Punchball
Punchball is a sport spawned by and similar to baseball, but without a pitcher, catcher, or bat.[1][2]
The "batter" essentially plays "fungo" without a bat, bouncing or tossing up the ball and then using a volleyball-type approach to put the ball (usually a spaldeen[3] or pensie pinkie) in play, punching the ball with his closed fist.[4][5][6] Stealing and bunting are not allowed.
Historian and baseball enthusiast Stephen Jay Gould referred to it as "the canonical recess game",[7] and in The Boys of Summer baseball writer Roger Kahn described how when he grew up it was a boys game, as the girls played "slapball".[8]
Baseball Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson,[9] Sandy Koufax,[10][11] and Yogi Berra[12] played it growing up, as did sports team owner Jerry Reinsdorf[13] and former US Secretary of State and general Colin Powell.[14][15] Major league outfielder Rocky Colavito, when asked if he played punchball, answered "Play it? Man, that was my game. I liked to play that more than anything else ... anything. We used to play for money, too."[16] It was also a pastime of football announcer Al Michaels, who often played with former Chicago Bears quarterback Sid Luckman.
Popular culture
A 2010 PBS documentary, New York Street Games, includes punchball.[17].
External links
See also
References
- ^ The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and the Shot Heard Round the World, p. 194, Joshua Prager, Random House, Inc., 2008, ISBN, 0375713077, 9780375713071, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Boyhood in America: an encyclopedia, Volume 1, p. 71, Jacqueline S. Reinier, ABC-CLIO, 2001, ISBN 1576072150, 9781576072158, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Voices from Cooperstown: Baseball's Hall of Famers Tell It Like It Was, p. 9, Anthony J. Connor, Galahad Books, 1998, ISBN 1578660165, 9781578660162, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ [1]
- ^ Street games, p. 149, Alan Milberg, McGraw-Hill, 1976, ISBN 0070419159, 9780070419155, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Baseball: The People's Game, pp. 17–18, Harold Seymour, Oxford University Press US, 1991, ISBN 0195069072, 9780195069075, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball, pp. 41–42, 258, Stephen Jay Gould, David Halberstam, W. W. Norton & Company, 2004, ISBN 0393325571, 9780393325577, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Sports and the American Jew, p. 43, Steven A. Riess, Syracuse University Press, 1998, ISBN 0815627548, 9780815627548, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Jackie Robinson: Young Sports Trailblazer; Childhood of Famous Americans, Herb Dunn, Meryl Henderson, Simon and Schuster, 1999, ISBN 068982453X, 9780689824531, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Koufax, p. 17, Sandy Koufax, Edward Linn, Viking Press, 1966, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Sandy Koufax, pp. 6–7, Matt Doeden, Twenty-First Century Books, 2006, ISBN 0822559617, 9780822559610, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Allen, Maury, Baseball Digest, November 1969, "Yogi Berra: The People's Choice," Vol. 28, No. 10, p. 88, ISSN 0005-609X, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Brooklyn: a state of mind: "Interview with Jerry Reinsdorf, p. 84, Michael W. Robbins, Wendy Palitz, Workman Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0761116354, 9780761116356, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Colin Powell: soldier/statesman--statesman/soldier, pp. 48, 59, Howard B. Means, Donald I. Fine, 1992, ISBN 1556113358, 9781556113352, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Colin Powell: a man of quality, p. 24, Libby Hughes, Dillon Press, 1996, ISBN 0382392604, 9780382392603, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ Falls, Joe, Baseball Digest, July 1960, Vol. 19, No. 6, "Two Boys from the Bronx," p. 24, ISSN 0005-609X, accessed December 16, 2009
- ^ New York Street Games (Motion picture). New York City. http://www.newyorkstreetgames.com/home.html. Retrieved 14 Nov 2011.