the answer: in the Morrisiana sector (158th St and Eagle Ave) we called Willie Mays a THREE SEWER man because Home Plate was NOT a sewer but a chalked HOME PLATE; in other Neighborhoods a sewer might be homeplate but that was just because of the-lay-of-the-land. On 158th ‘tween Eagle and Caldwell Aves Homeplate was between the first sewer and the second one on the block.
My Dad, Robert “Lefty” Gregory played on The Presto in the late 30’s early 40’s. His brother Willie Gregory played on the Madision Ave Flashers. Dad went on to play in the Winter Baseball Leagues in Puerto Rico with the San Juan Senators in 47. He returned to Manhattan the following season and went to an open try out for the NY Giants in the old Polo Grounds. He put four consecutive shots in center field which got him a trip to North Carolina to play for the Giants Farm Team. Those were rough days for people of color. I was about five or six and can remember sitting in the stands in center field. Those folks were pretty hostile. Dad was a quiet man and always avoided confrontation. He deceided then to give up his dream of a professional career and we all retuned to live in Brooklyn. Dad played stickball for Home Relief during this time and spent the rest of the decade playing in the great Puertorican baseball leagues in Central Park. Not sure of his team’s name, but I remember the word “GOYA” on his uniform. To say Dad played stickball or baseball at another level was an understatement. When I was about sixteen we were living in the upper Bronx, East Chester Projects. Dad came down one Saturday afternoon to join us while we were playing stickball. We thought we were really good. Dad got up, pointed to each of us in order and said, “This is yours”. Bam! a blur of a warped spaldine would be coming at you at mach 5. BAM! one more for the guy on 2nd and Bam! another for 3rd. My buddies would duck, jump out of the way. To damn hot to handle! For us in the out field he would pop them up so high they come down whistling and dancing the bugaloo! He would place them just where he wanted to, every time. It was a reality check for us young punks! I really miss my Dad and am glad to see this site giving these guys and their generation their due. I was shocked to find out that my Dad was inducted along with my uncle Willie into the hall of fame. This was in the seventies and he never told any of the family. I only found out about it this year when his good friend Hector Arroyo was inducted. That was my Dad! A very humble but unforgetable man.
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.
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.