Our playing field was sandwiched…
Our playing field was sandwiched between a five-story Catholic school and a six-story tenement. At the base of the tenement building our concrete stoop was located, protruding about four inches from the sidewalk and about three inches back toward the building; it was no more than a foot in length. Practice and precision were the key elements. Hitting the point of the stoop with that gum-colored spaldeen produced nasty line drives that were extremely difficult for the infielder to handle. However, not ever hitter found the point that easily; one had to master the stoop to constantly catch the point–striking the point with the ball was an art in itself. The field was cobblestone blocks (the old city streets before the tar paving), and the grounders were tricky. Infielders developed good hands and good instincts staying with those hard grounders that could shoot upwards toward your face anytime, scooping those grounds off the cobblestone was another skill in itself. The Catholic school was across the street from the stoop and hitter. When we would play with only one or two guys on a team (Not running bases), we’d use these rules: a line drive to the first floor of the school was a double; a drive to the second floor a triple; and, a shot to the third floor a home run. However, if the fielder caught the ball as it ricoceted off the school BEFORE it touched the ground, the hitter was out. But, when we had enough guys to play running bases (usually about five players on a team), we had to resort to the regular rules of baseball. The most beautiful thing about our stoop, though, was that it was next to the corner candy store. A spaldeen, a few kids around, fifteen cents in your pocket, a Saturday–you couldn’t ask for anything better.
There is a stickball hitting…
There is a stickball hitting contest on Sunday, August 10th. in Fosterdale New York. Sullivan County, near Monticello. Phone #.(845) 932-8538. Noon to 5pm. Also a CAR, BIKE, and QUAD show.. I,ve been working out all freekin week, I got some Spaldings ($1.99) a piece, The guy said they got bats, and you also can bring your own. If any of you guys can make it, call the phone #.. it is a car dealer, and motel about 15 miles past Monticello Raceway, on Route 17B…It is for GLORY, hitting for distance, but maybe we can choose up a game of pitchin in, or automatics,i,m 57 , ready to rock and roll…
When I slept over, I would…
At my friends party when…
I grew up in Brooklyn on…
I grew up in Brooklyn on Atlantic Ave., near Saratoga, (Bed Sty). I went to PS 87. I don’t remember a “Pinky” we all had Spaldeens. I remember the smell of a new one, just thinking about those games; stick ball, stoop ball, punch ball, box ball and hit the penny brings back fond memories. when we moved to Brownsville, all the kids there had Spaldeen’s too.
We played in McKinley school…
forgot to add that we didn’t…
I grew up in northeast phila…in…
I grew up in northeast phila…in the ’60s we used to melt down solder and fill the bottlecaps to get some really deadly impact into the game. since the twistoff cap didn’t exist, the trick was to get the cap off the bottle without damaging the sides..this let you get the maximum amount of solder into the cap. We ended up making a rule (after some knock down and drag out fist fights) that the solder couldn’t crown over the top of the cap…it had to be flush…to try to equalize the game. My old man was an electrician, though, and the otherkids didn’t know that I was doping the caps with mercury. I would cast the lead around the mercury and my bombers were the B52’s of the block…
I grew up in Miami in the…
I grew up in Miami in the 80’s. I’m the only person I know who remembers this one: When Susie was a baby, a baby, a baby When Susie was a baby, she used to go like this: [Pretend to suck thumb and say Waa! Waa!] When Susie was a schoolgirl, a schoolgirl, a schoolgirl When Susie was a schoolgirl, she used to go like this: [???] I can’t remember what she did, but the verses took her through teenager, mother, grandmother, angel, mummy, skeleton, etc. I know the for the “mother” you’d scold your finger at the other girl, and the “skeleton” would place her arms over her chest. Anyone else remember? i know it differently, miss susie was a baby, a baby, a baby, miss susie was a baby, and she went like this wahh, wahh! miss susie was a toddler, a toddler,a toddler, atoddler, miss susie was a toddler, and she went like this mommy,mommy tie my shoe, daddy, daddy 2 + 2 miss susie was a teenager, a teenager, a teenager, miss susie was a teenager, she went like this, oo ah forgot my bra, left it in my boyfriends car, but he don’t care, he don’t care, he forgot his underwear! miss susie was a mother, a mother, a mother, miss susie was a mother, and she went like this, get your hands out of that cookie jar! miss susie was a grandmother, a grandmother, a grandmother, miss susie was a grandmother, and she went like this, are you hungry? want some ice cream? miss susie was dead, was dead., was dead, miss susie was dead, and she went like this, la-dee-da-dee-da, boom crack oww, alllllll miss susie went to heaven, to heaven, to heaven,miss susie went to heaven and she went like this, o wut the f*** is goin on up in here??? miss went to hell, to hell, to hell, miss susie went to hell and she went like this , hey, you, do you smell spmething burning, oh wait, you’re burning ah!!!!!!!! and that’s the end, of miss susie!!!!!!!!