Sixteen Inch Softball and SPUD These are two ways I use to determine if someone grew up in Chicago! Sixteen inch softball was popular because the ball was so big you couldn’t use a glove! Which leveled the field between the haves and have nots. Also, you couldn’t hit the ball very far, so the game was a lot faster paced. You also didn’t need a large firld. Spud was played with a playground ball, or a volley ball. Each player was assigned a number, and someone was chosen to be “it”. Whoever was “it” threw the ball in the air, and called someone’s number. Everyone scattered, except the person who’s number was called. The had to catch the ball and yell “SPUD”. When you heard SPUD, you had to stop where you were. The person who caught the ball was then allowed to take three giant steps toward any player, then throw th ball at them. The person was allowed to dodge, but could not move his feet. If he was hit, he got a letter “S” and was “it”. If the thrower missed, he got the letter, and was “it”. Play continued until someone got S-P-U-D, then they had to go through the spanking machine!