Funky’s second world title one of biblical proportions

(July 24, 2011 - Mishawaka, Ind. USA)  Teams have won World Whiffleball Championships by bigger margins in the vaunted tournament's 32 years, but this year's champs looked as otherworldly as any team in history, winning eight straight games, not only with the requisite barrage of homers, but with perhaps the most suffocating defense the game has ever seen.

Mishawaka's 'Funky Plastic Offspring' added a second world title to their 2011 national championship today, defeating Elkhart, Indiana's 'Baugo Bombers' 9-8 in the final game of the 55-team, two day tournament. FPO beat three-time champion 'Club Ripped' in one semifinal; Baugo took out the defending champs, 'Balco Boys,' in the other semi.

FPO thoroughly dominated the world championship game until the bottom of the sixth, when trailing 9-5, the upstart 'Bombers' scored three quick runs, threatening to take down the national champs. But it was not to be as FPO recorded the final out on a weak grounder to the pitcher.

For two days the FPO defense was led by Dan and Randy Schuster, the two brothers routinely going high over the six-foot fence to rob the opposition of homers, as well as making tremendous diving catches and nifty quick-scoop plays to their stellar pitcher, Joel Cyrier. One 'Baugo' player said of the brothers as he came to bat in the final game, "Who should I hit it to? Jesus or Moses?"

The third Schuster brother, Joe, played catcher, a testament to the depth of the team, as he no doubt could have played left field for almost any other team in the tourney.

Team captain and Hall-of-Famer Mike Schuster, the boys' father, now owns his third world title in 26 years, the first as a pitcher on the 1985 champion 'Laidig,' the second with FPO in 2007. FPO won the National Whiffleball Championship in Skokie, Ill., on June 25. They finish 2011 with an amazing 15-0 record against the nation's and world's best.

Tournament Notes:
Three-time champions, the aging 'Sure Things,' reunited after several years off, going all the way to the final 24. Seven-time champs, the Blue Ribbon Builders, were a no-show, ending their 24-consecutive-years in the tournament. The oldest team in the tournament and two-time champion, The Homeboys, made their 31st consecutive tourney appearance. Their DH and the game's co-founder, Jim Bottorff, 50, recorded his first long ball since 2001, making him only the third known player 50-and-over to homer in a tournament game.

Super 20 Whiffleball Teams on the Planet Earth
The World Whiffleball Commission's computer rankings of the Super 20 Whiffleball Teams on the Planet Earth as of July 24, 2011.

 1. Funky Plastic Offspring; Mishawaka, Ind.
 2. Baugo Bombers; Elkhart, Ind.
 3. Club Ripped; Chicago, Ill.
 4. Balco Boys; Mishawaka, Ind.
 5. Clutch Players; Michiana, Michigan
 6. The Ribbies; South Bend, Ind.
 7. Cult West II; South Bend, Ind.
 8. Deuces Wild; Munster, Ind.
 9. Steal Your Base; South Bend, Ind.
10. South Side Crowes; South Bend, Ind.
11. Monon Yankers; Olathe, Kan.
12. Boss Air; Mishawaka, Ind.
13. Y.T.S.; Fort Wayne, Ind.
14. Lombard Lightning; London, England
15. Scared Hitless; Fishers, Ind.
16. Looney Wifflers; New Carlisle, Ind.
17. Spangenberg Mustaches; Lisle, Ill.
18. South Side Bomb Squad; South Bend, Ind.
19. Black Rain; Goshen, Ind.
20. South Side Smoky City G's; South Bend, Ind.