Streetplay Discussion Archive

I was the Killer of Killers in Skelly for a bunch of years growing up in East New York. Ruleed from Miller Ave to Essex St. along Fulton Ave. There is still a carved Skelly board that we called home field on Van Siclen Ave. between Fulton St. and Atlantic Ave. Check it out. We carved that Skelly board in the 70’s. Still there!

Mr. J — Several smaller courts should be made with teams of 5-8 kids. Otherwise, a single game would take forever. And trust me, it’s skellzies. I played this in the early seventies in the South Bronx. Oh, and if it becomes popular, keep an eye out for kids using the coasters from school chairs as skellzie caps. They can be cut out, and then the rubber is dug out. They make perfect caps; heavy and slick. We used to take bottle caps, and then rub them on smooth concrete to a polish. Then we would take either crayons or green army men and melt them into the bottle cap for weight.

I grew up in the South Bronx during the seventies, less than a half mile from Yankee Stadium. We played a version of stoopball where there were delineations across the street at different heights of the building which indicated singles, doubles, triples, and homers. Outs were only made by catching the ball in the air, or by catching three balls on the bounce (or, three strikes.)

I spent my childhood days on the streets and playgrounds of a small town in New Jersey,West New York.Named because it is geographically due west of New York City on the Jersey side of the Hudson River.One game played often that I haven’t seen mentioned is “Spltziz”,played with wooden tops.The object was to alternate shots,throws or spins at an opponents top and continue until a winner was declared by splitting his top.Sounds violent,but it still gave me and my friends many hours of fun.Thank you,Kevin Haithcock

How can I play Skelly with a large PE class of 28 kids? I made a huge board on the gym floor to play…what’s the best way to do this? Or should I can the idea and just have 4 or 5 smaller boards? Help!

Great site to bring back memories, had not thought about stick ball or pimple balls in 40 years. we played same way as the stories from NY up in Boston. We also played a version of stickball with out a stick on a corner (intersection) that had 3 sewers and a manhole cover in the center. Making up the mound, first and third. The plate was the last sewer and 2nd was the curbstone. We used our hand to smack the ball and had 3 players per side pitcher and two infielders. There was a limit to how far a ball could be hit on the fly. So the game was designed to be fast and close. So most would try to hit bouncers or line drives. Pitch speed was any thing goes. When we got older we played very fast and hard. Handball was what we called it but it was the base ball rules wonder if there was a similiar version in other cities. Thanks for bringing up the memories. Oh one fast question did any one every play stick ball with a superball and cut off hockey sticks turned edge wise. Hockey sticks where a fav type of stick.

Played on Garden St. in the Bronx in late 50s to mid 60s. Always played in the street, never played “pitching in” against a wall until we were several years older. In the street it was fungo — never a pitcher. The sidewalks were fair territory, as were the countless fire escapes that each apartment building had. A ball was “live” when it got up into the fire escapes. The batter was out if a fielder caught the ball off the fire escape on a fly. If it bounced, the hit was usually a triple or homer — by the time the ball bounced around the fire escape and its stairs, before finally bounding back to the field, most batters were able to get an extra-base hit with ease. Regarding a four-sewer man: if it’s true that the general NYC layout was 250 between sewers, that meant a 1000-ft shot. Think about it: that’s more than 3 football fields laid end to end. I’d have to see it to believe it.

Back in the Day NYC Skelly T-shirts – http://www.backinthedayt-shirts.blogspot.com/

how about hit the penny and box baseball. I grew up on 63rd street in Mill Basin. Best punch ball players. Other blocks would come by and challenge us. NO CONTEST. With 20 guys on the block we had lots of talent. Both balls were great and it wqas good to switch off. Our children don’t know what they missed. By the way the best handball player in Brooklyn was Al Britvan as far as a defensive player on a doubles team. The man….now 81….never ended a game without bleeding from scraping the ground. Long Live our memories…..

I grew up in Manhattan om the lower east side…Jacob Riis Projects….We played there and then as I grew older we played on 13th St between Ave A and 1st Ave…. I just recently found a Spaldeen ball… and I;m looking to start a league here in Virginia…Today is only the second day of this adventure…. My goal is to get a team up and match up with those in NYC… and so on… To eventually play in Puerto Rico’s World Series… I use to play all version’s of this game… and now that I’m 55 years old and in relatively good shape.. I’m looking to play once again!!!!