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Reply to "Things you did as a kid to improve before the advent of lessons"

I could write on this all day. 

  • Played at Lunker Lake.  We had this area that was mostly sewer BUT there was this area large enough for a ball diamond.  The kids would show up between 9 and 10 in the morning and we would play until noon.  At noon, we took a break then, if enough could, we start again at 1.  We would flip teams around all of the time trying to make them fair.  I had some great times out there.  I think it is amazing that the kids that showed up there never seemed to be the kids getting arrested.  
  • Blair School - We had this school that had the best brick wall in HISTORY.  No windows!   We made a strike zone on the wall and the custodians helped us do it.  LOL  No one ever knew.  It was neatly done and the Principal let it go.  We would then play games with a corkball and corkball bat.  I still remember getting drilled a couple of times with that small ball.  If no one showed up, a few of us would throw balls off of the wall and pretend we were Brooks Robinson.  Yes, even in Cardinal country Brooks set the tone for fielding back then.  
  • Error - My brother and I created a game we called, "error."  We would set up two bases.  I would pretend I was the 1st baseman and throw ground balls to my brother but as hard as I could throw throw them.  He had to field them cleanly and make a good throw to 1st.  If he made a bad throw or didn't field the ball, he got an error.  If I dropped a good throw at 1st, I got an error.  After 3 outs, I threw the ball to him and he was the 1st baseman and I was the fielder.  We played 7 inning games and they got heated.  
  • Indian Ball.  I think everyone back in the day played Indian Ball.  My brother was tremendous at this since he was so small and could just kill the ball.  
  • Pitching - We were both pitchers so we made a mound and a rough backstop of old thrown away rugs.  As mad as we would get at each other playing error, we were each other's biggest fan while serving as the catcher for each other.  
  • The Fiberglass shed - I have often told the story that I was cut in HS ball my freshman and sophomore years even though I was one of the best, if not the best players in school.  I had this reputation for getting into fights so the coaching staff would not keep me on the team.  I love this game so much.  My dad built a fiberglass shed on the back of our junky house.  It was the green fiberglass that used to be used as skirting for house trailers.  I hit in that shed every day hitting socks that were taped up with electrical tape.  I was determined to be so good I could not be cut.  I made the team my junior year and led the team in hitting both my junior and senior years.  I was also all everything.  I have told my dad before that he will never know how much that shed changed my life.  Oh, the neighbors hated it.  I didn't have a net so I just hit into that fiberglass.  It made a lot of noise.  LOL
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