I was playing handball today in Flagler Beach, FL, when the ball coming OVER the wall and onto my court was PINK!!.”WOW! A Spaldeen! I have not seen one in 25 years since back in Brooklyn and North Babylon, NY. I found out who hit it over. He said that you can buy them now at the “Sports Authority” stores. Any handball players out there? Eddie Jensen
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.
Spaldeens were always the ball of choice for me. Money was something only grownups were allowed to hold, so spaldeens were the kids eqivilent of cash. It you had one, you got to play. In the mid-60s we played punchball day after day against the expansive brick wall of the New Yorker Theatre on 89th Street between Broadway and West End. Mostly 2-on-2. Hitting the New Yorker Bookstore sign was a homerun. The game pretty much broke up by middle school, when some kids started into drugs and others were diverted to supervised activities. I was never much of a ballplayer, but punchball required more finesse than power and I was pretty good at it.
i played stickball at ps 203 in brooklyn and i remember there were 5 or 6 games going on at the same time. It was a big field with the fence being an automatic triple and over the fence a homerun. Our arms were as rubbery as the balls since we played everyday. We played with either two men on a team or just one against one. I remember it being a lot of fun but i only wish we had some video of these games as they were exciting and it would be nice to show my kids how big the game was back in the day.
Being a LINY native I grew up playing stickball with shaved tennis ball. Some how local kids would get all the fuzz off leaving only the yarn and the rubber bindings would rise above it for substanially more spin. Some guys would throw them above your head and they’d drop bellow the box. Does anyone know where to get or how to make these ball? Email me or post a suggestion if you would. Thanks, Jake Gateson
First off, I would like to say that it is so encouraging to see how many people really do care about stickball. Its honestly a passion and a thrilling sport. I’m posting the following as a footnote to anybody that might be interested and just to let the stickball world in general know that the sport is alive and well in my area. Myself and around 5-7 other guys, all around 21 years old play stickball almost everyday in Bayside, Queens. We even keep statistics and have made it into a small league. I first learned of stickball from my father, who grew up in the same area, and it is remarkable to see how much of a comeback stickball has made in recent times. I realize that in the grand scheme of life i am very young, but each year it seems more and more people are purchasing bats and taking up the sport. This is evident by the difficulty you have even finding a place to play around here often times. If any other guys play in the area feel free to drop me an email, just letting everybody know that the sport is very much alive.
grewup on East 4th Street in Brooklyn playing stickball in the street. Also played in the schoolyard at PS 215 using the school wall with a drawn strike Zone. Stickball is making a comeback in Boynton Beach, Florida. Games played on Sundays. Mostly ex- New Yorkers
read allan laxton message, i grew up at lawrence and bristol,in philly and played all those street games especially,stick ball and chink, and all we needed was the pimple ball and of course someones broom handle for the bat, actually i just purchased a stick ball and two pink balls thru a cataloge, good memories!!!!!!!
MY BROTHER HECTOR JOHN ARROYO,PLAYED STICKBALL FOR A TEAM CALLED THE PRESTO’S FROM 114TH ST.BET 5TH AND MADISON AVE.A FEW OF THE PLAYERS FROM 1930 TO 1941,WHERE HECTOR ARROYO,ROBERT(LEFTY) GREGORY I CAN’T REMEMBER THE LAST NAME OF THE FOLLOWING BUT IF YOU PLAYED AGAINST THEM YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THEM. THERE WAS RENE,GILBERT,KIKE,LOUIS THE BARBERO, TO NAME A FEW. WE PLAYED AGAINST THE DEVILS WITH THERE PLAYERS SUCH AS BENNY,RALPH,VINNIE ETC. WE ALSO PLAYED AGAINST THE ORIGINAL MADISON FLASHES ,WITH BUGGIE,GEORGE ETC, MY BROTHER IS AN ARTIST AND IS LOOKING FOR ANY PHOTOS OF THE YEARS 1930 THRU 1940OF THE HOUSES OR STICKBALL GAMES OR JUST ABOUT ANYTHING IN THE ERA.ALSO IF AVAILABLE A PICTURE OF THE FIREHOUSE ON 114 NEAR MADISON AVE.