Category Archives: Spaldeen games

1 day a year a few friends…

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1 day a year a few friends meet the game they play is in the street a ball is hit against a curb so you can;t play it in the burbs everyone aims for the perfect point if you dont hit it – there is always a joint games are hot out on the black top but no one ever wants to stop sometimes balls fly on the roof when that happens you feel like a goof the game is played extremly hard its more intense than Camden Yard players fight and playesrs swear but you wont find bad blood anywhere so as you can see curb ball is wild just keep on playing it like a child.

Born in Brooklyn in 1959…

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Born in Brooklyn in 1959 and grew up in Sheepshead Bay around Ocean Parkway between Y & Z (Manhattan Court). I moved to Rochester, NY in 1980 after graduating from college to work for Eastman Kodak. I am 39 now with two kids and my boy is 9 years old. We where home (I still call Brooklyn home) this weekend and I played stickball with my son. The school yard (PS 209) I used to play in is under some kind of destruction/construction so this was just an introduction. It was great to be out there again. Can’t wait until I get my hands on a Spalding though. Pensee-pinkie’s where better. The Spalding’s used to crack in half. I still have my stickball bat from the 70’s so I remembered to bring that along. Remember how many sneakers we used to go through because the toes would be gone from pitching. I remember begging my Mom to buy me PUMA’s when they first came out. I never liked those heavy ADIDA’s. They where $20.00 back 25 years ago. After our little stick ball game I introduced him to PUNCH BALL. We then went home and played “HIT THE PENNY”, “5 boxes”, and “Box Tennis”. I even had a chance to grab a Nathan’s frankfurter and a BAG of fries in Coney Island. I think they still use the same grease for the fries.

In my day the 50’s we played…

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In my day the 50’s we played hit the penny. You would use two sidewalk squares with the penny starting on the middle line of the two boxes. if the thrower hit the penny he got a point. if the penny turned over you got two points. First player to reach 11 or 21 won the game

In my hometown of Saratoga…

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In my hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY, we played a combination game. It used a long stick or branch broken off a bush. It had to look like a lance. Then we used a large handkerchief. We put the handkerchief in the middle of the road kind of bunched up in the middle. Two of use on two wheeled bikes each got to a starting point about 50 yards away from the handkerchief. At a signal, each rider would ride quickly toward the handkerchief and the oncoming rider. It was like jousters in the days of King Arthru. Each rider would try to pick up the handkerchief with the stick and get to the other person’s starting point without losing the handkerchief. Trying to knock the other guy’s stick was legal. The best two of three would win the match. We called it sticker-chief.

I grew up in Coney Island…

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I grew up in Coney Island and played stickball throughtout the 1960’s. However, when I moved to Arizona I was involved in the greatest stickball game of my life. I started to play on Saturdays at Arizona State University with three other guys. A pitcher and an outfielder, on the fly against a brick wall. I was playing against my friend Myron (from Brooklyn also) We were both pitching. We each had a no hitter going into the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Myron hit a home run that landed on the roof of the Women’s PE building to end the game. I lost a no hitter and the game 1-0. We were so drained and I really wanted to beat him, but for that one afternoon, our game transcended time and we were back in the streets of Brooklyn. I’ll never forget it.

I have written and illustrated…

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I have written and illustrated a book on “City Games” played with a “pimple ball”. These games include: stickball, wallball, wireball, boxball, miniature,ledgies, points, dinky and the ultimate and most sublime of the street games, halfball. Halfball is one of the greatest games ever, and if anyone has any info or comments regarding these games feel free to e-mail me at bearncrepe [at] aol [dot] com. Thanks, Bob Bu