Category Archives: Other Spaldeen games
Regarding “fishing ball…
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Regarding “fishing ball out of sewer”: About ten years ago, corner of West Broadway and Ericsson Street downtown Manhattan. Woman emerges from coffee shop with breakfast, is putting change back into purse, driver’s license falls out, falls into sewer. Several men who harbored cherished memories of lying on their stomachs and retrieving spaldeens spring into action: “Get a coat hanger!”, “Don’t worry, Lady — I’m an old hand at this.”, “Oh my God! I haven’t even thought about this in forty years!”, etc.. A hanger is produced, the tool is properly fashioned, the license (which had lodged on a dry ledge within the sewer), was adroitly brought to the surface, and returned to its owner. Woman proceeds to work with grateful “thank you” to all. In her wake, a very unlikely group of various New Yorkers were all grins while a common memory cast its spell.
I think people are confusing…
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I think people are confusing Curb Ball and Stoop Ball….Stoop ball was played against a stoop of someones house and we also played with fielders. Catch it on a fly and you’re out! Past the sidewalk on one bounce was a single, past grass a double etc. Curb ball was much the same but played ONLY against the curb while we were in the street…and there were bases that u had to run! There was no running involved in stoop ball…Dee (The Bronx)
On my block, there were…
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On my block, there were a few more games played with either the Spalding ( courser better feel) or Pensie Pinkie. The first was stoop ball. On Haring Street in front of 2450 the stoop consisted of 4 steps. Each step was assigned a point value. The bottom three 100 points if hit directly on the point while the top step 500 points ( more hazardous). Games were for 1000 pts with 5 pts for hitting the stoop and catching it on 1 and only 1 bounce. 10 pts were gotten if the ball hit the stoop and caught on a fly ( not the point area). You were out if the ball was caught with more than one bounce, errored, or missed the stoop entirely(trying to hit the top stoop and failing, and finally hitting one of the elder mean you can’t play here or block the stoop from us using it to go down B00000000.Games could be either one on one or teams.Box ball ( 2 squares of concrete lenthwise), Box baseball ( 3 squares lenthwise), 4 person boxball ( 4 squares in a square pattern) and finally stoopball baseball. Finally I might add, actually the best balls for stickball off the wall was the cheaper no-name ones. They were usually 5 – 10 cents each (spalding 25 cents) softer, either yellow or pink and could be manipulated such that you could throw a really mean sinker Knuckleball, and a wicked slider that broke of the end of the table. Unfortunately they split easier too.
In the two Bronx neighborhoods…
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In the two Bronx neighborhoods where I grew up there was no debate…the Spaldeen was the ball of choice. The Pinkie was a very inadequate second choice. Yes, a Spaldeen hurt your hand in punchball if you hit it wrong, but if you hit it just right, it would just take off. Same thing in stickball…seemed that the Spaldeen always flew off the bat a lot harder and faster than the Pinkie. Very very happy to see the Spaldeen has been revived. Now if they only sold ’em in the Atlanta area!
It’s great to see other…
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It’s great to see other city dwellers sharing their memories about what WE used to play. It is a far cry from little league and soccer moms. I grew up 6 blocks SE of Wrigley Field, before it was “the place to be.” We were busy playing “baseball” while we heard the crowds cheer (rarely!). We played in a back yard which was cement. Overhand pitching of a tennis ball against a mesh net. No balls or strikes. Just hitting. Invisible base runners if the teams were small. On the roof was an automatic out; off the wall of 443 was in play (our own “Green Monster”). We also played football with an all-time quarterback (the only kid w/an acurate arm). Our field was a 100′ driveway w/an equal width patch of grass along side it. It was tag/tackle. You could run on the cement for speed, then cut to the grass to avoid being tagged. Handball, dodge ball, and schmear the queer rounded out our list. I share these games with my 4 kids in central Illinois hoping the rich traditions will spread on the playgrounds. I’d love a reunion w/all the friends who used to play so we could show our kids what sports really are!
Am enjoying the site. Brings…
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Am enjoying the site. Brings back lots of memories. The one subject > regarding Spaldeens that was not mentioned was their propensity to “go > down the sewer”. The obiquitous street drains at every corner were a > magnet for the Spaldeens. The game had to stop while someone located a > wire coat hanger which was straightened out to it’s full length, with a > two inch circle bent at the end at right angles to the wire. This was > lowered into the sewer and the Spaldeen was fished out of it’s grave so > the game could continue. The gook that was on the balls was of now > concern to anyone. A couple of whacks with the stickball bat would clean > it off. No thought was ever given to sanitation – and it never seemed to > matter in those days! > > With fondest memories, > Alan Steinberg > (Avenue O and 23rd Street, Brooklyn) > gdthings [at] mediaone [dot] net
Has anyone heard of “Russian…
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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.
Thanks for the link to halfball.com….
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Thanks for the link to halfball.com. After reading your page I went into the website and ordered a bat. I’m very impressed with the quality and workmanship. I recommend people take a look at these handcrafted bats and balls. We played halfball as kids and are looking forward to passing on this game to our children.