Childhood games that helped kids develop skills in different sports
This column is not about running specifically but running as part of playing baseball. With the good seasons the Bobcats and Rattlers had this year and now watching the College Men’s NCAA World Series, baseball is on my mind. I recalled playing baseball in my youth. Today, most of the baseball is organized with teams and coaches from T-ball to coach pitch to drafts for regular baseball. Our teams were composed of kids in the neighborhood. One kid would go to the Recreation Department and get a sign-up sheet. He would bring it back and the kids in the neighborhood would sign it. It is hard to imagine having 10-year-old kids sign a sheet to play baseball with no parental consent signature required. No coach either, just kids playing the position they thought they would be good at.
Since there was no TV, no cell phones, I-pads or video games we had to play outside to entertain ourselves. Playing baseball had some variations depending on how many kids were available. If we had 11-12 players, we played a game called “work-up.” Two or three batters and nine in the field. When one of the batters was put out he went out to right field. Right field went to center field, center field to left field, left field to third base, third to shortstop, shortstop to second base, second base to first base, first base to pitcher, pitcher to catcher, and the catcher became a batter. The best part was every kid got to play every position one or more times during the game.
When we only had five players we played “One O’cat” — one batter, a pitcher, a catcher, one infielder and an outfielder. The batter had to tell the outfielder what field he was going to hit the ball too. If he said, “left field” and hit it to right field, he was out. The batter would hit the ball and run to first base and back again. If the fielders could get the ball back to home plate before the batter got back from his run to first and back, he was out. He then went to the outfield and everybody moved up a position. It did teach us to hit the ball to different fields, which helped when we did play Little League.
Another game was “500,” with one batter and several fielders. If the fielder caught a fly ball it was worth 100 points. A one-bouncer was 75 points, a two-bouncer was 50 points and grounders were 25 points. When a fielder reached 500 points, he became the batter. Looking back at that game, I remember being able to not only add up my score but every other kid’s on the field to make sure he didn’t cheat. Our math teachers taught us well. It was a game that really helped our fielding skills.
For throwing ability, there was a game called “Ollie, Ollie, Over.” Two or three kids on each side of a two-story house with a tennis ball or rubber ball. One side would yell, “Ollie, Ollie, Over” and throw the ball over the house. The kids on the other side would look for the ball coming over the house. If one of the kids caught the ball on the fly, the team would run around the house and try to hit one of the kids on the other team with the ball. If you hit him he was now on your side. For 10-year-old kids, throwing the ball over that two-story house really improved our throwing skills. The amazing thing about that game was nobody ever cheated about catching the ball. If it was dropped or hit the ground they just took the ball, yelled, “Ollie, Ollie, Over” and threw the ball over the house. It helped our skill at catching fly balls when we did play a game of baseball.
We had a similar game when football season arrived. We played our share of touch and tackle football as long as we had at least six kids. We’d have three on a team and no equipment, so the tackle was more of a grab but it was as close as we could get to the real game. The skill game we played was called “Over the Line.” Two lines about 20 yards apart with two or three kids on each side. The object was to throw or kick the football over the other team’s line and hope it hit the ground for a point. If the other team caught a pass he was allowed to take five “giant steps” forward from where he caught the ball and then he threw the ball back. Catching a kick or punt was only worth three “giant steps” from the point where they caught the ball. We got good skills at catching, kicking and throwing a football so when we were old enough to play for the high school, we were ready to go.
Then television appeared and all the outdoor games were gone and kids needed coaches to teach them how to throw and catch a ball. I still think our old games were better.
