Nisei Lounge raises $1,100 in Wiffle Ball derby for Lost Boyz Inc.

Nisei Lounge turned a backyard Wiffle Ball derby into a $1,100 lift for Lost Boyz Inc., with local breweries and regulars teaming up for the Tuffy Rhodes Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby Invitational. The Monday, July 13 event started at 6 p.m. at Nisei Lounge and used registration fees plus a 50/50 raffle to build the total.

The setup had the feel of an old-school baseball sideshow, only with neighborhood names attached to the fun. Social posts said many area breweries in Chicago paired with Nisei Lounge regulars, giving the event a built-in turnout that a standard dinner fundraiser usually has to fight to create from scratch. That mix of bar patrons, brewery teams and a simple home run derby format helped keep the night loose while still producing a clear result: money for a South Side youth program.

Lost Boyz Inc. is based in South Shore and serves children ages 4 to 17 through baseball and softball. The organization also leans on sports as part of its violence-prevention work in the neighborhood, which makes the derby’s $1,100 haul matter well beyond the box score of a one-night event. When grants dry up, as they have for the group, small events with a built-in audience and a nostalgic hook can carry more practical value than a polished gala with a higher ticket price and fewer people swinging a bat.

Nisei Lounge leaned hard into the throwback tone. One post joked that the player in the foreground was probably not actually Mickey Morandini, a reminder that the event was built on baseball memory as much as competition. The derby’s title nods to Tuffy Rhodes, and that kind of recognizable, slightly offbeat baseball reference is exactly what gives a Wiffle Ball event local traction: it feels familiar enough for casual fans, but still specific enough to draw people who know the names.

The bar also had plenty of reason to frame the night as a win. Nisei Lounge described the derby as a success, and the final figure showed why. In a city where bars and breweries compete for attention every night, a low-stakes Wiffle Ball event delivered turnout, money and a clear beneficiary in one shot.