When I was a kid we played 500 in the alley behind our house. We broke
a lot of garage windows. I played 16-inch softball in my late teen
years, in both a church league and the Grant Park league. In those
days, we played without mitts. They've since sissified the game and
now wear modified baseball gloves. Pansies.
Paul
On Jun 7, 2009, at 10:11 PM, Christine Aguila wrote:
John: I don't know the name of the game you describe, but in
Chicago, we played "for hours and hours" a game called 500. We
played with a 16 inch softball--the famous--or more accurately--the
infamous 16 inch Clincher--16 inches of hard rock in the shape of a
ball. The Clincher has caused many a "jammed finger," and I have
one myself. If I think of it tomorrow, I'll take a picture of it
and post. The University of Chicago Hospital has perfected a
surgical procedure for what is, in fact, called "The Chicago
Finger," and I'm proud to say I have a "Chicago Finger, but it
doesn't cause me any pain (yet), so I'll probably not pursue getting
the finger straightened out.
Chicago has a strong tradition/history of 16 inch softball. The
men's leagues, and more specifically the union leagues, are really
impressive to watch. Even the advertising industry had coed 16 inch
softball leagues, though I don't know if they still do--I worked in
advertising in the late 80s/early 90s, and I played on the team
Anyway, the game went like this: the batter had to self-pitch then
hit the ball to kids in the field. Certain types of catches were
worth a certain number of points: something like: a 2 bounce
grounder=25 points; 1 bounce grounder=50 points; fly ball=75
points. The first fielder to reach 500 points got to bat.
We played 500 when there wasn't enough kids for a softball game,
which was often; hence, "hours and hours" of 500.
Cheers, Christine
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Sessoms" <jsessoms...@nc.rr.com
>
To: <pdml@pdml.net>
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 1:47 PM
Subject: OT: another completely useless off topic question - Roller
Bat/RollerBall
Anyone else know this game from childhood? I remembered it while
thinking of something else the "Consumer Reports cool cameras"
thread sparked off.
Required equipment:
Baseball or softball
Baseball or softball bat
backyard or vacant lot
a bunch of kids
Rulz:
One batter, pitcher & catcher - everyone else is out-fielders.
Anyone can join or leave the game at any time.
One base, home plate (which doesn't actually have to be a real
base, we often used a cinder block)
3 strikes yer' out, where a strike = swing and miss; if you don't
swing, it's a "ball". 4 balls = one strike.
"NO! You can't throw it overhand. You have to pitch it underhand so
we can hit it! ... Because I said so. It's my bat and my ball."
Hit balls are fielded and the batter lays the bat down across the
"plate". Fielder throws or rolls the ball toward the bat,
attempting to hit the bat with the ball.
If the ball hits the bat, the batter becomes the new catcher, the
catcher becomes the new pitcher and the fielder becomes the new
batter.
Balls caught in the air or on first bounce (first hop) count the
same as having hit the bat.
If the thrown ball misses the bat, the batter continues for another
3 strikes.
If the batter strikes out, you argue about whose turn it is to bat
next. Optionally, you can argue about whether the thrown ball
actually hit the bat or hopped over it.
The game is over when whoever owns the ball & bat has to go home
for supper ... or something else interesting happens.
We played this in our backyard for hours and hours during the
summer when I was in grade school, because my mom was the only one
in the neighborhood who didn't mind having a bunch of noisy kids
around the house.
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