Tag Archives: I grew up…
Another street ball game….
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Another street ball game. Where I grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens we used to go to the playground behind my elementary school (P.S. 149 for those in the know). There was a park house that was the home of the “parkie” who was supposed to give out equipment and keep everyone from destroying the playground. His “house” had a slanted roof of all sides. We would stand underneath it and throw the ball up onto the roof, usually at an angle and with some spin. The other player had to catch it on a fly off the roof. If he didn’t it was a single-double-triple-homerun depending on how many bounces. It wasn’t as easy as you would think, especially when the ball landed on the cobblestones and would shoot off into the monkey bars. We could play this, and all the other pink ball games, for hours.
Hi to all: I grew up…
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Hi to all: I grew up in the East Bronx on Hoe Avenue & 173rd Street in the early 50’s. My friends and I treasured the experience of playing stickball. You guessed right. We dismantled a sturdy mop (usually found on the closest fire escape), together with a Spaldeen(usually a high bouncer)we were then prepared for the choosing up of sides. If I remember correctly on our shoestring budget we weren’t too choosey as to what we really used. It was great fun full of memories.
Hi – I grew up in Jackson…
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Hi – I grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens and played all of the street games everyone else did: Handball, stickball, stoop ball, Chinese handball, boxball, single-double-triple, slapball, errors, etc. Pensie Pinkies definitely were higher bouncers than Spaldeens and easier on the hand for both punchball and handball, especially on cold days. I haven’t seen a Pensie Pinkie in maybe 30 years, but I recently bought a “Spalding” at a Modell’s where I now live in Fairfax County, VA. It cost $1.99 – a far cry from the 15 cents or so when I was a kid, but probably equivalent with 35-40 years of inflation. Anyway, I got to play some fungo stickball with my 10 year old son today, and also introduced him to boxball. I have a stickball bat I bought about 10 years ago. If anyone knows where you can currently get a Pensie Pinkie, let me know. It was great finding this site.
I grew up in the West Bronx.University…
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I grew up in the West Bronx.University Avenue and Tremont Avnue from 1941-1955. I went to PS 26 and then onto JHS 82′ Macombs JHS. I remember the long trip every day to De Witt Clinton H.S. in the North Bronx. taking 2 busses.the first to Ft. Independence and then chaging to go onto Clinton by the reservoir. I had a great growing up in the Bronx and wouldnt change it for anything. Playing ball and playing in the snow on the Aquaduct right across from my bldg’ 1865 University Avenue. I remember the Park Plaza Theater every Saturday morning for the serials and movies all day long. I remember the NYU campus and “chickee” the cop and the Hall of Fame. Sunday morning bagels and “a rye sliced without seeds”. I also remember the Paradise theater where you took that “special” date to and across the street to Krums Ice Cream Parlor. The stars above at the Paradise and the drifting clouds were mysical to me. So many great memories that I cant begin to enumerate here.
Hello Everyone, …
well this is *odd* – I grew…
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well this is *odd* – I grew up in western NY – Buffalo and Clarence – the two counties bordering Amherst and played seven up all the time, the *russian version* throwing the ball against the wall for seven times, the next six it had to bounce, after that I am fuzzy – well you know what I mean, but remember spinning around to catch it and the under the leg. Maybe it is regional! Now that I am “way old” I am looking for hand clapping games for my *offsprung* and wouldn’t it be delightful to find regional ones!
I grew up in the Brownsville-East…
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I grew up in the Brownsville-East New York areas in the 30s and 40s. Went to JHS 174 and later to Jefferson HS. As kids we played a number of games for small change including “pitching pennies” and a variation of boxball in which the object was to knock a penny or nickel into an opponents box by hitting it with a spaulding. Does anyone know of other children’s gambling games from those days or the 50s or even 60s if they still existed then?
I grew up playing stickball…
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I grew up playing stickball in the bronx. I bought my bats at the sports store right at the 242nd street station. We played a great games with simple rules: Fast Pitch (balls and strikes like baseball) Strike zone drawn on a wall – from the shortest mans knees to the tallest mans numbers and as wide as the broadest man. We played on a very narrow field. about 40 degrees between the lines. The outfield wall was about 200 feet away and about 10 feet tall. Three outs an inning. Any ground ball fielded by the pitcher before the mound (except weak hits) were outs. Any fly or line drive cought was an out. Ground ball past the pitcher was a single. Liner or po that landed in front of the outfield was a double. Off the wall was a triple. Over the wall … gone! Ghost runners would advance on every hit – they did not need to be forced. A double scored a man from second even if no one was on first. And we developed as many rule as possible to make the game as much like baseball as possible. A foul tip strike three was an out if it hit the zone. With a runner on third you could tag up on a fly to the outfield, the runner scored if the outfield did not throw a strike from wherever he cought it. A wild pitch was a pitch that hit the window on the wall with the strike zone. etc… These were the rule that we spent days playing by and making up. They made for a great way to spend summer afternoons. Thanks
I grew up in Cobble Hill…
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I grew up in Cobble Hill Brooklyn in the 70’s. My Dad still lives there – he calls it God’s Country. Anyway, We called it Coco-leavio. Later as we got older, it turned into Manhunt. I remember my friend Lee ‘teaching’ me how to ‘blend in’ with the cars, so as not to be seen. That was a good time.