If you are looking for a source to purchase halfballs contact me at I grew up in the Logan section of Philly. We played two ways. Sidearm, with balls and strikes. Underhand, one swing and you were out. If the catcher caught a foul tip you were also out. We play against the wall, 1st story was a single, 2nd was a double, 3rd a triple and if you roofed it, it was a homer. If you caught it off the wall it was an out.
Growing up at Inwood Hill Park, at 204th and Vermylea, the king of all bikes was the Ross Apollo 3 speed; courtesy of Wonderama. We had our share of Stingrays and Crates, but the Ross Apollo had the neat frame, the 3 speed shifter, the slick tires, it was the bike with the mean looks! Add baseball cards to the spokes, the high sissy bar with leather tool pouch, a dogbone wrench,and a Screecher( that thing on the handlebar post with the crank that made that screeching noise;;see Pee Wee’s Big adventure, the bike used there has one!)and you were king of the block!
Yo what’s up y’all, I think Mick Greene should get a medal or something for putting together the Streetplay booth and all the coordination that went with it. It was truly a homeric task, and I don’t know how he pulled it off… especially the part where he got a cellmodem-enabled ThinkPad to work in the middle of a raucous street fair, download digital images from an e-camera to it, edit these images in PhotoShop, upload them to this web site, and tweak HTML all the while. Mick is DA MAN. All I had to do was teach/play Skully. Props go out to “Pez”, especially for letting me stash my PalmPilot in his glove compartment, and to all the family members of the StreetPlay staff who were so nice to me. And to especially to the kids… it was great, even if you didn’t think so when I started to go into “Kindergarten Cop” mode! Special thanks to Cari Best for the autographed copy of “Last Licks” too! So when’s the “Back to the Bronx” festival? -Hugh M. McNally
I played hundreds & hundreds of stickball games in the ’50’s and 60’s, and it was mostly “fungo,” which we called “hitting out.” 2 sewers was an incredible shot; on the roof = out (lost ball). The best part of the rules was that WE MADE THEM, NOT SOME LITTLE LEAGUE OFFICE SUITS! We learned how to get along–to argue, but how to give in (“Okay, cheater–you can have your way! Let’s play!), and was that ever empowering (although we never heard that word). I’m 50, and I’m ready for someone to “call on me” to play next Saturday morning! Whattayousay? I STILL have my stickball bat from Brooklyn (circa 1968)…
The Spaldeens would break more easily, but they were real. The Pennsy Pinkies? They bounced great, but we couldn’t afford them–Phil’s Candy Store on 36th St & Clara sold plain ol’ “pinkies” that were pink, yellow, or blue! They were 15 cents when the Spaldeen was 25 cents. But the pinkies were awful. Where can I buy a Spaldeen? I swear, I have taught 5 kids in Vermont to play stickball (we pitch in against my brick chimney), and they love it! With a tennis ball, no less! Help–we need a real Spaldeen!!!!