WAY THINGS USED TO BE 8

continued from Way Things Used To Be 7

Stoop Ball 1
Lucky Strike Green had come home from the War, as had Dubble Bubble gum and the pink Spaldeen—though at ten cents now instead of a nickel. But there weren't many new cars yet, so there was still plenty of room for street games.

Marbles had its short season. In fall and winter we played roller hockey and association football. Punch ball and stickball started in March and went through early fall, but stoop ball was year round. The only thing that stopped us playing stoop ball was too much snow on the ground.

We followed the usual rules: one infielder, one outfielder; nine inning games; if the ball hit the sidewalk you hit from, got caught before it bounced, or went outside the foul lines, you were out. One bounce was a single, two a double, etc. If you hit the wall of the building across the street on the fly and the ball didn't get caught before it hit the ground it was a home run. Imaginary base runners advanced one base on a single, two on a double.

Instead of a stoop, though, we hit off the S-shaped cornices that ran three feet above the sidewalk on the wall of the 88th Street side of 575 West End Avenue. They were perfect for hitting--white seven inch high S-curves that extended out from the face of the walls between the ground floor windows. If you hit the sweet spot on the convex part of the cornice, the ball shot out on a clothesline too high to catch before it hit 585 on the other side of 88th. Hit above the sweet spot and you either popped up or the ball hit above the third floor of 585 and was easy to catch as it bounced off. Hit the concave part of the S and the ball went to the infield. Just as 575 was perfect for hitting, 585 was perfect to have in the outfield. It had crenulations up to the third floor that made the ball bounce off in flukey ways outfielders couldn't predict.
Matt --tall, big hands, good jumper, stood with his back to 585 ready to jump, or turn, back away and catch the rebound. He was our best outfielder, but he had a weak arm and couldn't hit.
(To be continued Way Things Used To Be 9)
If you ever played stoop ball or used to pink spaldeen, I'd appreciate any comments that would bring back additional memories.
Herb L
oldtimewriter.com