Baseball playing playground rules and learning how to be a team player, along with the art of playing ball by rules, on the school playgrounds, and in the city streets, during our most formative years.
The development of the game of baseball playing playground rules evolved over more than 150 years. It is all part […]
Written on January 9th, 2007
Read more articles on Baseball.
Baseball playing playground rules and learning how to be a team player, along with the art of playing ball by rules, on the school playgrounds, and in the city streets, during our most formative years.
The development of the game of baseball playing playground rules evolved over more than 150 years. It is all part of how our Society has progressed. The hierarchy of how things went on our playgrounds was a testing ground for all kids learning this game of baseball. Leadership roles were assumed by the better playing athletes.
Baseball playing playground rules was the stuff of dreams. Being in the country at recess time was the best life a boy or girl could hope for.
Ball players growing up enjoying the game were the teenagers and young adults you caught sayin, “Yes Maam, No Maam”, and respecting the authorities in the neighborhood. This baseball playing playground rules contributed to this growing up respectful attitude.
All of the nuances of who played, and when and what position were part of individual development and in some cases, prowess or toughness. This subtle underlying fact of ability, plus determined effort, dictated the means by which baseball playing future stars were made.
History played a significant role in the baseball playing playground rules. Early years of the game, specifically prior to the War Years of World War II, baseball equipment such as gloves, bats,and baseballs, was almost nonexistent for the general public. This was especially true for rural America.
This brief overview sets the stage of my continuing conversation of playgroud rules. Baseball playing playground rules would actually start before the teams were chosen. Fair is fair so even up the sides, Okay ?
How Did We Choose Sides? The natural order of things dictated that the two (2) best players would be the ones to choose their respective teammates. This allowed play to be balanced and with an equal chance at determining the winner of the game.
You see these two best players were actually a part of baseball playing playground rules. Everyone on the playground knew who the two best players were.
Okay that sounded logical, but who had the first choice for his team?
Here is one of the rules (written no unwritten yes).Maybe it’s not a rule but it was how we did it.
1. Someone would gently toss the bat (vertical) to one of the players, and where his hand caught the bat, was a starting place at his fist. The other chooser, or if you will, other team captain, would place his fist on top of, and grip the bat above the first mans fist.
Alternating fist grip one on top of the other till neither could grip the bat. The last one gripping the bat would toss the bat over his head and backwards.
The bat had to travel at least five bat lengths from the thrower for him to get first choice of teammate. Failing to toss the five bat lengths, allowed the other man to get first choice. Sound complicated? Naw
2. Here is another way we would detemine which team captain would get first choice of players. The two (2) leaders or captains would stand side by side and hold out both fists.
Then a player would basically count off by using this song or ditty. Alternating hitting each of the fists at each word. He or she would say, ” One potato two potato three potato four, five potato six potato seven potato more.” At the more, that player would put that fist behind his back.
Now with three fists remaining, the counter would go thru this entire spill again. Possibly, the same man would have both fists behind him, anyway the first man with both fists behind him was out and the other man had first choice.
Should I have spelled potato as potatoe? It doesn”t matter we are on the playground for baseball playing, not haveing a spelling bee.
Is it getting a little bit clearer as to how baseball playing playground rules is how we learned more than just baseball.
My description of how sides were chosen was the foremost rule of the playground.
What Rule? Baseball playing playground rules.
Here is the rule. You will get chosen first, second, third or last based on your playing ability. It may sound cruel but that is the rule of the playground.–No it is not written–but you better believe it stands.
Baseball playing playground rules was a tough game but the lessons were learned well. It was a means by which our lives could handle subtle little bumps along the way and try harder and dig deeper and be winners.
A kid with knockout good looks or the one in the classroom who is a math whiz carries no weight when it comes to choosing sides to play a game of baseball.
Ready for another rule that applies? Youngsters who enjoy baseball playing playground rules and have that grit and desire to play, will do the things it takes to develop those skills which make him one of the few chosen. Desire often determines the winners and separates them from the losers!
To be chosen last is rough but to not even be chosen is almost cruel, but it happens. Baseball begins to teach us quickly that life is not a bed of roses. No one promised you a rose garden–is real.
Would you believe there is a rule of the playground that will elevate that good ball player into Hero status? Our social order has determined that a superb athlete with skills beyond the norm rates admiration and a fan following.
Baseball playing is fun. It’s exciting and it has it’s learned lessons which should be melded into the normal growing up process. Structured and organized control of this learned process needs to be tempered with natural use of peer action.
Now you see what’s happening out there on that playground? We are witnessing ball players who play because they love the game, plus we see they are developing character and perserverance to be winners. Baseball playing by playground rules.
Now with this new status as a good ball player comes the perks of peer recognition, which fuels further quest to be the best.
As you may well recognize, my rules are not what you would normally term rules, but more about learning to grow and develop while playing a game. This game coincidently, is baseball. The atmosphere and peer pressure exerted by the strongest and biggest controlled the action.
Many of the boys and girls who played, honed their skills via their daily chores on the farm or within the home or the community.
There was no coach or real adult supervision constantly on the scene with their own agenda of trying to live a fantasy of stardom in the life of the young boys and girls. Baseball playing playground rules made us accept and endure and mature.
Boys surely hate to admit it but some of the girls were such good players it embarrassed the tag along boys, sometimes chosen after the girls.
Yes, most all of the young players did learn the rudiments of playing the game by observation and as they matured they got a chance to participate. From playing baseball, they also learned the unwritten rules about waiting to bat and taking turns.
They learned the game by watching and listening to the older players. The burning desire to play starts taking place between the ages of 8 to 12 years of age. This would equate to our modern day Little League.
Baseball playing playground rules never turned a boy or girl into a second rate citizen, but simply made them develop into better and stronger people in the process. This I truly believe.
With the Advent of modern day Little League, playing baseball became an organized, adult controlled and supervised sport instead of being played by playground rules. In and by itself this transition was not all bad.
But from my perception something was lost in this metamorphic occurrence. Our playground rules of baseball playing are gone and we are now more structured and beholding to some authority allowing as to who plays and who will be groomed to be the All Stars.
I’ll tell you which adults were there to encourage us when it mattered most. It was those Uncles and Cousins who loved the game. Uncle Russell Keith, actually my great uncle, dearly loved the game of Baseball. Two of his sons, my second cousins, Leon and Flip, along with uncle Russell, took me as a youngster to Ole Rickwood Field on many occasions to watch our Barons play.
Folks that is what this game of baseball is all about.
So-be-it! Remember I mentioned that knock-out good looking kid? Well, he just might be that super athlete with all the strength, agility,super speed and body size who becomes the Super Hero and everyone’s All Star. This baseball playing Kid may one day be the King Of The Diamonds.
If Roy Rogers was King of the Cowboys and Tarzan was King of the Jungle we just might one day realize a King Of The Diamonds.
Batter Up!—Let’s Play Ball…
——————————————————————————–
About the Author
Major Wiley B. Channell USMC (retired) Born in Argo, Alabama.Grew up in Trussville, Alabama. Grammar school in Argo. Moved with family to Trussville prior to the sixth grade. Attended and graduated Hewitt-Trussville high school 1954. Bachelor degree Auburn University 1959. United States Marine Corps as an Engineer 1959-1979.
Written on January 9th, 2007
Read more articles on Baseball.