Streetplay Discussions
Hey out there! I am trying…
Someone just informed me…
Someone just informed me of this site. What fun it is! I was thrilled to see a basket of Spaldeens in the store and bought a half dozen. I don’t think I ever bought one as a kid because during WWII rubber was rationed and the only place you could get them was on the black market. We acquired ours on the roof when the boys lost them playing stickball. We would retrieve them and wash them in hot water, that revived the bounce and we played these familiar girls games. No one in the store where I bought them understood the meaning of these precious balls. I had fun bouncing them on the counter. I remember “A” my name best but the other games ring a bell too. Thanks for sharing. I grew up in The Bronx, near Crotona Park.
I grew up in Bensonhurst…
I grew up in Bensonhurst in the 60’s and we definitely had our choice of Pensie Pinkies or Spaldeens. We used to get them at Doc’s (later to become Egg Haven) across the street from PS. 97. Though I was a Spaldeen fan, Pensie Pinkies never went dead and never split open. But, there was nothing like writing on a new Spaldeen with a Bic pen. Ahhhhhh!
Excuse me but were we the…
Much Love and Respect TO…
Much Love and Respect TO My #1 fAvorite game of Double Dutch. I’ve been Playing since I Was about 6yrs old and Still Playing TOday. I’m Talkin about street playing straight from the GHETTO. Well I just thought that I should Introduce myself Being THat this is my first time hearing about this Web Site. This is Nita, Holla back if You Know what I’m Talking about. LATA!!
We played the “traditional”…
We played the “traditional” stickball when I was a kid in Queens, NY, but we used a loaded whiffle-ball bat with a taped up barrel for a little extra weight. To us, it was a kids’ game. We grew out of it as we improved at baseball. We couldn’t all play on the same little league team and hardball was too expensive (we were ghetto) and didn’t have 18 guys who could play hardball to get a game going. Softball…face it, softball is for girls and old men. We took up fast-pitch (wall) stickball in schoolyards. Nowdays we play in a league all over the NYC metro area. There is no running the bases; the batter gets credit for a hit if the ball passes certain distances (marked out on the field) without being cleanly fielded or caught on the fly, as the case may be. Most players use either a metal bat, a combination wood/metal bat or a wooden bat with sheet metal rolled onto the barrel- it’s too hard to make solid contact with the old, broomstick-style wooden bats. Rules limit the size of the barrel. The kink is that we play with shaved and singed down tennis balls (We use old ones with not as much air in them). The effect is less resistance, so the ball is pitched faster and breaking pitches have some sick movement. Because the ball is also smaller than a conventional tennis ball, it is much harder to get a hold of one. However, pitching this smaller, lighter ball probably does even more damage than a baseball does to your arm over the long run. Typically, the games are low scoring with a ton of strikeouts. The top pitchers frequently strike out 15-20 batters in a 9-inning game. Basically, if the guy has good control, you’re going to be up against it. No-hitters happen, especially during doubleheaders, when games are only 7 innings. You don’t usually scratch out runs. Most scoring comes from home runs. During the playoffs, when both teams have their aces going, you’ll get 1-0 games where teams get less than 5 hits per side. But that’s what makes the game all the more intense. Any run you can scratch out matters immensely. There have been many leagues over the years. In the late 80s/early 90s there were about 200 teams of all skill levels. Because most of the better players joined forces and consolidated into super-teams, fewer people play now but the competition is much tougher.
Brian and I used to be annoyed…
Brian and I used to be annoyed with each other. But over the summer we became great friends. But on Halloween that all changed. Lets just say we fell in teen love. That night I gave him a simple peck on the lips.(but that wase’nt even count, the type of kiss you give your mom, dad, or grandmother) but we started going out. I was in 8th grade at the time. He invited me to his house. No one else was there, just the 2 of us. We got caught up in a conversation about are band concert coming up. But after about 3 min. of talk are eyes met. We both quite talking in unison we leaned forward. We kept are eyes open intell are lips toeched. I was in heaven and put my heart into kissing him. When we pulled away he stared in my eyes and runned his hands through my hair. We are still going out and were in 9th grade. The first real kiss was not perfect in since of teniqe but in since of love and shock. We still laughe about it, I will never forget it.