Bloop ball

Bloop ball is a game created in the 1960's by the Shields family of Park Hills Kentucky. It is a game based on baseball and kickball in several aspects. Currently is it still practiced by several hundred people in northern Kentucky. As of March 15, 2008 the website www.bloopball.com was still under construction but had plans to go online in the near future.

Set-up
Equipment
For Bloop ball to be played correctly, it must have the proper equipment. The game uses a Wiffle ball bat, a large soft plastic inflatable ball (not a beach ball), and 4 bases.

First, the Wiffle ball bat must be changed. This is done by cutting off the end of the bat so that the large end of the bat is open. In this empty space, newspaper is inserted until it is sufficiently filled and packed firmly. Next, the part of the bat that was previously removed is now re-positioned in its former location and affixed with duct tape. Finally, the bat is flipped over so that the small end of the bat with the knob and hole are facing upwards. Into this hole a liquid must be poured to moisten the previously inserted newspaper. Once the liquid has been poured and allowed to be absorbed, the bat is finished.

The type of ball that is used is crucial to the success of the game. It must be a soft plastic ball made of mildly heavy plastic and have a somewhat large hard plastic plug on one side. These are important because they affect the flight of the ball.

The bases that should be used do not need to be exactly like baseball bases, but do need to be set up in the same configuration. A natural object such as a tree can be used as a base, but during game play, if a person is running to that base, the defensive player with the ball can strike the base with the ball and the runner running to the base is considered to be out. This rule is not always allowed but is at the discretion of all participating members.

Fair territory can either be considered to be the area contained by the imaginary line that extends to and past third and first base from home plate called the "base lines" or can be extended outside of each of the bases. The base line is usually only extended outside of the normal area to accommodate an area or specific object such as a tree. A home run is again at the discretion of the participating members. Natural barriers such as a road, wall, or rooftop can be deemed the "home run fence."

Player Selection
Usually, player selection in Bloop ball in unceremonious and is only used to create equal teams. However, this is optional and the selection can be done in the pursuit of victory if a team so chooses.

Game play
There are two traditional ways that Bloop ball can be played. Both have features that are consistent among both, but there are some differences. Some consistencies are: three outs per team per inning, each person who crosses home base safely after contacting all subsequent bases scores 1 run for their respective team regardless of age, the batting order is determined by age (youngest to oldest), all obstacles in fair territory are in play including dogs, trees, and spectators. If a ball hits an object in fair territory followed by a runner, the runner is out; if the ball hits an object in fair territory and bounces into the air without contacting the ground or is suspended by a tree and a defensive player catches it, the batter that hit the ball is considered to be out. Each batter who comes to the plate will have the ball thrown to them by the pitcher and they must attempt to hit the ball in fair territory. If the pitcher does not throw the ball at a low velocity, the pitcher is ridiculed by all spectators and told to throw a pitch that the batter can hit. If the problem persists, the player can either remove themselves from the pitching position or someone can remove them. If a ball is hit to, or past the before mentioned home run fence, it is considered to be a home run and the team to which the player that hit the home run belongs is awarded 1 point. The number of innings played per game is at the discretion of the participating members and as long as full innings are played, the game can end at any time. The recommended number of players for Bloop ball is 6-20 players per team depending on player preferences and the size of the playing field.

Variant With Small Children
In this game variant, young children (usually up to 10 years old) are allowed to play along with adults but must be supervised. For example: a child who is too young to know how to correctly swing the bat can be helped by an adult to swing and hit the ball. They must, however, run for themselves. As they are running, they do not necessarily have to contact the base. If they are contacted by the ball they are considered to be out but their out only counts as 1/2 an out. So in this variant, you must get 6 children out to end a half inning as opposed to 3 adults or any combination thereof as long as it adds up to 3 total outs. Also, if a child is too small, it is at the playing members' discretion as to whether their out should count at all.

Variant Without Small Children

In this game variant, small children are not allowed to play. This is usually used because the adult members of the game would like the game to go faster (small children usually impede this wish). This variant has all participating members counting as 1 out. The people who pitch cannot be "kids" as determined by the discretion of the members of the particular person's team. If a "kid" attempts to pitch the members of their team have the option of declaring, "NO KID PITCHERS," after which time, if the rest of the team is in agreement, the person deemed a "kid" must revoke their request to pitch.

Bloop Ball Logo
The Bloop ball logo was designed and created by Daniel P. Shields in March 2008. It can be viewed here

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