1937: CHOOSING SIDES AT CHAMBERSBURG'S COLUMBUS PARK

C'mon you guys, level with me. Does your memory go back to the days of "sandlot" baseball where we didn't have uniforms, didn't have cleated shoes, didn't have base markers? We played over at Plaag's Grove on Sylvan Avenue, a block away from Cedar Lane. Our bases would be an old five gallon lid from a can of paint, or a large stone, or even a paper plate from Mom's kitchen. Our baseball would be a sad sphere which was wrapped with friction tape. The cover long ago being knocked off of the ball. And what about that very familiar custom of "choosing up" or "choosing sides?" Remember how two guys performed the process? Flip the bat to your buddy, call out "no fingers," and the guy who wound up with his complete had at the top of the bat got to choose the first player for his team. What great fun we had, and I bet that many of my visitors will send me their stories for inclusion on the page.

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM....AS KIDS WE PLAYED ON THE CORNER OF QUINTON AND LIBERTY STS. WE CALLED IT DIAMOND FIELD. THIS WAS IN THE EARLY 1930'S AND YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE HOW WE DID IT. THE BALLS WERE TAPED, THE BATS WERE BROKEN AND TAPED, THE GLOVES WERE WORN AND WE ONLY HEARD OF SPIKE SHOES. WE CHOOSE SIDES WITH A BAT AND HEAVEN HELPED THE CARS THAT WENT BY. WE PLAYED TEAMS FROM DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS AND USUALLY ENDED UP IN A FIGHT, BUT WE DID HAVE FUN AND MADE THE BEST OF IT. THOSE WERE THE DAYS. REGARDS.

Friday, April 22, 2011