with nominations from the public.

To make the cut, toys must have inspired creative play across generations.

Inspired creative play across generations? Here’s some definitive proof that the Wiffle Ball has most definitely achieved that distinction…

Got an amazing Wiffle Ball video we missed? Let us know. It’s Wiffle Ball Celebration Day!*

(*unofficial)

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Before settling down at BroBible, Douglas Charles, a graduate of the University of Iowa (Go Hawks), owned and operated a wide assortment of websites. He is also one of the few White Sox fans out there and thinks Michael Jordan is, hands down, the GOAT.