Fantastic to read about all the stories from the old days. As an ex-Brooklynite from the 50’s, the question is where can I play stickball in Manhattan when I’m in town? Any suggestions about specific places to play stickball will be greatly appreciated. At my age, anything that bounces will suffice, although Spaldeen was the ticket in my neighborhood.
SPUD Here’s how we played spud. One kid threw a ball up and called out another kid’s name. That kid tried to catch the ball while everyone else skattered. When he caught it he yelled “Spud” and everyone froze. He then tried to hit someone with the ball. There was some kind of point system to win or be out. Which reminds me, anyone remember the name of the stickball game where you threw the ball up and hit it with a stick and whoever caught it would role it toward the stick (which you placed on the ground) and you’d try to catch the ball as it popped up off the stick?
I make stickball bats.We play the Bronx style stickball game.The ball we use is the sky bounce,it replaced the spaldeen.Anyway,I’m the batman.I make them out of rake handles,shovels, hoe’s or whatever has a decent handle.I shave them down with a block plane to a tapered shape.If your interested leave me a message.
As a Brooklyn and Queens kid of the 50’s, I have to cast a vote for the one and only ball that any repected kid would use in my neighborhoods. You bought a Spaldeen (At Uncle Milty’s Candy Store). Period. That other ball would be like using some artsy fartsy chocolate syrup for an egg cream instead of U-Bet. And nobody bought a stickball bat. I couldn’t believe when they started selling them at the local stores!
The ONLY acceptable, official ball to use in my neighborhood in da Bronx to play stickball, punchball, stoopball etc. was the GREAT Spaldeen. We use to pick up two ball at once, hold them at about eye level then let them drop to see which one bounced higher. We’d do this until the candy store owner screamed “Hey you kids..stop makin’ my balls dirty”. Then we’d have to make a quick choice and buy it.
I’m 34 YO and grew up in a suburb of West Philly playing three kinds of stick-ball. One-bounce stick-ball had two or three outs an inning and you got either one strike or two fouls. Fastball involved pitching into a box painted on a wall and has three strikes and four ball walks. Half-ball involved cutting a tennis ball or pimple ball in half and playing by fast ball rules, with no walks. All hits were automatics with telephone poles or manholes determining the bases.
hello, my name is Steve Mercado. Chairman of the Board of The New York Emperors Stickball League. I, along with 2 other gentleman, devised and wrote rules & regulations for our league in the Bronx over 8 years ago and to this day those rules & regulations are the bible of stickball played in the street with 8 men on the field. We are in the process of constructing our web site at bronxpages.com and plan on a huge year 2000. Thx! We have our annual fundraising dance March 18 in Coop City.