Category Archives: Boxball

We played many of the same…

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We played many of the same games, as mentioned above, in a little section of heaven, right in Philadelphia. We were considered Wynnefield, but our streets were seperated from the rest of the city by City Line Ave, Belmont Ave, and Conshohocken Ave. Loved chink, wire ball, box ball. 46th and Sherwood was the best box ball locale in the city. You had to be fast and know how to hit low grounders, with spin. We also played a version of wall ball, where we would throw it off of one wall of a back of a row house, onto the opposite row house’s back wall and the opposing player would have to catch it. Some guys were great at making them just kiss the second wall. You had to make basket style catches on those. Great days and great memories.

Boxball was played with…

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Boxball was played with 2 to as many a 6 players (usually 4). Each player got a square on the sidwalk. The object was to bounce the ball with an open hand, into the box of an opponant. The other player do the same till a player misses or fails to put the ball in an opponants box. A miss meant a point and the first to 11 or 21 lost or was eliminated… last one standing wins! That was a great game… hours of fun on a sunny Saturday afternoon around the cornerer from Liona’s Cand Shop (at the time in early 80’s, this was still a fountain shop, unrenovated from the 40’s!!!) they made egg creams there still. this was on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Ahhh those were the days!

I played Johhny on the Pony…

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I played Johhny on the Pony during the early 80’s in Greenpoint/Williamsgurg Brooklyn. Also played Chinesse handball, Boxball, Stoopball, etc; but those are other great stories. Most memorible JOP story is when we actually convinced the girls that hung out with us in a schoolyard over on Havermyer st. to play JOP with us guys!!! Well needless to say, those of you who’ve played the game know the position you take being on the pony. That was the first time I put my arms around Lisa Ninziata’s waist. Wow, I was in heaven… pure bliss… until I turned my head toward the other team, just in time to catch a glimse of her then boyfriend Bobby’s sneaker as it slammed me on the side of the head, almost ripping my ear off. Well, this being perfectly leagal in JOP; I had to wait till my teams turn for retaliation. Later I would throw mu body, with full force at Bobby with elbows leading the way. And, in the end we would laugh ourselves to tears as Anthony’s radio played “The Piano Man”. What days those were… my best memories.

I grew up in Port Richmond…

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I grew up in Port Richmond and played all the ball games stick ball, halfies, wire ball, boxball etc. I see a lot of people looking for pimple balls, the closest I have come is website littlebitofphilly.com They sell halfies , it is better than no pimple balls.

I grew up in Southwest Philly….

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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.

I still have a 1966 pimple…

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I still have a 1966 pimple ball. We used two driveways for boxball in case we got chased from one or there was hanging wash in the way. Our stickball field was a bank parking lot behind Castor Ave; homers had to cross the lot and the street. Handball was played at recess and lunchtime at Carnell. For Deadbox, we put an extra cork in bottlecaps for added weight and control. We called manhunt “wolf”; kids on my street today play the same game and call it “freedom.” Running bases was for all the kids (including girls) of all ages, not just us “athletes.”

I grew up in Brooklyn on…

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I grew up in Brooklyn on Atlantic Ave., near Saratoga, (Bed Sty). I went to PS 87. I don’t remember a “Pinky” we all had Spaldeens. I remember the smell of a new one, just thinking about those games; stick ball, stoop ball, punch ball, box ball and hit the penny brings back fond memories. when we moved to Brownsville, all the kids there had Spaldeen’s too.

I’m also from Washington…

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I’m also from Washington Heights, on Bennett Ave. We played this game, but we called it “Slug”. I wonder if anyone else knew it by this name. I don’t remember our rules so well so I’m checking w/ my older sister… hopefully she will.

I remember alot of these…

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I remember alot of these games. I grew up in North Philly (3rd & Bristol) near Feltonville. We played boxball, stickball, handball, chink ball, and buck buck. I haven’t see many messages on chink ball.The the way we played it you hit the ball either pimple or pink rubber if they didn’t have a pimple ball, against the wall on one bounce. You could juggle the ball three times, but then you had to hit it. You would try to fake your opponent out by pretending to hit it hard, then hit it softly. If he or she missed it, it was worth one point. First one to 5 won. Thanks, for the memories. Al.

I played for hours on the…

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I played for hours on the corner of 85th St and 21st Ave in Brooklyn, with the rumble of the B train as background music. We had our court on the sidewalk, because there was just too much traffic from 86th Street… there was no way to play a game on the asphalt. We played 13-box, in two versions. If there were a lot of players it was 1-13, for a more leisurely game it was 1-13,13-1 before you could start knocking other players out of the game. In the dark ages before twist off caps, the most prized cap was one with only a slight indentation from a bottle opener. We would rub the caps back and forth, back and forth on the sidewalk to get a smooth silver matte look on the bottom. Pop in a penny over the cork, and melt a candle (“wasting” a crayon that way would have made my mother berserk, “Whaddya think, we get them free from somewhere?”). When the wax was just about firm, if you pulled a piece of paper towel over the cap it put a pattern in the top of the wax. With box ball, tops, yo-yo, skelly, and chinese handball, who needed camp?