Not playing around
JEFFERSON TWP — Tres Sperling races toward home plate at Cunningham Yards, a Wiffle ball diamond complete with a scoreboard and an outfield wall made of an orange snow fence.
Kraig King has the ball and sprints to meet him on the third-base line.
There's a collision with Sperling toppling and rolling and King sprawled out on the grass.
Sperling is out.
They take their Wiffle ball seriously at Cunningham Yards and in Major League Wiffle Ball, the league Knoch graduate Spencer Kale started this summer with 44 of his closest friends.
How seriously?
There was a draft that was streamed live on Twitter. There will be an All-Star Game with the participants voted on by league members via ballots, a championship series, a trophy to the winner and a post-season banquet to hand out league awards like MVP.
“When it comes to Spencer Kale and our group of friends,” says Nick Cunningham, general manager of the Ivywood Gardensnakes and part-owner of Cunningham Yards, “We like to take it to the full extent and make it serious.”
The league didn't cheap out on the fields, either. All have a fence, bases and most even have chalk lines.
Cunningham Yards is the jewel of the league. The outfield wall has advertisements and bunting and the dimensions are marked in feet.
It's 95 feet down the line and over the right field wall that doubles as a shed.
“This field has really turned into something down here,” Cunningham said.
The idea for the Wiffle ball league spawned this spring when Kale, Cunningham, Connor Shinsky, Colin McTighe, Adam Albert and King had just finished a spirited game on the field that would become Cunningham Yards.
“We were like, 'All right. This is fun. Why don't we do a summer league?'” Kale said. “And we were like, 'Yeah!”
Kale got on his cell phone and began texting others.
After the first round of texts, there were 26 — including the original six, who would become general managers.
A few days later as word spread, that number had swelled to 35.
And the MLWB was born.
On June 8, the draft was held as only a 21st century Wiffle ball draft could.“I made a big board with every player who was available,” Kale said. “Nick's dad has an app on his iPad and we streamed the draft live on Twitter.”Patrick Albert snuck looks at the draft while spending time with his girlfriend.“I just wanted to see where they picked me,” Albert said, laughing. “I had the phone under the table and was looking at it.”He was also part of one of the first trades in league history.“At the end, there were a couple of players traded,” he said. “I was traded to the (Southern Butler Golden Foxes). The GM texted me: 'Congratulations, you have been traded to the Foxes.'”Troy Hixson was a first-round draft pick and said there was a good bit of friendly trash talking about who went where and when.“Everyone watched the draft,” Hixson said. “When Peyton Maziarz went in the first pick, everyone was upset because everyone wanted to be the first pick. First round to eighth round, there wasn't much of a difference, though, because everyone is competitive.”The action on the field is just as competitive.And unpredictable.Cunningham's Gardensnakes, who were in line for a first-round bye, were upset by Hixson's Great Belt Bombers, who came into the game with just one win thanks to a 26-run outburst in the seventh and eighth innings for a 35-29 victory.Despite the loss, Cunningham said everyone in the league has fun.“It's a blast,” said Cunningham, who is also designated as the MLWB Players Association President. “We've had doubleheaders here where we've had a full day of Wiffle ball. It's great. I was really surprised. At first when we had the draft, I thought guys would really be into it at the start, but I've been impressed with how they've stayed into it. If someone can't make it to a game, they get mad.”Kale and Cunningham hope to keep the league going beyond this summer.“I don't see why not,” Kale said. “We have some ideas for some rule changes. I think everyone is having so much fun, no one wants to see it just be a one-year wonder.”
