Category Archives: Locales

I grew up in Southwest Philly….

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Dave Newman
 

I grew up in Southwest Philly. We played box ball, wire ball, stick ball, step ball, etc. We also played Kick the Can, which was like Jailbreak. Somebody was “it”. Everyone else had to hide. The person who was it had a can and a jail. They had to identify the person that they saw hiding, grab the can and bang it on the street saying 1-2-3 I see Joe hiding behind Mr. Doyle’s car. If that was right, the person would go in the jail. The rest of the people had to try to sneak up the street to kick the can to free anyone in jail and hide before the person who was “it” saw you. It could take awhile before you caught everyone if you were it. What a thrill to kick the can and set everyone free. You were a hero for a minute. I also remember Hide the Belt and Buck Buck and Break the Golden Gate. I wish that I had a whole pimple ball. I have one half ball left.

Spaldeens were always the…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Yogi Cohen [e-mail]
 

Spaldeens were always the ball of choice for me. Money was something only grownups were allowed to hold, so spaldeens were the kids eqivilent of cash. It you had one, you got to play. In the mid-60s we played punchball day after day against the expansive brick wall of the New Yorker Theatre on 89th Street between Broadway and West End. Mostly 2-on-2. Hitting the New Yorker Bookstore sign was a homerun. The game pretty much broke up by middle school, when some kids started into drugs and others were diverted to supervised activities. I was never much of a ballplayer, but punchball required more finesse than power and I was pretty good at it.

i played stickball at ps…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Ron Kriegel [e-mail]
 

i played stickball at ps 203 in brooklyn and i remember there were 5 or 6 games going on at the same time. It was a big field with the fence being an automatic triple and over the fence a homerun. Our arms were as rubbery as the balls since we played everyday. We played with either two men on a team or just one against one. I remember it being a lot of fun but i only wish we had some video of these games as they were exciting and it would be nice to show my kids how big the game was back in the day.

I was listening to my 12yo…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Bob Schulken [e-mail]
 

I was listening to my 12yo son and his cousin playing in the yard when scully came to mind. So I rushed to my computer and did a search. This websight was one of the results. I used to play scully back in the mid to late 50’s at the P.S. 39 playground in Queens, NY during the summer. The board was painted on the ground but I don’t remember if it was concrete or asphalt. The Park’s Dept. officer would hold tournaments weekly. There were no prizes. You just got your name posted as the “champ”. I’m going to teach my son the game. Hopefully, he’ll like it and get scully going here in California. Bob Schulken/Escondido, CA

Anybody else play “Hide-the-Belt”?…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Joe McTamney [e-mail]
 

Anybody else play “Hide-the-Belt”? I played this while growing up in the Port Richmond section of Philly during the 50’s and 60’s.One boy hid a belt somewhere on the street, while the rest of the group closed their eyes. The person who then found the belt was free to hit the others with it until they reached a designated “safe” spot.

First off, I would like…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: David Lubetsky [e-mail]
 

First off, I would like to say that it is so encouraging to see how many people really do care about stickball. Its honestly a passion and a thrilling sport. I’m posting the following as a footnote to anybody that might be interested and just to let the stickball world in general know that the sport is alive and well in my area. Myself and around 5-7 other guys, all around 21 years old play stickball almost everyday in Bayside, Queens. We even keep statistics and have made it into a small league. I first learned of stickball from my father, who grew up in the same area, and it is remarkable to see how much of a comeback stickball has made in recent times. I realize that in the grand scheme of life i am very young, but each year it seems more and more people are purchasing bats and taking up the sport. This is evident by the difficulty you have even finding a place to play around here often times. If any other guys play in the area feel free to drop me an email, just letting everybody know that the sport is very much alive.

I grew up in sheepshead…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Andrew
 

I grew up in sheepshead bay, brooklyn in the 90s where we played manhunt. We had a tree out in front of my friends house which was the base and where one of the teams counted from. there was no jail for us. if you got caught then you were out. the object was to get more than half of your team back to base. if you did then you got to hide again. if you didnt then you had to count. you got the kid when grabbed him and yelled out manhunt, manhunt 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2-3. did anyone else play like us?

grewup on East 4th Street…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Robert Weiss [e-mail]
 

grewup on East 4th Street in Brooklyn playing stickball in the street. Also played in the schoolyard at PS 215 using the school wall with a drawn strike Zone. Stickball is making a comeback in Boynton Beach, Florida. Games played on Sundays. Mostly ex- New Yorkers

damn dem days were the best,…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: angelica [e-mail]
 

damn dem days were the best, 177st and morris.right acros the street from joseph h wade jhs117 mr.gilman mr.wasselman mr.downey did any body try to teach their kids how to play any of our old school games. i now live sd california the rapper big punisher is my cousin at time he was a baby.now in san diego are two differant friends from my block. this guy we called cookie aka james and his family now james is a sd policeman his brothers are darryl and boo-boo little sister aka yugi is rhonda.i lost touch with some others i ran into like lil lucy dejesus who is a liutetant in the army .lost touch with virginia delos santos and i want to find SELINA WHITE OR WHITEHEAD AKA *SUTTIE* SHE IS AFRO AMER. WITH LONG PRETTY HAIR NO ONE WOULD BELIEVE IT WAS HER OWN. SHE AND I WOULD GO TAGGING OUR NAMES EVERY WHERE>SUTTIE AND ANGIE DO OR DIE SUICIDE .LOL WISH TO SEE HER AGAIN.THEN THERE WAS ALFREDO CRESPO I JUST KNEW HE WAS GOING TO BE MY HUSBAND NOT! HIS BROTHERS JOSE AND MARCELINO.AND IN APT 4F ERROL AND HIS MOTHER CARMEN SHE IS THE REASON I NAMED MY LITTLE BROTHER BOOBIE BECAUSE THAT WAS HER CAT’S NAME AND I LIKED IT . BOOBIE IS NOW THE BOXER YES 7 FIGHTS 5 BY KNOCKOUT REAL NAME ALLEN CONYERS I LIKE THEM TO SEE HIM. HE WAS A BABY BACK THEN,SEE HIM AT FIGHTNEWS.COM UNDER ALAN CONYERS/YOUNG FIGHT.HE STILL LIVES IN THE BRONX AND TRAINS ALL OVER THE WORLD HIS BUDDY MCGIRT. HOPE SOMEONE COULD FIND OR MAYBE KNOWS SOMEONE THAT I DO COULD CONTACT ME. please thanks lots adios.