Has anyone heard of “Russian Seven”? We played it in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in the 1940s. It involved tossing a Spaldeen against a building wall while performing various actions. Steps were done in a specific order. You could play against others or by yourself, trying to beat your own record of catching the ball.
I almost forgot. Does anyone remember the four finger drag in Skellzie. Also guys would HEAD FOR THE HILLS when another would become killer. I remember chasing a guy all over Carmine Street park just to blast him after I would become a killer. Great memories, give me a Manhattan Special….Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Most definitely! I spent many hours galloping around our neighborhood (Bell’s Corner in NE Philly) on an imaginary horse. Asked the kids at camp to call me Bobbie. Loved baseball– biggest insult from Daddy was to be told you pitched like a girl. Did the baseball card thing– including attaching them to the spokes of my bike for a motocycle sound. I’m still not very “girlie–” always the first to volunteer to play any kind of baseball game at the kids’ school or from work or at family b-b-qs.
Well, lets see,where do I begin? Around sept. 1993 some guy named Frankie Bisogna puts an ad in the St. Pete Times [ florida ] asking ” is anybody here from Brooklyn “? and his phone # in the ad also. He got 400 calls in one day. So, keeping in touch with the callers, someone gets the idea, lets have a block party. So, the went for a permit to block off the street. Well, no such thing, never heard of it, and lots of other excuses from the St.Pete P.D. Now what? Momentum is growing and more and more ex-Brooklynites are getting interested. Word is spreading like wildfire. AN IDEA? Lets rent the Coliseum in St. Pete. OK. Lets do it. Well, to make a short story shorter. By word of mouth, 2700 people showed up at the St.Pete Coliseum on Oct. 24, 1993. Present were t The Brooklyn Dodger Sym-phony band. Pee Wee Reese [yes] and a few other Brooklyn dignitaries. Also present to Provide other amenities was Nathans of Coney Island, Juniors, complete with Cheesecake. Alba`s Pastries from 18TH ave. Brooklyn T-Shirts, Posters, Pennants, Brooklyn Dodger Memorabilia, Hats, Etc. We played stickball INDOORS? Scully, Johnny on a pony. It lasted from Noon to 11:00 p.m. And most of the people had to be thrown out when the Coliseum closed. [ one colisem sweeper said as we were leaving ” I`ve never seen so many crazy people in one place at one time” Lets face it, you can take a person out of Brooklyn, but you can`t take the Brooklyn out of anybody. Dougie Miracco
A story from Bill Rammelkamp. Years ago the guys from Maujer st and Teneyck st played the Hasidm boys from Marcy Ave in a game of punchball. This must be back around 1960. Before the game a fight almost broke out because we played with a tennis ball and they played with a white pimple ball. It was decided that one game would be played wih each ball. We did some special stuff to the tennis ball. It was taken and put in a brown paper bag. Then the bag was put on fire so all the heavy hair was burned off. We used these heavier balls instead of the Spaldeen because we could get more English on it. When we played stickball if we didn’t have the money for a ball, we would take a newspaper, fold it up to abou 1 1’2 inches. After you had that thickness you’d roll it up, put a rubber band around it as tight as you could get it and then put it on the curb and bang it down with a stickball handle, to make it as hard as possible. You could do all kinds of things with that kind of ball. Great spins & flukes and when you hit it, you could make it fly. ——— Well, we were definitely more interested in that story than the game that was going on. The Bronxfield Bombers won 13-2. We’re cleaning up and getting ready to go. More pictures will be posted on the site over the weekend. See you next week in Manhattan.
Sliwa on the mike about one of the players “Last seen this man was actually breaking knee caps with the stickball bat. Remember – you have to swing at the ball!” There are about 100 people around now as a procesion came by – selling bread and playing music. Tomorrow there is a celebration, the Gigilo, the big Italian feast celebrated in Williamsburg every year for more than 100 years. It originated in Nola Italy. The story is that the Bishop gave himself up so children who had been held captive would be released. When they later released the Bishop, came across on a boat from Turkey, and the people met him with Lillies, which is what the Gigilo symbolizes. It takes about 100 men to lift it, it’s about 6 stories high. It weighs a couple of tons. Anyone who will be near the neighborhood should come by to see the event. It starts at 1:00 and runs all afternoon.
Curtis Sliwa, the Stickball Commissioner has arrived. To put it mildly, the tone of the event has changed. John Campi presents a dignified call of the game, when Curtis steps up o the mike all rules go out the window. Yes, each player gets a nickname, a review of his nationality, comments on his food choices, clothing style and anything else that comes to mind “Neil’s luncheonette in desperate need of a geritol fix or a shot of Jolt cola. Anything to help get them moving.” You can imagine Sliwa’s reaction as the Dodger Sym-Phony band plays Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer to cool the crowd. Curtis insults the crowd, the neighborhood, the band, the teams. He clearly feels at home. Top of the 4th inning Brookfield Bombers 7 – Neil’s Luncheonette 1
We had a bit of technical difficulty as the transmission was interupted mid delivery – but the final of the first game was theBrookfield Bombers 6 the E 36th Street Frantics 3. After the game, a local player came in and said they wanted to challenge the winners. Yes representing Neil’s luncheonette – a proud pickup team walked up to challenge these Staten Island Hotshots (given the age and looks of these guys, we’re bettin on the S.I. crew). In the meantime, a bit more longball competition.