Local kids in a whiffleball league of their own
By george albano
Staff Writer

VERONICA YANKOWSKI Miles Vidreiro, the commissioner of Powerhouse Whiffleball in Helmetta, shows off his league’s version of the “juiced up” ball.

While the threat of a work stoppage looms over Major League Baseball this summer, at least one group of area kids can’t seem to get enough baseball.

Or more specifically, enough whiffleball.

"Power House whiffleball" (PHW) is the name of a local neighborhood league, which, now in its fourth year of operation, is bigger and stronger than ever.

Approximately 20 players, most of them ages 14 and 15 from both Spotswood and Helmetta, make up the boys of summer who comprise the league.

PHW was actually the brainstorm of Miles Vidreiro, who is the commissioner of the league, which only makes sense since all the games are played in his yard.

"Me and my friends who live up the street used to get together to play a lot of different games," Vidreiro, who is about to turn 15 and will be entering his sophomore year at Spotswood High School, explained. "Then one day one of them said we should get some kind of league going, and that’s when I came up with the idea of a whiffleball league. I asked my parents if we could play in our yard, and they said sure."

Ann and Zeb Vidreiro might not have known exactly what they were agreeing to back then in 1999, but it was the start of something exciting, at least for Miles and his friends. Together they all pitched in and helped turn the Vidreiro’s back yard in Helmetta into a makeshift ballpark, complete with a Green Monster in left like Fenway Park, a short porch in right like Yankee Stadium, and even lights for night games.

Games can be played with anywhere from one-on-one to four-on-four, sometimes even five-on-five.

"You, three fielders and a DH or sometimes two DHs," Miles noted. "But we usually get six kids together and play three-on-three."

But league standings are based on individual wins and losses.

"We don’t actually play teams," Miles said. "We just make teams depending on how many kids show up. You have two captains pick teams, and say we win, then everybody on the team gets a win in the standings and everybody on the other team gets a loss. Then we keep standings on how each player does. Everybody has a team name.

"We play only five innings, too, so we can get more games in."

And, naturally, the more times you show up, the more games you play.

"I guess I play the most games because it’s my house," Miles said with a laugh. "But sometimes I even take a day off and just sit and watch everyone else play."

But while this league has been free of labor woes, it has had to endure its share of obstacles.

"We’ve had to deal with a difficult neighbor," Miles pointed out. "Her property was right on the other side of the home run fence in the outfield, so we had to go over there often to retrieve the ball, and she said she didn’t like us going on her property."

Of course, that made it tough for a league called Powerhouse Whiffleball.

"We named it that because we like home runs," Miles said. "The whole league is based on home runs. There’s not much strategy involved. You always try to hit a home run. You get singles and doubles, too, but it doesn’t count as much.

"Everything is automatic," he added. "There’s no base running. You hit certain areas, and they count for different things."

But as the home run total increased, so did the number of balls landing in the neighbor’s yard. But after one towering shot broke a window, some of the rules changed a bit.

"My dad doesn’t allow us to go over there anymore to get the ball back," Miles said. "So a home run is a win and a loss. You gain a home run, but you also lose a ball. She actually takes them inside the house. I’d like to see her collection. But every now and then she throws them back over."

The league eventually moved to the front yard halfway through the second season, but it wasn’t the same without the Green Monster or short porch.

"We played a year and a half in the front, but we didn’t like it too much. About only six kids came regularly and we played a lot of one-on-one.

"Sometimes we’d get eight kids there at the same time and have four teams of two-on-two.

"We finished the 2000 season in the front and played there in 2001, too. But this year we went back to the back yard."

Along with some more rule changes.

"We switched to a different bat," Miles said. "We use a smaller bat now so we hit less home runs. We used to use this big black bat, a Ken Griffey replica, and we hit a lot of home runs. Now we use the traditional yellow whiffleball bat, but we tape it all up to get a little more power.

"We’re still not allowed to go over in the neighbor’s yard, though. A couple of times I tried and got caught."

Every league has its problems, right?

But the return to the back yard translated into increased attendance. No talk of contraction in this league.

And when Miles’ father installed a half-dozen set of small lights up in the trees, the league was playing well into the night.

"My dad is really into it and helps me out with the field, but he still controls it. During the week we can play until 10 o’clock and on weekends up until 11. And after nine we have to turn the music off."

Music?

"One of the kids in the league thinks he can sing so we let him create our own CD, which we play during games. And whoever’s not playing announces the game. We have one kid who actually enjoys announcing more than playing."

There’s even an announcer’s booth and a lounge, a converted caged-area that once belonged to the family dog.

"We put a couch in there so now people sit out there and watch the games and try to catch home runs. If you hit it into the cage, it’s an automatic triple.

"My dad recently put a small refrigerator out there, too, and we keep it full of refreshments so we can keep cool during the games. We’re thinking about putting a microwave out there, too, so we can heat up soft pretzels with cheese and eat them during the game."

There’s not much Miles and his friends haven’t thought of. Through the wonders of computers, they even publish their own league magazine, complete with articles on players and advertisements.

"We have some of the local stores in there, but the ads are funny, and we don’t make any money on them," he said. "But it’s 13 pages, and it keeps everybody up-to-date, even people not in the league. That’s how one kid joined the league. He found out about it through the magazine."

If you can’t wait for the next issue, you can always go to the league’s official Web site (http://phwf.cjb.net), which includes the latest standings and stats, game summaries, quotes of the week, a photo gallery, and information on the players’ union.

Vidreiro holds the league home run ecord with 25 HRs in season, but that’s being challenge this year by Dylan Bamrick, who should break it easily, especially since the end of the season is nowhere in sight.

"We tried to play in the winter once, but it died out," Miles said. "A lot of kids didn’t like to play in the cold. It’s hard to play with frozen bats. One year we had to play Game 7 of the World Series four months after the series started because it got too cold."

It hardly ever gets too cold for Miles, who has played baseball all his life.

In fact, he played this summer in the recreation youth baseball league in Old Bridge and recently took part in the district all-star tournament. He also played freshman basketball and varsity tennis at Spotswood.

But he’s developed quite a love for whiffleball the last four years as his league has taken on a life all its own. He also realizes, however, it will probably end someday soon.

"Maybe after next summer or another two seasons," he says. "We’ll all be driving soon so it might be tough to keep it going. Maybe our senior year we’ll have a big tournament and end it there.

"But right now it keeps us busy and we’re having a lot of fun."

Maybe Major League Baseball could learn a thing or two from them.