Category Archives: Spaldeen games

I have been playing stick…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Bomber
 

I have been playing stick ball for a long time. When we play, we play in school yards where there are painted bases and base lines. But we play real baseball style-If there is a ground ball the ball must be thrown to the base for an out and so on. We have a high fence in left about 13ft and its 180ft away in the center there is no fence and the ball just keeps going but in right is the school and half way up is the home run about 20ft high and 190ft deep.

I have been playing stick…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Bomber
 

I have been playing stick ball for a long time. When we play, we play in school yards where there are painted bases and base lines. But we play real baseball style-If there is a ground ball the ball must be thrown to the base for an out and so on. We have a high fence in right about 13ft and its 180ft away in the center there is no fence and the ball just keeps going but in right is the school and half way up is the home run about 20ft high and 190ft deep.

Orange County, Calif., mid-70s….

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Mark Edelstein
 

Orange County, Calif., mid-70s. Played a game we called Butts Up, with the same consequences for the loser as the Asses Up described on this site. The rules: anywhere from 3 to 20 guys would stand 10 to 15 feet from a garage door or school wall. Someone would throw a tennis ball against the wall and anyone could pick it up, but you were only allowed to use one hand. If you dropped the ball or if the ball hit any part of your body and then hit the ground, you had to run and touch the garage/wall before someone else picked up the ball and winged it at you. If you made it to the wall without getting hit, you were safe. If you got hit, you had one point against you. Three points, and you were Butts Up. Loser would kneel down, facing wall with butt sticking up. Rest of players would line up and fire the ball at your rear. Worst part was if you were playing at recess during school — five guys may be playing, but as soon as someone was Butts Up, 30 guys lined up for target practice. In addition to the big three sports, we also played a lot of Over the Line (tons of variations) and basketball games like Around the World, HORSE and Poison.

I didn’t see any mention…

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

I didn’t see any mention by anyone about the enthusiastic stickball games played in Boro Park and Flatbush in the late 40’s and into the 50’s. All I can remember is that I was a great pitcher with at least 4 different pitches –we played in the street or in school yards –I had a slow curve, a fast curve, a sinker and a fast ball. In fact, one of the players I always played with and against was Spencer Ross — a sports announcer in NYC. He had a great fastball –I used to play against him in my driveway — one game i particularly remember is one where he was winning 4 to 1 in the bottom of the 9th — I finally figured out how to hit him –hit single, homerun, single and homerun to win 5-4. As a general rule, during my H.S. days, no noe was able to get a hit off me — not to brag, but I was good. I wish we had league lke they do now.

I’m looking to contact the…

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

I’m looking to contact the Pizarro family to interview for my stickball documentary. Please contact me at . Thank you.

My friends and I have been…

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

My friends and I have been playing stickball for years in the suburb of Cranford, New Jersey. We play on a grass field behind a local elementary school. The school has columns that mark out where the batters end up on base, and a beautiful 100+ year old oak tree about 100 yards in dead center that gathers up the tennis balls for the big home run blast. After testing bat after bat we found a winner. It is the handle of an old shovel sanded down and varnished. It is slightly thicker than a broomstick, so it doesn’t quite get the torque of the thinner bat, but with a solid swing you can’t go wrong. Not much else to add except that it is good to see that people still know how to go out and get a good game together with nothing on the line except for pride…db

As a kid growing up in the…

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

As a kid growing up in the Bronx, stickball is nothing new to me. Our field was our narrow, one-way street. (As I remember, the distance from first to second was quite a distance, but guys on first and third were practically right next to one another.) When I moved to Portland, Maine… a state overrun by soccer and basketball.. I thought stickball days would remain a memory from the past…BUT… The other day while in a Shaw’s supermarket in Scarborough, Maine, I discovered they were selling both the rubber Spaulding balls and… Spaulding stickball bats. The bats were somewhat thicker than the broom handle I was used to as a kid, but for $7 ($2 for the ball, and $5 for the bat!) I was armed and ready to start playing stickball again!