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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Reed Lochamy of the Lost Boys takes his turn at the plate against the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Nick Daviston taps the pitching target as he steps up to bat for the Lost Boys in a matchup with the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Jack Rice and Stella Stewart serve as announcers during the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Bluff Daddies take on the Lost Boys in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Harold Collins tries to throw out a runner as the Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Bluff Daddies take on the Lost Boys in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Bluff Daddies take on the Lost Boys in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Harold Collins pitches for the Lost Boys against the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Bluff Daddies take on the Lost Boys in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Bluff Daddies take on the Lost Boys in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Harold Collins pitches for the Lost Boys against the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Bluff Daddies take on the Lost Boys in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Lost Boys take on the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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The Bluff Daddies take on the Lost Boys in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Will Lochamy of the Lost Boys takes his turn at the plate against the Bluff Daddies in the first game of the Wiffle on the Bluff men's whiffle ball league at Children's Fresh Air Farm in the Bluff Park community on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.
The men of Bluff Park have gotten in on the whiffle ball trend, launching a new men’s whiffle ball league on Sunday.
The men followed the lead of the Bluff Park women, who founded their league in 2019.
There were officially 96 men on eight teams as of Sunday, but the guys have kept signing up, and now there are at least 130 wanting to play, lead organizer Harold Collins said. That provides a good stable of substitutes for when guys can’t make it, he said.
The games will be played at the Children’s Fresh Air Farm, the same place where the women played their season this past summer. The season will run for eight weeks, followed by an end-of-season tournament.
“There’s no better place than the Fresh Air Farm,” Collins said. “To have a place like this for the community to play is just awesome.”
A slew of companies have signed up to be sponsors for the men’s league, which is called Wiffle on the Bluff, and with those sponsorships, the league is making a contribution of about $10,000 to the Children’s Fresh Air Farm, a ministry of Independent Presbyterian Church that provides summer camp experiences to children in the greater Birmingham area.
Collins said he wanted to start the whiffle ball league about five years ago because he loves whiffle ball so much, but the women — led by Sherrie Roberts — beat him to it.
It’s a great way to build community and give people a chance to meet their neighbors. “It kind of has a Mayberry feel to it,” Collins said. “We like to think of Bluff Park as a modern-day Mayberry.”
Collins said the league wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of a lot of volunteers, including his fellow league commissioners Kyle Foshee, Brian Gregson and Dan Haynes.
The names of the teams are the Lost Boys, Bluff Park Daddies, Wyffindor, Pink Rangers, Axe to Grind, Benchwarmers, Moonshots and The Carlton Banks Experience.
Collins said that if he can get interest, he’d like for the winners and/or or all-stars of the league to play the winners and/or all-stars of a similar men’s league in Ross Bridge. Women from the two leagues battle it out for the Hoover Wiffle Crown each year.
There also are whiffle ball leagues in communities such as Lake Wilborn and Riverchase.