I grew up in a small town north of Madison, WI and 500 was the game to
play if we couldn't get enough players for a game of "real" ball. We
played with a softball or a baseball, which ever one of us could come up
with. Most of us didn't have the money for a glove, so we played bare
handed for the most part.
Don't know if it's the same as your "Chicago Finger", but in grade
school I jammed a finger playing softball so they sent me to the local
doc. He was one of those small-town, no BS docs and he asked to take a
look at my finger. He said "Hmmmm" when I showed him, then quickly got
a grip on my finger on each side of the jammed knuckle and pulled - no
more jammed finger. He was a little on the looney side. One night he
sat at the bar in one of the local restaurants with a pile of paper
plates and a bottle of liquid shoe polish. He'd draw a face on a paper
plate with the shoe polish dauber, then sail the plate like a Frisbee
out into the crowd. His wife finally had him committed and after he was
released about 6 months later he liked to brag that he was the only guy
in town who had a certificate that said he was *NOT* crazy.
Ahhh, the good times of growing up in a small town...
-p
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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