Still the best all-around player to EVER lace up a pair of cleats!!!
The best thing about being a Giants fan, even better than winning the World Series last year, is we have Willie Mays. Much love, and many more.
We played stickball in the streets the same as Willie and the city kids. Can you imagine kids being asked to play baseball today with a broomstick and a Spaldeen?
What's a Spaldeen you ask? You probably see them in a clearance bin at Wal-Mart. The best tool for teaching kids "soft-hands" skills needed to field the ball, whether it be grounders or fly-balls. Nowadays, you pay $50 or more for some modern gadget marketed to "teach" kids how to field. Spaldeens are probably less than a dollar each. Do the math.
And here's stickball, back in the day. The more things change...indeed. I'm not sure youth sports are significantly better than the days that my brothers and I used to gather our neighborhood friends together, go out to a field by ourselves and play ball for hours on end.
We learned more about the game and ourselves than we did playing organized ball, IMO.
Seems like days like this our gone, a relic of a by-gone era. Sad really. I must be getting old.
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/tag/spaldeen/
Stickball on the streets of Brooklyn
June 29, 2009
Like egg creams and nickel subway rides, stickball is one of those long-gone cultural touchstones that New York City old-timers often wax nostalgic about. But you know, the game sure looks like a lot of fun.
No coaches. No expensive gear. No adults. All you needed was a car-free side street (not hard to find before the 1950s, when few city residents had cars), a broom handle, and a “spaldeen”—a small pink rubber ball made by the Spalding sporting goods company—and you were good to go. Chalk to outline bases or the strike zone was optional.
Simply known as "The Catch" - 1954 World Series
Say Hey! Willie Mays
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