OT: Games We Played as Kids

[oldrover]

Thousands of hours playing...

 

[dtbrks]

Spin the bottle
Truth or Dare. I recall kissing a few girls in the closet on the dare choice.
Good times.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Yard darts
Blew up frogs and fish
Shot at each other with pellet guns
Egg wars Halloween night

...then we started growin' up, and movin' on...

 

[Deus Irae]

Swimming pool
+
Deck
+
Tire tubes
=
rousing game of battleship

 

[Bill Lee]

Of course, my favorite board game was Strat-O-Matic pro football. GREAT game of football strategy using the stats and tendencies of real players. I'd have fun playing it today if I knew anyone locally who knows the game.

If you are a big Strat-O-Matic fan and are in the mood for a trip in the way-back machine, I think you'll enjoy reading:

The unique, immersive world of Strat-O-Matic football

It's a "long form" piece from Marc Sessler at NFL.COM. I enjoy his writing a lot.

He also wrote another recent long form homage:

The Belichick Letters

that many here enjoyed.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Thousands of hours playing...

Still play it!! Although I don't have the pitch velocity I used to.

 

[Deus Irae]

Still play it!! Although I don't have the pitch velocity I used to.

A couple of us had mastered the 1 fingered curve ball. I haven't thrown that in a long, long time.

 

[RobertWeathers]

A couple of us had mastered the 1 fingered curve ball. I haven't thrown that in a long, long time.

Yea I could never get the nasty break on the one finger pitch. I tried and tried and tried.....

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

tackle football in the street, in the snow....what can i say, we were crazy...we played a game called step ball.. player would throw hard rubber ball against the front porch concrete / brick steps, fielder would have to catch ball on the fly. if you caught the very edge of the step, the ball would really go far. if you missed the edge at the top, the ball would skip up the steps, possibly breaking the storm door (ouch) balls not caught on the fly were singles, doubles, triples etc.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

of course once we got cars, the favorite was to go out to the reservoir with a date and watch the submarine races.....

 

[102 Pat]

Table hockey, I would "zamboni" the ice with pledge, treated the table like my own arena, I had so many great battles with my Dad...great memories, thanks for this topic OP!

 

[oldrover]

My best friend had a table in his basement. Man, his dad could play!!!

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Table hockey, I would "zamboni" the ice with pledge, treated the table like my own arena, I had so many great battles with my Dad...great memories, thanks for this topic OP!

That pledge smell is great...also came in handy for ROTC inspections at college...

 

[1960Pats]

Well we used a broom handle. And instead of a tennis ball it was a red ball we called a
"pennsy pinkie" it had the state name "Pennsylvania" stamped on it.

We also played a derivative of cricket with stacked cans.

We also played "baseball" by standing next to the curb and throwing a rubber ball at the sharp corner of the curb, this was also played before school on the school steps

YES! I forgot about throwing the ball at the curb. I don't remember a name for it. If we played in my neighborhood we'd use the four stairs in front of my house. We hated it when the throw hit the top of the curb or step and the ball went flying in the opposite direction.

 

[1960Pats]

Thousands of hours playing...

I only recently stopped playing that game. After many years of playing and throwing to kids as a coach, well into my 50's, I hurt my arm throwing a golf ball to someone about 10 years ago.

In my day though, there was only one guy who could touch my best pitch, my screwball slider changeup curve that looks like a fastball at release. Murph was his name, God rest his soul. Nothing got by him, at bat or on the field.

 

[1960Pats]

Al's Pool Hall, Pleasant St Malden, just past the Strand Theater in the late 60's. A dark room on the 2nd floor with about eight tables with leather pockets. I can still hear the clicking sound as I come up the stairs.

Good thing my mom wasn't here...

 

[patman52]

YES! I forgot about throwing the ball at the curb. I don't remember a name for it. If we played in my neighborhood we'd use the four stairs in front of my house. We hated it when the throw hit the top of the curb or step and the ball went flying in the opposite direction.

In Fall River it was called "outs"

 

[patman52]

Al's Pool Hall, Pleasant St Malden, just past the Strand Theater in the late 60's. A dark room on the 2nd floor with about eight tables with leather pockets. I can still hear the clicking sound as I come up the stairs.

Good thing my mom wasn't here...

You had to be 16 to play pool in the pool rooms in Fall River.

 

[pheenix11]

We played fumble rush on the north shore, sounds like muckle. I was good at that when I got the ball because I was stocky and could carry like 4 or 5 scrawny kids. It was brutal, we just beat the crap out of each other.

We also played kickball and off the wall which was a game where you bounced a tennis ball off a wall and everyone behind you tried to catch it. Some kids used their hats to catch it and the legality of that was always disputed.

We also played guns in the wooded areas around town. We'd just run around with those guns that you pump the lever and they make a big noise. We'd probably all end up gunned down or in prison trying to play that today.

 

[DarrylS]

"Stratomatic" a real blast from the past.. do not remember that version though. Then there was the game that vibrated and you could little stickies on players to show your favorite team.. the players would then vibrate until another player touched them.

We grew up there were not a lot of public open fields, so we played in a graveyard when very young.. we would stuff old chair stuffing from discarded chairs in out flannel lined jeans and have a great time. We even had the "Graveyard Bowl" on Thanksgiving.. one of the guys I played with suffered a serious hip injury as he hit a gravestone. We would kick the crap out of each other.

When we got older we moved to a field that had about a 15 degree angle, nothing quite like two kids running on a downhill angle full speed and when they hit and smacked the crap out of each other. Great time was had by all.

We all wore "Chucks", no specialty shoes for us..