Among the genres of comedy, one is particularly prominent: screwball comedy. Ohio State alumni Ross Patterson and Tommy Reid got to take the term a tad more literal than most.

“Screwball: The Ted Whitfield Story” follows the nation’s turn to professional wiffle ball in light of the 1994 Major League Baseball strike. Patterson, a funnyordie.com contributor, plays Ted “The Wiffler” Whitfield, a Babe Ruth figure for professional wiffle ball.

However, the movie ends up being a send-up of modern Major League Baseball. Aside from being set during the strike, Whitfield turns to steroids in his pursuit of the league’s home run record.

Reid, the producer and director, said the idea for the screenplay originated as a television pitch for ESPN.

“Ross gave me a short story about Ted Whitfield and his chase for the home run record,” he said. “It was originally scripted for a half-hour show on ESPN, but they ended up going for nonfiction shows instead.”

The screenplay was adapted in “mockumentary” style, similar to the cult-classic comedy “Spinal Tap.”

Patterson said his experience playing wiffle ball as a child made it relatively easy for him to step into the role of a professional player.

“We shot at a Little League park, the walls were about 200 feet,” he said with faux grandeur. “I literally hit the ball out of the field. That’s how good I am. I’m a gifted individual.”

Despite Patterson’s apparent talent for the game, the cast went out before shooting began to prepare for the action.

“No bulls—,” Patterson said. “We went out a couple of weeks before shooting to get used to the curves of the wiffle ball.”

Patterson said not everyone in the cast caught on as easily as him.

“Joey Kern was terrible,” he said of the actor playing pitcher Willie “High-Sox” Hamilton. “The pitcher could not throw a pitch to save his life. He was like Jim Abbott (former Major League one-armed pitcher) throwing with the wrong arm.”

Reid said that coming up with rules for the theoretical wiffle ball league wasn’t difficult, they just used the rules from Patterson’s league.

“Everyone has their own version of their own wiffle ball league,” Reid said. “Ross had his own version (as a child). For the league, we used that version.”

Patterson and Reid both harbored memories from the 1994 strike, even if professional wiffle ball wasn’t one of them. Patterson, a native Georgian, remembers that the strike let his Braves off the hook.

“I’m a diehard fan. Montreal was ahead of us by six games. They would’ve beaten us,” he said. “I was psyched about it. I didn’t care that they went on strike.”

“Screwball” isn’t headed to any theaters around the Columbus area, but on Oct. 1 it will be available via iTunes, Netflix and other on-demand video-streaming sites.

The DVD will come out in January. The pair said the October release date was chosen to line up with the fever pitch surrounding Major League Baseball as the playoff push occurs.

The film is the second the duo has completed together. The unlikelihood of their initial meeting makes their partnership seem almost like fate. Reid, originally from New Jersey, was an economics major at OSU while Patterson pursued journalism. They met during a theater class and struck up a friendship.

Reid graduated from OSU in 1997 and went on to earn a film degree from New York University. Patterson graduated in 1999 and followed in Reid’s footsteps, also getting a theater degree from NYU.

Although both attended NYU to get involved with filmmaking, as OSU does not have a film program, they still pack plenty of Buckeye pride. During a conference call with The Lantern, the two were busy watching the Buckeyes pummel Eastern Michigan University. Eddie George also made an appearance in their last film together in 2007’s “7-10 Split.”

The two said there isn’t a third project in sight yet.

“Not right now, but hey, you never know in the future,” Patterson said.

Patterson’s final comment on the film, along the lines of his wiffle-ball-playing claims, was “Screwball” is to movies somewhat like what Babe Ruth was to baseball in his day.

“It’s the greatest movie ever made.”