SLU baseball

[Schasz]

Thicks,

I was playing it in the 50's and 60's, but we graduated to something we called fuzz ball as we used a tennis ball and a thin bat that amounted to about the size of a cork ball bat. I'm sure that I opened it up to those who even played cork ball ( I never played it but my Dad played cork ball with the neighborhood men).

The beauty of these games was that you could play with as small a number of players as 2 players on each team. We had an alley behind my house and that is where many games took place.

[GMan Alum]

Schasz,

No, I am a "Luker", but got to know Dave and his family through is grandpa Todd who lived just a couple doors down from us.

These trips down memory lane have been fun. Jim did indeed play on the SLU team with Gil, Gary Garrison, Johnny Smith, Rich Naes, and I think he also played with Ulrich and Randy Albrecht (who is the long time b-ball coach at Meramec). Those were some pretty good teams and they made it to the NIT finals when the NIT rivaled the NCAA.

[jjray]

Schasz, I played fuzz ball (tennis ball with cork ball bat or broom handle) in STL county in the early 70s (maybe even 60s) but I am certain it was imparted to us by a parent who grew up in the city. I've never heard of this game played anywhere else. My father used to play bottle caps with his cronies--cork ball bat with bottle caps used as the "ball". Apparently this is what they played in the alleys of STL in the 40s.

[davidlee]

Whiffle ball was usually played in someone's back yard. Our backyard was one of the main places to play in our neighborhood.

Fuzzball had to be played in a bigger area because the ball could go so much further (I played most of my fuzzball at a parking lot at the corner of Manchester and Sproule)

Corkball was usually played by men in church league's (I know St. Luke's had one back in late 50's-early 60's they played on "the lot" across from the church)or some tavern's had leagues (there was one on Manchester a couple blocks east of McCausland on the south side of the street). They had a screened areas similar to today's batting cages.

[alameda bob]

Besides whiffleball, fuzz and corkball, did you ever play stepball? Just throw the ball at concrete steps while your opponent fields behind you. Hit on the edge and if it goes over his head you got a home run. I forget the rest of the rules, which were always subject to change depending on the location, ball used, etc. No bat needed! Even worked indoors on rainy or winter days.