Category Archives: Spaldeen games

had a flashback to playing…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: frank junior [e-mail]
 

had a flashback to playing behind snyder high school in jersey city, nj……i did hit a shot toward right field that hit the 2nd floor of the high school…..in my minds eye it was a tape measure shot that was on a par with mickey mantle’s tape measure blasts…..i was a little guy at the time maybe 10 yrs old……but it was a shot to be proud of and had it not been obstructed by that wall i wonder how many sewers it would have traveled……so take that cowboy! and a few yrs later i hit one off my friend pablo behind p.s.#9……a shot to straight away center field…..cleared the fence and landed in the lot that ran along the tracks near what was then railroad ave i think it was called

yo! man i miss the old…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: frank junior [e-mail]
 

yo! man i miss the old stickball days…….i grew up playing on myrtle ave in jersey city, nj during the 70’s…..i was never any good at basketball but put a stick in my hand and i was quite a hitter (or so i thought)……so many memories i can recall….breaking windows, ladies yelling out the window for us kids to take the game down the street b4 we break a window……having water thrown on us, still wish i knew who did that, nearly getting hit by cars…..those were good days ………….i still got a stick in my closet for old times sake…….we played the game with the spaldeen pitched underhand and you had to hit it on the first bounce……never reached the 2 sewer level (still got skinny arms) most of my shots were inside the park jobs…….my longest shot i can recall got caught on the fly by this kid named cowboy…..knew him for yrs and don’t think i ever knew his real name…..he was always cowboy to us…….once in a while i’d get “lucky” and spot a spaldeen in a sewer….i didn’t mind the sludge and the stench getting on me if i could get at the spaldeen floating down there……it was worth it…..why go buy one when you could get one in a sewer or climb onto a roof and retrieve someone else’s? finder’s keepers

God i love this forum……brings…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: frank junior [e-mail]
 

God i love this forum……brings back so many memories of growing up in the 70’s……i’m from jersey city, nj…..loved stickball to death……still got a stick in my closet…..i miss hanging out on my friend tyrone’s stoop…..just watching all the neighbors…talking about them behind their backs etc….i remember one night i was hanging out on the stoop way past curfew and my mom came over and cracked me on the head in front of the guys…..boy did i hear about that one for a long time

I remember the 60’s back…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: nector perez [e-mail]
 

I remember the 60’s back in the claremont project in the bronx every kid had a pocket bulge(spalding). we climb on old factory rooftops or the freight tracks and find balls that some seemed to be as old as fifty yrs. being poor I remember taking them home and boilng them in hot water to try to return a bounce to them. It worked but nothing like a spankin new spalding.

Growing up on the same Bronx…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Stratford Ave Crew
 

Growing up on the same Bronx block for 21 years, we called the game “slugs” although i do recall the other names (ace, king, queen and chinese handball). It was one of the most popular games on the block. As a kid, I’d watch the older guys play with awe and once I started playing, i loved it. Expecially after learning to “cut” the ball, which would fool the hell out of an opponent, unless he had a nastier cut than you. Then there were all the other “rules” we’d throw in like “waterfalls”, “baby waterfalls”, “hindus”, etc. I’m just mad that I can’t remember what all of these mean or how they were used in the game! I remember how the whole neighborhood would get into the game and we’d play for hours, with sometimes 8-10 players at a time. Then it was on to skelsies, johnny on the pony, or ringolevio. Ah, the good ole days.

Soft Pinkies rule. One of…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: chris erichsen
 

Soft Pinkies rule. One of my most savored kid memories was walking back to school at lunch in NE Philly having just stole () a Pinkie from the corner candy store. Throwing a fresh pinkie at a nice tall brick wall on a spring afternoon is heaven on earth. Does anyone remember playing SUICIDE – a game with a sponge (Pinkie) ball against a wall (school wall). You would throw the ball to hit 1st the ground then 2nd the wall so the ball launched high in the air. If you caught it, the person who threw it must touch the wall b4 you get to peg him with the ball. If you try and catch someone else’s ball and miss, its your bum on the line. Still don’t know why it was called suicide. Likely many names for this game. Chris

I’m a fire-fighter from…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: stevemolloy [e-mail]
 

I’m a fire-fighter from Liverpool, England. I never met Steve, but I’ve met his parents, Mary and Lou, several times on vacation in Miami. When they first told they had a son who was a NYC fire-fighter I gave them one of my uniform shirts to pass onto Steve. About 3 weeks later, after we arrived home, I recieved a parcel from Steve’s parents, it was one of Steve’s Fire House T shirts that he had asked his Mom to pass onto me. That was in June 2001, tragically the horrific events of 9/11 took the life of what I know to be a devoted father and husband and a loving son, as well as a brave and dedicated fire-fighter. I would of liked to have met Steve, have a beer or two, just hang out for a few hours, sadly that won’t happen, but I can see from the messages on this site that those who did meet him knew someone special and that they are so proud and privilaged to have known him. God Bless Steve.

I remember playing stickball…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: PL Mundy
 

I remember playing stickball in Brooklyn in the 30’s and early forties. Ave. T between East 28th and East 29th Streets. Seems that there were a lot fewer cars on the street then. One bounce to home plate. The business of the distance, sewer covers, in my opinion, was determined by the length of the stick (broom handle). The longer it was, the further it went. With a long enough stick, if you caught the ball at the end of the stick, it never came down. I believe the first thing in orbit was a Spalding. Not only spin on the ball when pitched but squezzing the Spalding (bastardized to spaldeen I guess) with the middle finger gave the pitcher what might be considered a “knuckler” which, no one ever knew which way it would bounce when it hit the ground. If you grew up in Brooklyn before the war, there was bound to be some stickball somewhere in your back ground.