The demise of sandlot baseball

AC and Video Games

also the internet , IPODS , 500 stations on the TV etc etc etc. We wanted to go outside and play. Mom used to have to tell kids to come inside. Now they are trying to get kids to go outside. Lets face it a lot of kids today would rather sit inside and do other things. Times have changed and a lot of it has to do with what is available today vs what was available in our day. There are kids that get outside and work and play and then there are kids that sit inside and are just plain soft. Its hard to get enough kids to play on a local rec team muchless get them out to play outside. Most would rather sit in the AC and play video games and watch tv.

The biggest reason sandlot ball has gone by the wayside is AC and video games. Instead of actually playing games kids are living in a world of virtual reality. And because of that in reality they are fat and lazy and soft. Go to any hs you want to. Look around you. Not some , but most are physically unfit for any kind of physical activity.

 

demise, no replaced

Sandlot was replaced with dad's wanting Major Leaguers, so enter the ex-pro trainer and pitching coach. For all you guys that wish you can still play, you can. My dad played for years in the wiffle ball tourney which has gone national.

 

Wow. Just wow.

Memories from sandlot ball:
1) over the fence between yards was a homer. Nobody could reach it with tennis ball until we got a little older. So proud of the first one
2) Busted out the principal's window. Had to learn a hard lesson when dad made me go tell him I did it. He was cool though.
3) A group of kids about three years older always rode by and took over our game. We were scared of them but they made us better
4) A friend slipped climbing the fence to retrieve a homer and the spike on top caught his upper thigh and cut him all the way up. About 30 stitches as I recall.
5) I broke my best friend's arm blocking him in tackle backyard football. Imagine that today.

 

oh yes

the replies have been great. And the article about the wiffle ball park built by teenagers is right on and a real microcosm of our society in many ways.

A couple of memories I have of the good ole days was barning tobacco since early morning, coming in at noon for a full course dinner (well lunch but we called it dinner in the country) cooked by Grandma, and then right after eating go to the side yard and play baseball for about 15-20 minutes before returning to the fields. And it was usually 90-100 degrees.

and another was birthday parties as a kid. mine was in late June, prime baseball season. the party was a baseball game with all my buds. home plate was the packhouse, 1st base was the backdoor of our house, 2nd was the basketball goal, 3rd was the well. ..............yes, the good ole days.

 

Sandlot

First game for me was every morning at the bustop on the corner lot. Books were used as the bases.

Second game every lunch in the hallway at the lower locker section in school. Ball of paper for ball (sometimes taped) and history book for a bat.

Third game, every afternoon at the bustop till just before parents got home from work. When out of baseball season we had the ultimate 40 yard football field with telephone lines and power lines as goals for field goals. Tackle in the grass, two hand touch while crossing the driveway.

Alternate games were weekends where other nearby neighborhood challenges were met. Rules were adjusted daily, sometimes with or without negotiation.

Not enough players? Thats ok...Rollerbat and 500 in effect.

 

Kids today just don't know how to make up fun games. My best friend and I spent countless hours playing a wiffle ball game we made up that was just two on two. Our side yard had a V of power lines that ran from the street, one to our house and one to the neighbors. So anything hit over one of the lines was a homer and anything not hit over a line was an out. Of course, if the pitcher/defender caught the homerun ball before it hit the ground, then it was an out instead of a homer. Talk about running through and over cars, shrubs, bikes and anything else that got in the way. There was one tall pine tree in the neighbor's yard that added a fun twist. The ball pinballed down through the branches before you tried to make the catch. So much fun that I would play it today.