Anyone try to revive a dead spaldeen? We tried frying and boiling them…no good! Anybody sing out “get the ball” back in the Bronx when trying to retrieve your spaldeen but you were too young to cross the street? Anybody ever hit an eggball in stickball where the spaldeen comes back at you?
We played a LOT of Chinese handball on my block in Astoria, primarily without boxes even though the sidewalks had them. When we were younger we played the AKQ version but than got more athletic and adventurous. A distinguishing rule on our block was that as long as the ball hit the wall in-bounds it could hit the ground on its way back to the next player OUT-of-bounds, which meant the winning strategy was to get up as close to the wall as you could on an offensive play and slam it as hard as you could at a sharp angle just in-bounds. The successful result was a ball that ran great distances unimpeded down the sidewalk for retrieval until it would go under a car, or in one direction on into traffic. The other blocks where I’d occasion to play in Astoria or nearby Jackson Heights also played this game in various forms and my observation was that the guys on my block were consistently better players down the line than other blocks we’d visit as it was the ONLY game we played. Not having a convenient schoolyard or park we didn’t play much stickball, though we did when we got a little older throw some touch fotball and eventually softball in nearby yards. For many years though Chinese was pretty much all we played. I taught the game to a guy in Texas a few years back in the university gym. He was a competitive tennis player and really liked it. I’ve had a standing bet with my oldest friend that I can spot him 19 points in a 21-point game one-on-one. He still declines and I still keep offering though we’re both currently 48 years old.
We used to play Chinese handball waiting for the school bus in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Actually it was all the time, just give us a wall and a spaldeen, whether it was at the cement wall at ps 200 playground, or mark twain or the side of the building building near cropsey and 20th avenue. Ace, king, queen, jack, ten , nine…..
I grew up in East New York and Howard Beach. We played punchball in both neighborhoods,but not as Peter B. described above. Punchball, which we prefered the Pensie Pinkie for due to it’s being softer was basically played the same as baseball (on the street, in parking lot, even a driveway between houses when we were younger (in this version if you hit the wall on the fly you were out). The “batter” punched the ball (anyway he pleased), but overhand produced longer hits. In H.B. we played a game called “slapball” which was similar to Peter’s version of punchball, but played with out 2nd base. The field was a small triangle, the pitcher who stood in the center of the triangle had to pitch the ball over the plate, underhanded, on one bounce. The batter could wait for a pich he like, when the ball was hit, openhanded, it could not pass the line between 1st and 3rd or the batter was out. All other rules were the same as baseball (no stealing). The Spaldeen was our preferred ball for stickball since it was more durable. Of course most of the time we played with any ball we could fish out of a sewer, or pull out of a drainpipe that we’d climb up to.
This is in response to Celia Curtis’s email asking about Russian or 7 up. I remember the game 7 up as we played it in Michigan in the 70’s. I am looking for the rules for this particular game as well. I remember some of the levels, but not sure of the order. You play against a wall and each person takes turns bouncing the ball against the wall with different techniques used for each level. May or may not be this order. 1. Bounce against wall and catch 2. Bounce on ground and then wall and catch 3. Bounce on ground and then wall and turn around and catch 4. Bounce on ground and then wall and clapping once before you catch it 5. Throw under leg to bounce on ground and then wall and then catch Not sure of the other two levels All who are playing take turns as in: Player 1 does #1 from above then, Player 2 does #1 from above then, Player 1 does #1 and #2 then, Player 2 does # 1 and # 2 then, Player 1 does # 1, # 2 and #3 then, Player 2 does # 1, # 2 and #3 then, Player 1 does # 1, # 2, #3, #4 then, Player 2 does # 1, # 2, #3, #4 then, and so on. If a player misses. They have to stop their turn and continue their next time. This is what I remember. If anyone has the official rules please respond. My email is: mrsflame [at] yahoo [dot] com
In St Albans, Queens, Galway ave to be exact, in the 50-60s we played a game called “running bases” which sounds like the previous positings “pickle”, “hot box”, or “monkey in the middle”. On either side of the street were the two baseman and a bunch of the kids were in the middle. You had to avoid being tagged out as you ran from base to base. It is like a run down in baseball also known as a pickle. Sometimes if you were tagged out you were out of the game until the last person was tagged out. I believe other times you exchanged places and became the baseman. The bases were safe areas and you could stay on them. Only co-ed game back then.
Any self respecting kid that grew up in the 50-60s in St.Albans, Queens and went to PS 118 knows that Pensie-Pinkies rule. Its called pensie-pinkie because it had a keystone stamped on the pink ball. The state symbol for Pensylvania is the keystone. The nick name for Pensylvania is the “Keystone state”-hence Pensie short for Pensylvania. I found this site looking for Skelly/Scully rules. Great site. I played all the usual street games including stoop ball, chinese handball, stickball etc. A kid couldn’t live without a Pensie. ANYONE HEAR OF RUNNING BASES??? Two “basemen” on either side of the street and a bunch of kids in the middle. The object was to tag the kids out as they ran back and forth between the two bases. It was like a run down in baseball. One of the few co-ed games at the time. Girls were so icky back then. This site brought back many wonderful memories.