Category Archives: Spaldeen games

Grew up in Clason Point/Soundview…

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Grew up in Clason Point/Soundview section of South Bronx in the 60s’. Played stickball at P.S. 69 (Beat that P.S). We played stickball in the street, open fields, and fast pitched against the wall against a chalk filled-in box(No strike disputes “see the chalk on the ball.. shut up”)At old 69 we would “chip in” and get as many Spaldeens as we could to get up a good game. We would stick em in a fence and line em up, no more in the fence no more game. Pensie Pinkies were for girls, sorry. No self- respecting stickball player would be caught dead with a “pinkie”. We also played Ace King Queen, stoop-ball and box-ball(My house had the best stoop and wall on the block. Also played booties up, skully in the street or on the sidewalks. Crack top, Johnny on the Pony,Ringoleaveo…Wouldnt’trade those memories for anything…..

Grew up at West Fordham Road…

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Grew up at West Fordham Road (Tolentine parrish) in the late fiftes and early sixties. Played outside all day. Skelly was a favorite, also box ball (each player took a box on the sidewalk, a total of four in a square), stoop ball and stick ball. Kept busy all day. No electronics, but plenty of fun. Fond memories!

My name is ELysia Liranzo….

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My name is ELysia Liranzo. I am part of the Diaz familia. As you may know, I am Caros Diaz’s Niece. As I was looking around this web page, I noticed this section and i thought since i am a child of GOD, it would be nice of me to leave a comment about Steve. Now I may not have known him. But to see that he was a brave firefighter and sacraficed his life to save others on 9-11 is a blessing. Not most people now a days appriciate heros like that. But i would like to point out to his family that I have them & Steve in my prayers and Im sure he is looking down on us in HEAVEN guiding all of us. May God bless his soul, may he R.I.P.. And may God keep his family safe and blessed. R.I.P. Steve!

Hail to Brownsvillenites,…

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Hail to Brownsvillenites, circa 1947-59, who broke in more Spauldeen balls than the Brooklyn Bums hitting warmups. Fancy this site, encouraging contributors to reminisce, expecially me, a long way from the Brooklyn of today. (Read Montreal, Quebec, Canada.) I have a Pinkie ball, thanks to a cousin of mine who remembered me with the import, and I workout throwing it against walls at times during this, my 69th year. NO SWEAT!, or better yet, SWEAT! My favourite street ball was and still is the Spauldeen. A sweet hunk of thing (compared to the Pinkie), whose new rubber surface I can still smell. Yes, more bounce to the ounce it holds for me. Merci!

So, I read the July 1 article…

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So, I read the July 1 article in The NY Times on the joys of streetgames, and was immediately transported back to the Bronx, circa 1958. We used to play a spaldeen game called “Captain.” The essentials included a high, smooth wall (we had one located next to the entrance of the now defunct Salvation Army Training School), cement “boxes,” and of course, the ubiquitious spaldeen (purchased from Moishe’s Candy Store, natch!). One kid would be the “captain” and stand in the first box, one box away from the wall. The rest of us (no specified number…as many kids could play as there were boxes) would form a line alongside the captain, one player per box. A reverse form of “handball” would ensue, with the ball bouncing in the box and THEN hitting the wall. The ball would then bounce into any other box, and the kid owning that space would slap the ball onto the pavement, having it hit the wall, and fall into another player’s box. If the player missed the ball, or hit it out of bounds, he/she would have to go to the end of the line, the rest of the players then moving up one box, closer to the “captain.” The goal, of course, was to get the “captain” OUT, so that you could attain that golden position. Gentler than handball, “Captain” nonetheless promoted similar skills in strategizing, strength (slapping the ball with greater or lesser energy) and dealing with serendipity (not seeing a pebble on the ground could cause your well placed shot to go seriously awry). Most of all, it was great fun. And for the few moments that you were “Captain” a kid from the Bronx learned the basics of power…gained with some skill and effort, and lost because of a lousy pebble.

I grew up in Richmond Hill…

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I grew up in Richmond Hill NY, playing skelly every day, come summer time in Smokey Park in the early 70’s. I remember using crayons and the rim of the glass beer bottle to make a skelly cap, but there was one more way of doing it that was my favorite. We’d take a twist off beer cap, find a plastic soda cap, and some small pieces of glass for weight. I’d dig the plastic insert piece out of the soda cap. The glass went inside the beer bottle cap and the plastic piece was fitted in side the beer bottle cap, over the glass upside down, to hold the glass in place.I remember always giving the new cap a real good rubbing on the ground to roughen it up. I was a good shooter and didnt want it flying anywhere I didnt want it to. I have taught my kids how to play all the street games I can still remember. Their favorites are: I Declare War, Box Ball, Chinese Hand Ball and Stoop ball and Red Rover.

My brother, Clyde, and I…

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My brother, Clyde, and I grew up in Queens, where, like all our peers, we played several versions of stickball. We are now 67 and 64 years old, and while I now live in Georgia and he on Long Island, every so often we get together to play a 2-man game with tennis balls and a manufactured bat. Our latest game was just a month ago against a wall at an elementary school near his house. He is still a good pitcher and we both still hit well, and since the baseball adage “good pitching will always beat good hitting” is true in stickball, too, he won the game. It was great.

I grew up in the Pomonok…

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I grew up in the Pomonok project across from Queens College in the ’50’s and early ’60’s. Where we were Pensies were rarely available, though known of. Any of you remember that spaldeens varied somewhat in pressure. I’d go through the box and find the hardest ones I could. They could be punched further, hit further, but their principle advantage was in handball, if you were over six feet. It was an equalizer when playing with a short guy with better skills. In close play, a low hit would send it caroming over his reach. By the way Geoff, you sure could split a spaldeen with a broom stick or those slightly larger stickball bats that were sold in some places. A baseball bat compresses the ball too much and creates a greater area of contact making a split less likely. We used to turn the splits inside out and throw them. they moved like maniacal frisbees and were almost impossible to catch. Any of you remember three box baseball, a pavement game we played when it was just too hot and humid to play anything else?