Well guess what it isn’t just N.J., Bronx, or Queens, because we played it in Brooklyn too. I was raised in the Fort Greene Projects around the 50’s and man i grew up with a big crowd of kids. we would spend all day playing all kind of games, and kick the can was one of them. No lie we had over fifty kids and you can imagine how pisst off the kid who was it was, when somebody would kick the can and about thirty of us would be free. ahhh it was priceless.
Hello stick-ball players of the world. I used to play on 139th Street in Manhattan between Hamilton Place and Amsterdam Avenue. And this was in the late 40’s!!!. Aurelio Casiano (Cuchi), Paul Fondulas, Skippy Scibilo, Vicky Rodriguez, “Ginza” (Sorry I can’t recall the name)and Andre Ognibene and many others played this great game. Later on 141 Street between Riverside Drive and Broadway in the 50s I also continued the game. I shall never forget it. Keep playing and keep enjoying.Regards from London folks.
Kick the can is not just a N.J. game. I live in Queens N.Y.(all my life)& I have the kids here on the block playing it all the time. The only thing different these days is we use a liter bottle 1/4 filled w/dirt & rocks. It’s a little easier to get out from under the cars. There wasnt so many when I was younger.Kids have a good old time away from the TV & video games if we just take the time to teach them how.
Didn’t anyone use CLAY? Even the poll didn’t include it (sigh). I played in “DA Bronx” in the 70’s. I took this picture of me back in 1994 of the old scully board we played on as youths in the Bronx Park near 219th Street. The updated URL is: http://www.teako170.com/scullpic.jpg My “king checker” was made from an old “Push-up” bottom stuffed with gold/yellow clay and a small plastic crown — the sweetest cap on the blvd! Man – would I love to get together someday with some old players and bang around the board a bit. Best, Terrence — THIRD MILLENNIUM entertainment http://www.teako170.com
I knew Steve as a young teenager. For three years we played little league baseball together on the team sponsored by Lochard Realty on Castle Hill Avenue. I didn’t stay in touch with him through the years as he attended Norman Thomas and I and the rest of the guys we knew attended Stevenson. I can only say that as a young man Steve was a good guy. As far as the sport goes, everyone who reads these messages will know what I knew 26 years ago, and that is “Steve loved baseball”, in any fashion. As long as there was a bat and a ball, there would be a game. I had found out about Steve’s untimely passing while browsing the different websites created since that tragic day. I was shocked as I am sure everyone else was when they found out. It is strange how playing sports creates this comraderie that stays with you forever. After years of living outside the borough and missing it terribly, I moved back to the Bronx. When I was bringing the last load of stuff to my apartment, I decided to pass by the old school to take a look at it’s condition. The school wasn’t what it used to be, but I saw something that I had not known existed in the “hood”. A bunch of guys playing stickball. I hadn’t seen that since I was maybe 8 years old. My father and his friends and sons played back on Elder Avenue in the 50’s and 60’s. That was when I got my first taste of baseball. As I pulled closer to the game I could see I didn’t know any of the guys except one. That was Steve. I was amazed to see how he had filled out as a man. Steve was a very small guy when we played ball together. I was afraid to approach because everyone was “into the game”. Guys were tense, talking trash etc. Seeing how things have since turned out, I am sorry I didn’t. A great man of our community has been lost. I will miss him. My love and prayers go out to his wife and family. You will be sorely missed. If there are any other tributes too, or planned fund raisers for Steve’s family, I would love to take part in them. Please anyone who is in touch with the league or knows of these functions, I ask that you forward such info to my e-mail address.
In Fort Greene Projects that all you heard. Especially when dinner time rolled by. There were six in my family but mom only called the first four older ones. the two youngest we had to watch went without saying. so it was like a song, my mom started from the oldest to the youngest, I was third. But it went like this. Sandra, mercedita, Pamela,Perla,come to eat. If i was starving i was already on my way upstairs to get a seat at the table and be the first one served, of course thats because dad was working otherwise he would be first. oh the good old days.