Streetplay Discussions
I grew up on 4th Avenue…
I grew up on 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The R Train (4th Avenue Local -The “RR” or Ridge Runner back then) traveled the length of 4th Avenue to 95th Street. Every other block had subway ventilation grates (known as the “subway gratings”) on the sidewalk near the curb. People would drop coins and other “stuff” down there. To get them out, you assembled a “fishing” kit: A 3 ounce lead fishing sinker A ball of string (kite string was good) A jar of Vaseline Take the lead sinker, and scrape and smash the pointed bottom on the sidewalk until it is flattened. Our string used to be wrapped around a small stick. Tie the string on the sinker, and dab Vaseline on the flattened end of it. Walk along the gratings until you see a coin. Lower the sinker, and moving carefully, hover just above the coin. When the sinker steadies, drop it on the coin. (Here you have to be careful… if you miss, the sinker will hit the bottom of the air shaft and the Vaseline gets full of dirt and loses its stickiness). After “catching” the coin, pull it up slowly… if you go too fast, the coin will fall off. Many times you would get a coin all the way to the top, but when maneuvering the sinker and coin through the grating, it would hit the side and the coin would fall off. There always seemed to be lots of coins nearer to Bay Ridge Avenue (69th Street). The local lore had it that people rushing for the train would drop their change.
I played buck-buck for several…
Anybody remember the rules…
WHAT EVER HAPPEN TO THE…
I grew up in the South Bronx…
I grew up in the South Bronx on E 142nd between Willis and Third Ave, back in the early 50s. I was the smallest kid on the block. Whenever we played stickball, the ball would inevitably end up going downhill into the sewer on Third Ave. The big kids would remove the grating, give me a coat hanger with a loop at the end of it and lower me down head first holding me by the ankles. I’d reach down with the coat hanger get it under the ball, scoop it up and toss it to the guys. Sometimes there would be other balls in there for awhile. you could tell because the submerged half would be a different color than the top. This was considered a real good thing by the guys cause we wouldn’t have to go and get 10 cents for a ball. My mom didn’t like it cause I’d come home smelling likt the sewer. One time when I was about 8 or 9 she really got disgusted, she stripped me down, threw me in the tub and beat the sh** out of me while scrubbing me down and yelling. Even that didn’t stop me. Being part of the boys was more important.
I live in Long Island but…
I live in Long Island but grew up in Queens and my wife grew up in Brooklyn. When we are home relaxing and hanging out we sit on the front stoop. Another couple from Howard Beach moved in on the block and then sit on the front stoop too, but all the people who grew up on Long Island sit in the backyard. You don’t get to know your neighbors as easily as you used to.
Wiffle Ball We’d get…
Wiffle Ball We’d get on a wiffle ball kick and start playing every day for awhile through the summer. You’d use a hollow white plastic ball, with vents on one side. You could throw great curves and sinkers. You’d have a yellow plastic bat that was kind of like a combination between a baseball and stickball bat. You’d play either one on one or teams, with a couple of guys on it. You didn’t run with wiffle ball. If they didn’t catch it, depending on how far you it would determine how many bases you’d get. You couldn’t hit the ball too hard, so a great shot would be 20 or 30 yards (depending on the wind). The ribs in the top of the ball could be pressed in and let you get a better breaking ball. It was great to pitch with, hard to hit and hard to field the ball. I don’t know why they called it wiffle ball, probably cause of the noise it made when as it sailed through the air.
I grew up in Greenpoint…
I grew up in Greenpoint and we would play 4 corner slapball. We played in the middle of the street on the corner of Jackson and Leonard Streets. In the summer we’d play all day and during the school year we’d play as soon as we got homt. This was a major intersection so we had to be careful and to stop whenever the cars came. By 4:30 it started getting pretty hectic. We also had a sewer on one corner so we had to be real careful not to let the ball go down otherwise you had to fish it out. You couldn’t hit the ball on the fly – just ground balls. If you hit it over the infield you were out. Five guys or more could play per team. We’d play everyday using either the Spaldeen or Pensie Pinkie.
[no title]
I was just browsing thru the stories and came upon the one about Bouncer, I remember playing against him many years ago on East 115th Street between I believe it was Madison and 5Th or maybe Park Ave. The teams was called “The Devils”. We also played them on our field “Pleasant Ave and East 118th Street” I am sorry to hear that he passed on, he was a good guy and a very good ballplayer. We had many a good games in those days.