Is there a better backyard game than playing wiffle ball with an official wiffle ball bat? I can remember as a kid playing wiffle ball day after day during the summer in our neighborhood. What started in the 1950's has sure exploded today.

There are now so many competitive wiffle ball leagues throughout the U.S. and it just continues to grow. Do you know how the game of wiffle ball got its start?

It all began back in the early 1950's when David A Mullany and his good friends would get together and play baseball in the yard. Instead of using a hard baseball they used an old plastic golf ball along with a broom handle for a bat. (No wiffle ball bat yet) Haven't we all done that before? Well, trying to throw a curveball with a plastic golf ball just doesn't work out too well.

David's father got an idea to change all that. He had used to be a semi-pro baseball player and knew a lot about pitching. He went down to a local factory and took some plastic tooling designs and came home with a plastic ball. Using a knife he cut eight oblong perforations into one half of the ball and tested it out.

The ball curved beautifully without a lot of effort. They had what they wanted for their game. Of course, what they didn't know at that time was that they had a whole new way of playing baseball! A year later they began packaging and selling their wiffle balls.

Today, they are sold literally around the world. The name for wiffle ball came from the fact that a swing and a miss in baseball is called a "whiff". And because it can be difficult to hit a curving wiffle ball, the name was a natural for it.

The game itself is very simple. The only equipment is the ball and the bat. There is no need for baseball gloves, uniforms, or cleats. As for the wiffle ball bat, they are manufactured for the wiffle ball company by someone else. The standard yellow wiffle ball bat is 30" long and only 1.25" in diameter. It is made as a hard hollow plastic.

There are many other types and brands of plastic baseball bats, but the wiffle ball bat is the one I would stick with. Not only is it a little tougher to hit, but it makes the game more fair. If you are using one of those jumbo orange bats then you're not playing a real game.

The original yellow wiffle ball bat has the pop and the crispness that all other bats lack. I have also seen others using a metal wiffle ball bat, but again, that is a little unfair to pitchers and the game in general. Plus, it can easily break the wiffle ball itself with its power.

The original wiffle ball rules are still available from the company today. You can write to them and have them sent to you. Here is the company address. The Wiffle Ball Inc., PO Box 193, Shelton, CT 06484.

Wiffle ball is just flat out fun and exciting for both kids and parents as well. Hopefully you have taken the opportunity to play the game yourself.