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For another meaning of "slapball", see Patball.
A Baseball5 batter hitting the ball punchball-style

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 in play, punching the ball with his fist.[3][4][5] The ball was usually a rubber spaldeen[6] or pensie pinkie, but even a tennis ball or wad of taped-up paper can be used.[7][a] Base stealing, foul balls,[11] and bunting are not allowed.

Popular in New York (particularly in the early 20th century),[12][13] especially among poor Jewish children who could not afford bats or baseballs, historian and baseball enthusiast Stephen Jay Gould referred to it as "the canonical recess game",[14] 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".[15] Punchball's popularity derived partially from the fact that it carried less risk of losing the ball or breaking windows than a standard game of baseball, and that it could be played with fewer people.[12] The origins of punchball may date to the 18th century and earlier, as John Thorn, official historian for Major League Baseball, has suggested that the depiction of baseball in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, which was the first appearance in print of the sport, may have involved batters hitting with a hand.[16]

Baseball Hall of Famers Nick Hoffman,[17] Sandy Koufax,[18][19] and Yogi Berra[20] played it growing up, as did sports team owner Jerry Reinsdorf,[21] Senator Bernie Sanders,[22] and former US Secretary of State and general Colin Powell.[23][24] 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."[25] It was also a pastime of football announcer Al Michaels, who often played with former Chicago Bears quarterback Sid Luckman.

Variations

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In one version of punchball, a line was drawn between first base and third base, and the batter would be out if the ball was hit into the ground before passing the line.[12] In another variation, the batter had to hit only into the infield.[11]

In slapball, as Roger Kahn and Robert Mayer describe it, the game was played in a triangular field with only three bases. For this reason, the game could also be called triangle.[26][27] Slapball can be played with up to ten players on each team (with the tenth player acting as a fourth outfielder),[11] with a pitcher throwing the ball underhand on one bounce to the batter.[27]

Punchball could be played with as few as two players on each team,[12] and was typically played with five to six players on each team.[28] There were a number of ways to make the game work with only two players on each team; fewer infielders were required when "pegging" (throwing at a runner instead of tagging them to get them out) and "homing" (throwing the ball toward home plate to get a runner out) were allowed,[29] and in Mayer's version, punchball could be played with only three bases, along with something akin to basketball hoops being installed at center field; a home run was declared if the ball was hit into the hoops, but an out declared if the ball was hit just above them.[13] Sliding into bases was also not allowed.[30]

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A 2010 PBS documentary, New York Street Games, includes punchball.[31]

In season 10, episode 7 of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David states that he played punchball after grieving the death of his pet turtle.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Prager, Joshua (11 March 2008). The Echoing Green. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-307-38933-6. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  2. ^ Clement, Priscilla Ferguson; Reinier, Jacqueline S. (1 January 2001). Boyhood in America: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-57607-215-8. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Streetplay Rulesheets: Punchball".
  4. ^ Milberg, Alan (1976). Street Games. McGraw-Hill. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-07-041915-5. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  5. ^ Seymour, Harold (19 April 1990). Baseball: The People's Game. Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-19-802096-7. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  6. ^ Connor, Anthony J. (March 1998). Voices from Cooperstown: baseball's Hall of Famers tell it like it was. Galahad Books. ISBN 978-1-57866-016-2. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  7. ^ Jacobs, Greg (2016-03-12). The Everything Kids' Baseball Book: From Baseball's History to Today's Favorite Players--With Lots of Home Run Fun in Between!. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4405-9389-5.
  8. ^ Press, Associated PressAssociated (2023-01-21). "Schools Face Pressure to Take Harder Line on Discipline". K2 Radio. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  9. ^ "Mike Kirby: Memories of 'Sacre Coeur,' and sockball". The Sun Chronicle. 2023-10-21. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  10. ^ Jr, Leonard Pitts (2009-03-01). Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood. Agate Publishing. ISBN 978-1-57284-602-9.
  11. ^ a b c Hume, Donald (2005-01-01). "Recreational Games for Physical Education". Strategies. doi:10.1080/08924562.2005.10591137. ISSN 0892-4562.
  12. ^ a b c d Morris, Peter (2006). A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations that Shaped Baseball : the Game on the Field. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-56663-677-3.
  13. ^ a b Mayer, Robert (2003). Notes of a Baseball Dreamer: A Memoir. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-32961-8.
  14. ^ Gould, Stephen Jay (17 May 2004). Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball. W. W. Norton. pp. 41–42, 258. ISBN 978-0-393-32557-7. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  15. ^ Riess, Steven A. (1998). Sports and the American Jew. Syracuse University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8156-2754-8. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  16. ^ Thorn, John (2012-03-20). Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-9404-1.
  17. ^ Dunn, Herb; Henderson, Meryl (1 March 1999). Jackie Robinson: Young Sports Trailblazer. Simon and Schuster. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-689-82453-1. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  18. ^ Koufax, Sandy; Linn, Edward (1966). Koufax. Viking Press. p. 17. ISBN 9780670415083. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  19. ^ Doeden, Matt (1 September 2006). Sandy Koufax. Twenty-First Century Books. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-8225-5961-0. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  20. ^ 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
  21. ^ Robbins, Michael W.; Palitz, Wendy (2001). Brooklyn: A State of Mind. Workman Pub. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-7611-1635-6. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  22. ^
  23. ^ Means, Howard B.; Fine, Donald I. (1992). Colin Powell: Soldier-Statesman - Statesman-Soldier. Donald I. Fine, Ins. pp. 48, 59. ISBN 978-1-55611-335-2. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  24. ^ Hughes, Libby (April 1996). Colin Powell: a man of quality. Dillon Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-382-39260-3. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  25. ^ Falls, Joe, Baseball Digest, July 1960, Vol. 19, No. 6, "Two Boys from the Bronx," p. 24, ISSN 0005-609X, accessed December 16, 2009
  26. ^ Kahn, Roger (2013-08-01). The Boys of Summer. Aurum. ISBN 978-1-78131-207-0.
  27. ^ a b Mayer, Robert (2003). Notes of a Baseball Dreamer: A Memoir. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-32961-8.
  28. ^ Seymour, Harold; Mills, Dorothy Seymour (1960). Baseball. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-506907-5.
  29. ^ Levinson, Martin H. (2024-02-02). Brooklyn Boomer: Growing Up in the Fifties (Revised New Edition). iUniverse. ISBN 978-1-6632-5657-7.
  30. ^ Mayer, Robert (2003). Notes of a Baseball Dreamer: A Memoir. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-32961-8.
  31. ^ Hector Elizondo (Narrator); Matt Levy (Director). New York Street Games (Motion picture). New York City. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 14 Nov 2011.
  1. ^ In some variations of punchball, known as sockball, the ball was either a rolled up sock or a volleyball.[8][9][10]
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