Wayne's Wiffle For A Wish

July 10, 2017

Just a couple of notes for you.

Wiffle For A Wish is just 39 days away, we play Saturday August 19th in Bangor.
Registration deadline is Saturday August 12th, Schedules and groups will be done Sunday August 13th
Early bird payment is $100 per team as long as received by August 1st. Then registration increases to $125 per team
Sponsorships are still available for the tournament, your business or organization can help us raise money for Make A Wish Maine with a donation.
- $100 to get your logo in our program
- $200 to get your logo in our program and on our tournament t-shirts
- $500 to get your logo in our program, and on our tournament t-shirts, and a banner (you provide) can be at our tournament site
- $750 gets your logo in our program, on our t-shirts, an banner at the tournament site and your logo on our MVP plaque
We still need items for our raffle drawings, donations are always welcome.
We are going to be making food at the event again this year, we are going to need help with grills and cooks during the day. For those of you who've said how can I help, food is always a big help.
Did I mention we are just 33 days away from our registration deadline of August 12th?
And a mere 22 days until our early bird registration price goes away?
You can easily register on the contact page.

Still a lot of work to do, but we are well on our way to another great year.

August 30, 2016

I am writing a check Saturday to Make A Wish Maine for $11,150. We smashed my goal of $8,800. This is awesome. We're only $850 away from granting that "full" second wish, if you want to help us get there you still have time. If we don't reach the 12 grand mark (which would be the 3rd time in our history we've done so), I am fine with writing out a check with 2 figures in front of the comma and handing it to Kate Saturday. But if you want to try to get us closer it will be accepted. Thanks so much for an amazing year, it is going to create a lot of smiles for kids

August 23, 2016

On a whim we decided to collect bottles and cans at the tournament this year, the result was 684 returnables. At 5 cents a pop that piles up to $34.20. Awesome. It all adds in to the pot. We are working on our final totals, but it is looking good.

And here's an excellent play caught on video:

How many wiffle balls are already in his left hand? How did he make this play?

August 16, 2016

Saturday is the day, be sure to be there! In addition to the game schedule here are some important times you to be aware of:

Team sign in begins at 8am
Rules meeting is at 8:30am
Ceremonial first pitch with a Make A Wish family is at (approximately) 8:45
First game begins at 9am
Home Run Derby ($5 for 10 swings) is 11:30am - 1:30pm
Raffle prize and 50/50 drawings are set for 5pm (do not need to be present to win)

May 25, 2016

We are less than 3 months from year 8 of Wayne's WIFFLE for a Wish! The tournament this year is Saturday August 20th. Registration is still $100 per team if you pay prior to August 1st. Payment after August 1st up to and including the day of the tournament is $120.

Team registrations will be taken now through Saturday August 13th. You can email me, or fill out the registration form. Remember we are now a 501 (C) (3) non profit organization so your registration and any charitable contribution is tax deductible.

We are adding a third division of competition this year for teams in the middle of the Executive and Open Divisions called the Classic Division, think of teams like Jobu's Juggernaughts, RBI of the Tiger, Downtown with Rich Kimball, Bad News Bears, 99 Problems, they will fill up the new division.

We are averaging a little more than 30 teams each year, I'd love to see that number ramp up to close to 40 this year with the new division and get some teams to return for this summer. Get those teams in and get ready for a great summer of wiffle ball. See you soon!

February 24, 2016

Saturday August 20th is the date for this year. I never posted a link here to the 2015 results, so to make it up to you here is a list of the all time Open Division Records:

1. Sons of Pitches (27 & 10)
2. Wiffopotamus (26 & 5)
3. We Love Fat Pitches (26 & 15)
4. Master Batters (25 & 2)
5. Wiffle Kings (22 & 10)
6. Blue and His Players (21 & 13)
7. The Bomb Squad (20 & 10)
8. The Fab 4 / Farnham for State Senate (20 & 12)
9. Chicks Dig the Longball (19 & 6)
10. Wiffle House (17 & 15)
11. Pelkey & Sons Landscaping (16 & 7)
12. Finkle & Einhorn Insurance Group (16 & 12)
13. Wiffleocity (16 & 12)
14. Huge Tracts of Land (15 & 15)
15. JRB Brothers / Stiff Competiton (13 & 4)
16. Warning Track Power (13 & 7)
17. Sneaky Peeks (10 & 13)
18. Take a Whiff of This (16 & 16)
19. Scared Hitless (9 & 4)
20. Verizon Wireless (7 & 8)
21. Livin' Tha Dream (7 & 8)
22. DisOrderlies (6 & 7)
23. Noonan Nation / Mama Said Strike You Out (6 & 11)
24. Kilianaires (6 & 13)
25. Swing for the Fences (5 & 12)

51 teams have won at least 1 game in the Open Division, 58 teams have played in the Open Division at least one year. 18 more teams have played in the Executive Division. 76 teams total have played. I'd love to have a year with all 76 teams back in the tournament.

August 9, 2015

The schedules are finished, so look at this year's groups and schedules. I moved RBI of the Tiger to the Executive Division to get a full 8 teams there. Good luck to all, and let's hope the weather holds out, the current forecast is: 80° with a 50% chance of showers.

July 14, 2015

As of tomorrow we will be one month away from our tournament for the 2015 year, we play Saturday August 15th, at Union Street Complex in Bangor. I've heard from a few teams at this point to let me know they are playing this year, but I wanted to remind you if I receive the registration fee prior to August 1st the cost is $100 per team. If you get it to me after then up to and including the day of the tournament the cost is $120 per team.

Sign in period starts at 8am, rules meeting at 8:30am, first game is at 9am, then on the hour until 3pm, with the playoffs slated to start at 3:30 (ish). We will again have 2 divisions of play the Open division which is the more competitive grouping with 24 playoff teams advancing, and the Executive division which is still competitive and will crown a champion but it's not as a high level as the Open division.

We are working on lining up sponsors now (if you or your business/organization would like to advertise with us and be a sponsor please let me know), and raffle items, we will again have our annual home run derby and 50/50 raffle too. Save the date and plan to stop in and visit even if you can't come and play.

April 14, 2015

I just wanted to touch base with everyone and let you know how things are going. First, save the third Saturday in August again for Year 8 of Wiffle for A Wish, we'll play August 15th rain or shine.

Secondly, there have been some changes to the structure of the event. I'm in the process of turning this little event in to it's own non-profit entity. I've created a Board of Directors and the paper work is underway. We'll have our own Tax ID number and all donations will be tax exempt this year because of it. It should make everything much easier for you and for me, and hopefully it allows us to raise more money.

Thirdly, if you have any ideas of corporate sponsors, or people to donate food, drinks, or items for raffle prizes please let me know and I'll be in touch with them.

And finally, the plan is to have 3 groups of competition again this year, the Open Division (where Master Batters are the 2-Time champions), the Executive Division (Bad News Bears the 2014 champs), and I want to start up the Youth Division again after a one year hiatus (11 to 15 year old players).

The Senior League World Series dates have been moved in Bangor starting this year, so other than the Cancer Walk in Brewer we are the only other event going on, bring your friends, get a team together from work and play in the Executive Division, find some ringers and play in the Open Division. Let's really get this thing going for 2015. Registration opens May 1st. I'm taking donations now.

January 17, 2015

To warm you up on this cold, winter weekend here is a look back at some of the defensive plays in 2014. See you in August!

August 28, 2014

And now you can view the results and the photos from this year's tournament.

August 16, 2014

Thank you to all who took part in this year's event. A FANTASTIC day, no rain, great teams, great games. I can't do this alone, I get so much help from my friends and family, they are too countless to name. Thank you so much for all of your help. We'll see you again August 15th, 2015. I'll get totals and photos out next week but for now:

The Home Run Derby Winner is Griffin Libby with 5 homers on 10 swings.

The Executive Division winners is Bad News Bears, a first time team comprised of a number of UMaine execs, and athletic department members. They knocked off the 2 time champs Downtown with Rich Kimball 11-10 in the title game.

And the Open Division winners is our first ever repeat titlists. Congratulations to Master Batters, champs for the second straight year. 7-0, the overall number 1 seed, with just 5 runs allowed. Jake Jones named the tournament MVP.

August 12, 2014

We had a last minute addition to the tournament and that filled the empty slot in the "G" group of the Open Division. So now Benchwarmers are in the field. That gives us 28 teams now, so 4 teams won't make the playoffs, no one is guaranteed a slot in the final 24. The schedule has been updated accordingly.

August 12, 2014

August 10, 2014

The field is set for 2014. Find out your group and schedule now.

April 16, 2014

We are getting close, we are four months away from our sixth year of Wayne's WIFFLE for A Wish. We are playing Saturday August 16th, at the Union Street Complex in Bangor. I'd love to have you take part again this year.

We have raised $38,910 in our first five years, my goal is to hit the 50 grand mark this year, so I need to raise $11,090 to do so. Team entry fees are $100 as always for the Adult divisions, $50 for the Youth division. I have had interest from some local dance moms that want a team, and I'd love to have a Ladies division this year if we have enough interest, that could be a lot of fun.

We'll have T-shirt sales, and prize raffles, along with 50/50 and a home run derby again this year. If you have any questions please contact me, if you know of someone who has said they want to play, pass my info along to them. Registrations run from May 1st to August 1st, so I can get the schedule finalized.

Septemeber 27, 2013

Photos for this year are up, and the previous years have been converted into a new format, migrating away from Flash and embracing PHP. That's just some nerd lingo to say, "hope it works better on your smart phones!"

August 25, 2013

We couldn't have asked for better weather for year five of Wiffle for a Wish, 38 teams playing in 10 different groups in 3 divisions, it was the largest tournament we've ever had. There were some classic games, come from behind wins, amazing pitching performances and clutch hits, and we raised money for a good cause at the same time!

Thanks to everyone who played, who donated, and who stopped by to enjoy the event. We still have some money coming in and bills to pay, but it looks like we'll be able to donate about $10,000 to Make-A-Wish Maine. We do still have tournament T-shirts available still for $12's, and long sleeve shirts for $15. Contact me for details.

August 11, 2013

This year's schedule is now up, check it out. And of course, prepare yourselves... August 17th is coming right up!

May 24, 2013

Registration is now open! To make things a bit easier on you, you can now send your team registration in through a form on this web site, over in the Contact section. Don't wait, there are only 40 slots in the Open Division, 8 in the Executive, and 8 in the Youth Division. Seriously, stop waiting, it's only $100 per team through July.

January 1, 2013

The first highlight video from this year's event is done and embedded below:

I plan on putting together at least one more before the tournament. I did make a mistake on the video, we raised $13,140 this year, not the $13,050 I put in the intro. Hopefully you enjoy it, and remember to clear your schedule for August 17th. We'll have an 8 team youth division in 2013 too. $50 per team for 11-to-15 year olds.

September 15, 2012

Next Saturday is a benefit car wash for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It's going to be held in Orono if you are around and done by the girls of the Chi Omega Sorority. Here are the basics:

Wash for Wishes by Chi Omega to benefit Make-A-Wish
September 23 10AM-2PM
Peoples United bank parking lot
69 Main St. Orono, ME

Also, I wrote out my final check to MAW for the tournament, $12,350, and I had three other checks made directly to the Make-A-Wish Foundation (because companies couldn't donate directly to me) and those totaled $700 more dollars so we raised $13,050 this year for a total in four years of $28,650. Then last night I opened up a letter from Darling's with another $90 donation in it from the money raised at the event by their Ice Cream Truck and money people donated while getting ice cream. Add that into the pot, and we raised $13,140 this year, and our grand total becomes $28,740, that is enough for 4 full wishes and another $4,740 toward another child. We play August 17th, 2013, and the goal is to raise $14,000. We're going to expand and add an 8 team (maximum 8 team) youth division for players at least 11 years old up to 16 years old (must still be 15 by day of tournament).

August 22, 2012

I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for you help, support and donations this year and in the previous three years of this tournament. I am absolutely amazed at the results from this year. I want to thank all of my sponsors, the Title sponsors this year both Sitewerx and The Nite Show with Danny Cashman were back for their second year as the title sponsor, it's the third year Anthony Glidden and Sitewerx have been involved with the tournament. For the first time this year we had an MVP Sponsor, and the Central Maine Wireless trophy was won by Tommy Waterman of the Sons of Pitches.

There were a number of other companies to help us out this year, from WABI TV5, to Quirk Auto, and Winterberry Heights being triple level sponsors. Northeast Planning Associates (NPA), Tires Batteries and Accessories, University Credit Union, and TMatt Tax and Financial were all back as double level sponsors with the tournament. And FA Peabody Insurance, and Hollywood Casino Hotel and Raceway were back as single level sponsors. We also added Moe's Original BBQ, WBRC Architects and Engineers along with ReMax agent Justin Cartier as single level sponsors in their first year with the tournament.

Darling's also came by with their ice cream truck during the day and donated $500 and handed out free treats to the kids, which was a surprise. The kayak from Old Town Canoe was a huge hit in the raffle draw.

After 78 games, the Sons of Pitches were crowned the 2012 champions. They've played in the tournament four years and this was their first appearance in the finals, they beat Finkle and Einhorn Insurance group for the championship. Tom Waterman was named the Tournament MVP.

The real winner was the Make A Wish Foundation of Maine. Through your donations, the support from our sponsors, the team entry fees, T-shirt sales, our 50/50 raffle (won by Kevin Hamel who then donated the money back to us), the home run derby (won by Josh Seeley who then donated the money back to us), and our raffle ticket sales we were able to raise an astounding $13,000 to donate to the Make A Wish Foundation. That money will stay in Maine, and it's enough to grant the wishes of two children right here in our state. The average wish costs $6,000 and one is granted, on average, every 5 days. So just by us playing WIFFLE ball we were able to take care of two wishes all by ourselves. In comparison we raised $15,500 in the first three years, combined. I'm amazed by it all.

I have to find a way to top it in the fifth year of our tournament. So I've set my fundraising goal at $14,000 for 2013. Save the date, Saturday, August 17th, 2013 is the plan for our next event. See you then.

August 12, 2012

The schedule and groups are up for Saturday's tournament. Be sure to check it out.

August 8, 2012

Hey everyone, because I'm a graduate of Katahdin High School and I'm not great at math we are nearly at a perfect number. I love multiples of 4 for the tournament. Right now we have 35 teams signed up with another one tentative. Even though my goal is 40, 36 is makes me sleep at night very easily.

I have two teams willing to switch from the Open to the Executive Division if we get the tentative team to sign up for the Open class, and that will give us even numbers in both divisions and 9 full fields of wiffle ball. So if there is anyone interested in playing I'd like to have this nailed down by Friday, and have all my teams in. Then I'd like to get the groups drawn this weekend and posted out to everyone by next week. I think I'm going to do a blind draw and maybe post it on my YouTube account. That way we'll know who plays in which group, and which one is the group of death (probably Ken Clarks).

If you want to play, let me know. Again if the tentative team (The waffling wifflers if you will) decide to go we're perfect on the number. If they don't we need one slot filled. If they do say they are in, and we get another 2 or 3 teams signing up, I'll have to get creative in the scheduling and grouping. See you soon.

February 19, 2012

There were some questions last year on a couple of rules, so I have tweaked the upcoming season's rules. Please review them so you're all up to date.

Also the final total we raised in 2011 was $8,050, which brings the 3 year total to $15,500. This year I've set my goal of 40 teams and $9,000, if we can do that we would have raised more than $24,000 in four years, which would average out to a wish granted a year for each year of our tournament.

Team Registration opens May 1st. In an effort to make things run more smoothly, and lessen some of the stress, and maybe even be able to have our fund raising totals in earlier we're changing some of the registration fees and dates for this year. From May 1st to August 1st, it's an early registration fee of $100. After August 1st the registration fee is $120.

February 3, 2012

TV 5's Wayne Harvey Surprised With The Community Spirit Award From The Make A Wish Foundation
See the full story here!

August 25, 2011

This year we blew away my goal of $6000, went right past $7000, and will be very close to $7800/$7900 for this year! That is truly amazing, thanks again so much. Once I get the final number I'll pass it along to you, but until then you can relive the events with the highlights of Saturday.

I think, if I can find the time and a computer that works, I'm going to edit a highlight package of the championship game as well.

August 14, 2011

The schedule is now up for this year, and the event is fast approaching!
I know I'm excited!

March 20, 2011

I've updated this year's sponsorship options, the directions page (so that they are more helpful), and we've changed the date for this year's tournament to Saturday, August 20th. We'll take the first 48 teams to sign up. Registration will begin May 1st.

September 4, 2010

All the big updates have been made. The reults are in, the photos are up, and we even have video highlights for you:

The final numbers are in for this year and I can't believe how well we did with our fund raising for the Make A Wish Foundation of Maine, $5550 is the final total for this year. Well surpassing our goal. Now we have to plan a way to surpass that number for next year. I already have some ideas on how to make the day better and run a little more smoothly. The goal for 2011 is to raise $6000 which is the average cost of one Wish to be granted.

Also:
Congratulations to Chicks Dig the Longball Chris Nightengale, Evan McCarthy, Levi Slike, Nick Ciomei, & Andrew Hawkins, 7-1 record and this year's tournament champs. They lost their first game of the day, and didn't lose again. In the finals they beat last years champs Wiffopotamus 4-1 as Evan McCarthy hit a three run walk off home run to win the championship game and be named the 2010 Tournament MVP.

August 22, 2010

We're less than a week away, I know I'm getting excited!
I've updated this year's schedule, which will be up there under Results until the actual results are posted.
I've also updated the rules slightly, and have more details about the raffle:

2010 Raffle Items
Each Raffle Ticket is $5 each. Drawings will be held at 5pm. Put your name and phone number on the ticket if you are not going to be present at the time of drawing.

Grand Prize	Vapor10 Kayak, with paddle and PFD Donated by Old Town Canoe, along with Chad, Jess, & Cullen Lothian
2nd Prize	A Night's Stay at Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway with 2 meal vouchers at the Epic Buffet.
3rd Prize	4 tickets to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame (must be used by May of 2011)
4th Prize	3 hour guided yacht tour for two along the Maine Coast Donated by Eric Brachter of Winterport
5th Prize	4 tickets to the Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor
6th Prize	2 One month memberships to Union Street Athletic Complex in Bangor
7th Prize	1 Day kayak rental, $60 value Donated by Ski Rack Sports

June 19, 2010

We're adding a raffle this year, I'm not sure how I'm going to do this since I've never operated a raffle before. But we've added some great prizes. Check this out:

4 Tickets to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, have to use them by the first part of May 2011
4 Tickets to the Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor (Children's Museum on Main Street)
2 One month passes to Union Street Athletics in Bangor
A Kayak, Paddle and PFD from OT Canoe

These will all be raffled/auctioned off at the tournament, even if you are not going to have a team, these are some great prizes and you can buy tickets without playing on Saturday August 28th.

If you know of anyone who would be interested in playing and helping out the Make A Wish Foundation of Maine please let them know, or contact me.

March 24, 2010

Three rules have been changed/added/clarified, so be sure to check out the rules.

September 1, 2009

We did excellent work raising $2000 for Make-A-Wish! Our goal for 2010 is $2500 and we hope to see you August 28th! Get your team ready and start practicing!

We played despite what Tropical Storm/Depression Danny had to throw at us. It was cold it was wet, but it was fun.

Congratulations to our 2009 Tournament Champions: The Patten Slingers, they were a perfect 7-0, and allowed just one run in those 7 games. Congratulations to Adam Curtis, Scott McLellan, Garth McNally & Jamey McNally.

Our 2009 Tournament MVP was Garth McNally of the Patten Slingers, 6-0 pitching record, no runs allowed, and just one hit given up in six games, with more than 85 strikeouts.