She’s dressed the ghost of Babe Ruth for an HBO special and made the perfect uniform for a 6-foot tall minor league baseball mascot with 72-inch hips. Meet Paula Weaver, who along with her husband, Ken, owns K & P Weaver, LLC, a manufacturer and supplier of 19th and early 20th century athletics uniforms and accessories. Founded in 1992 as a maker of Civil War uniforms and accessories, the company branched off into baseball uniforms in 1996. Today, the business is thriving, thanks to sky-high demand for vintage and farm team baseball uniforms. In response, Paula works in her Orange, Conn.-based home workshop 12 to 15 hours a day, seven days a week. Ken helps, too, by finishing seams, sewing buttons, and packaging.

Though she always loved to sew, Weaver had several other occupations before founding K & P Weaver. She worked for about 15 years at Southern New England Telephone Co., while earning a college degree in the computer field. When she left the telephone company because of downsizing, she decided to attend Southern to receive certification in special education. She worked in special education for five years. Then, in the 1990s, Ken learned through research that he had ancestors in the Civil War and joined a re-enactment group. He asked Paula to make him a uniform, and the two delved into research, even visiting the Smithsonian Institution to get a closer look at originals. Ken’s finished uniform was greatly admired at reenactments, and orders began pouring in from around the country. Before Paula knew it, a business was born. In 1996, Paula experienced another professional epiphany, but this time she stayed in the same career ballpark — literally and figuratively. She and Ken heard about a vintage baseball team from Connecticut, the Middletown Mansfields, and went to see them play against the Great Black Swamp Frogs of Ohio. The game was vintage all the way. The guys played like gentlemen of yesteryear — no cursing, spitting, or scratching. The pitches were underhanded, and the ball could be caught on one bounce. If the players wanted to roll up their sleeves, the protocol was to ask “the ladies in the audience.” There was only one glitch for Paula: one team wore t-shirts and the other was in pseudo uniforms. “A bell went off in my head,” says Paula. The next stop for the couple was the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Paula next sent a brochure to nearly every vintage team in the country, showing what style uniform they would have worn back in the day. Once again, the orders came in like a fast pitch. Since 1996, the number of vintage teams in the country has grown from 30 to about 125, and if they have uniforms, there’s a good chance Paula made them. K & P’s uniforms also grace displays in numerous historical landmarks and museums, among them The National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian Institution. The couple also holds a license to replicate the uniforms of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of 1943-1954. Hollywood has come calling, as well. HBO asked Paula to create a uniform for the ghost of Babe Ruth for a special, “Curse of the Bambino.” She also was hired by HBO to make a tank-top jersey for a special on Adolf Hitler’s attempts to keep Jews from playing in the 1936 Olympics. And Fox Television ordered an 1880s-style men’s jersey with a sexy flare to be worn by a woman on the show “New Amsterdam.” What’s next for the homerun couple? Paula answers with a smile: “We’re researching football.”

Bat. Ball. Business Plan.

Two alumni are turning a passion for WIFFLE® ball into their ultimate career.

By Marianne Lippard

That bright yellow plastic bat that provided endless hours of neighborhood fun is far more than child’s play for Jared Verrillo, ’05, and Nick Benas, ’07. In 2007, the longtime friends left behind their nine-to-five jobs to devote themselves full-time to Big League WIFFLE® ball. Today, Verrillo and Benas run Sandlot Recreation from an office in Branford, Conn. The business hosts WIFFLE® ball tournaments across the country, including corporate events and fund raisers for organizations like The Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The partners, who prefer to be called co-commissioners, can trace the roots of their business back to childhood. As kids, the duo created a “top-notch” WIFFLE® ball field in their neighborhood.

Fittingly, the factory where WIFFLE® bats and balls are made is located in Connecticut, as well. Its founder, David Mullany, a local baseball hero, mortgaged his home in 1953 to create The Wiffle Ball, Inc., which is located in Shelton.

More than five decades later, the game has retained much of its homespun roots and focus on simplicity. WIFFLE® ball teams usually have three to five players, and the games are played on a field that is smaller and more intimate than a traditional softball field. The sport is also inclusive: most tournaments draw participants from their teens to their sixties. Verrillo and Benas were among them. Beginning in high school, the partners played WIFFLE® ball competitively, and ultimately used their earnings to help fund the business. Top prizes can vary, but are usually about $1,000.

For both partners, sharing their love of the game comes naturally. Benas, a Marine Corps veteran stationed in Iraq in 2004-2005, taught Iraqi police officers how to play during downtime. The police officers, avid soccer fans, were intrigued when they saw the plastic ball and bat, and became instant fans of the game, he says.

Benas was drawn to Southern after meeting Jack Mordente, associate director of student supportive services and head of the office of Veterans Affairs, who Benas says is known as an advocate for veterans on the local, state, and national levels. Benas also found a mentor in Patricia Olney, associate professor of political science. “She motivated me to follow my dreams,” he says. Thus far, the result of those dreams has been promising. Benas says the economic downturn hasn’t hurt business. In fact, the partners see renewed interest in WIFFLE® ball, which became popular in the 1950s and remains a staple in homes across the country, despite the draw of high-tech video games. Both say that they see the sport taking off internationally, with televised tournaments in the future.

Recently, the pair was featured on Fox’s “This Week in Baseball” and CNBC’s “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.” And more big ideas are on the horizon. Verrillo is working on developing new products that can be used in WIFFLE® ball.

Verrillo and Benas also organized a tournament set to take place at Southern on May 2-3. The goal: to set a Guinness World Record for mass participation in a WIFFLE® Ball tournament. A reality show pilot is slated to be filmed during the event, which potentially could bring the sport a wider audience.

Next at Bat

By Michael Kobylanski, associate director of athletics/communications

Some of the faces may be different, but the goal remains the same for head coach Tim Shea, ’87, and the Owls’ baseball team as it embarks on the 2009 season — qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

The team is building on a strong legacy. The Owls have reached the NCAA Tournament three times in the past four years and four times since 2001. Last season, the club concluded the year with a 36-19 win-loss mark overall, which tied for the second-most season wins in school history. Pitcher Jim Fuller and infielder Mike Diaz were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft following the campaign, and both left Southern early to pursue professional careers.

Nevertheless, the Owls are focused on maintaining their high level of success this season, even with the addition of 11 newcomers to the roster. If the fall season provides any indication, Southern should fare well. The Owls defeated two Division I programs — Yale and Quinnipiac — to capture the prestigious City Series Championship in October. Leading the way for the Owls is senior All-American Karl Derbacher. As a junior, Derbacher collected All-America and Northeast Region Player of the Year honors from three organizations, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings, and Daktronics. Derbacher also was named the 2008 Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year after batting .408 with 53 runs batted in, a .550 slugging percentage, and 28 stolen bases. He ranked among the top 50 players nationally in hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases per game, and stolen bases.

Joining Derbacher as team captains this year are fellow seniors Kevin Bowerman and Mike Connors. Bowerman is coming off a season in which he batted .329 with 29 stolen bases and 29 RBI. Pitcher Mike Connors has been one of the top relievers in the Northeast-10 Conference during the past few seasons and is one of the top options out of the bullpen. He didn’t allow an earned run in 17 appearances last season, while posting a 2-0 mark and five saves.

The starting rotation is anchored by a pair of returners. Senior Justin Cox has earned All-Conference honors twice in the last three seasons. He registered a 6-4 record in 2008 with a 3.09 earned run average (ERA). Junior southpaw Ed Bethke was 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA and ranked second on the team in innings pitched.

The incoming group, which Shea deemed the best recruiting class in program history prior to their arrival in the fall, figures to play an important role in the program’s development, this year and beyond.

For more information on Southern athletics, visit www.SouthernCTowls.com.