Ghost runners and pitchers hand........forgotten?

• 1_beast

  

  vball10set;758476 wrote:did it have high handlebars with a banana seat?

  THE4RINGZ;758611 wrote:Hells to the yes it did.

  and a big ass sissy bar on the back
• Shane Falco

  This thread makes me wanna be a little kid again!!!!!!!
• enigmaax

  Shane Falco;758673 wrote:This thread makes me wanna be a little kid again!!!!!!!

  
  I feel exactly the same way, except it isn't this thread that makes me feel like that. It's all those threads about teachers having sex with students.
• bigkahuna

  Shane Falco;758673 wrote:This thread makes me wanna be a little kid again!!!!!!!

  
  Me too.
  
  Our field was the shit. First base was a big oak tree. Second base was the neighbors trash can that he kept behind is garage and third base was a branch on a pine tree. Home plate was the ladder to the swing set. The best part was that there was an alley that separated the corners from 2nd, so if you came in too hot to 2nd or leaving, you slipped and got some wicked raspberries.
  
  Playing street hockey/football in the street was great too. There were a few times we would check each other into my boddy's mom's van and left a dent. Dad was cool about it and just popped it out with a plunger.
  
  Great Times!
• wildcats20

  

  BR1986FB;758602 wrote:Now that I know what "pitchers hand" is I can say we didn't use it. We just pegged the runner with the ball, as mentioned.
  
  Eventually we graduated from wiffle ball to a game that utilized a ball about the size of a softball but was made out of a softer material. You could snap off some ridiculous curves/sliders with that thing and it hurt a lot more when you pegged them. I can't remember what the name of that ball was called but I could throw a slider like Bert Blyleven with that sucker.

  
  Was it kind of a hard foam?
• karen lotz

  

  OSH;758456 wrote:What about "Pickle?"

  
  Played a lot of pickle in addition to backyard baseball with a tennis ball.
  
  We also played Butts Up. Basically you threw a tennis ball against a wall and who ever it bounced toward had to field it. No gloves. If the first person to touch the ball bobbled it at all or had the ball hit them, they had to drop the ball and sprint to the wall and touch it. If anyone else picked the ball up and threw it against the wall before the other guy touched it, it was an out. 3 outs and you had to stand against the wall, facing it and everyone got one throw at hitting you in the ass. Usually we'd say you couldn't throw it as hard as possible, but it was pretty fun to throw it hard and just miss them to scare them a little bit.
• karen lotz

  

  wildcats20;758742 wrote:Was it kind of a hard foam?

  
  
  Yeah I think so. Called an incrediball or something? Softer that a baseball but harder than a tennis ball and was more solid.
• 1_beast

  

  Flys n Grounders....One batter...2-4,5? fielders...Batter just hits the ball and fielders score points for flys(25) grounders(10) 1st to 100 gets to bat next....no rule for fielding...whoever got the play...got the play, didnt matter if you knocked your lil brother down to make the snag.
• bigkahuna

  karen lotz;758758 wrote:Played a lot of pickle in addition to backyard baseball with a tennis ball.
  
  We also played Butts Up. Basically you threw a tennis ball against a wall and who ever it bounced toward had to field it. No gloves. If the first person to touch the ball bobbled it at all or had the ball hit them, they had to drop the ball and sprint to the wall and touch it. If anyone else picked the ball up and threw it against the wall before the other guy touched it, it was an out. 3 outs and you had to stand against the wall, facing it and everyone got one throw at hitting you in the ass. Usually we'd say you couldn't throw it as hard as possible, but it was pretty fun to throw it hard and just miss them to scare them a little bit.

  
  This game sounds AMAZING!
• mhs95_06

  My brother and I started playing with a punky softball with my dad the all time underhanded pitcher. Our field was about 45 degrees between the foul lines as opposed to the normal 90 degrees. 3B was at the corner of the barn, so if it missed the barn on the ground it was fair, and if you caught a foul in the air off the barn it was an out. One on one so there were a lot of what we called imaginary runners, and lots of double plays on grounders in the SS area by stepping on 2B and getting it to 1B ahead of the batter. With the narrow field my Dad could cover 1st, 3rd, and home, and even 2nd on a longer hit. If you got a long hit, great care had to be taken to cover and make a good throw to the correct base, as it was very possible that the runner could motor right around 2nd or 3rd and score if the one base coverer had to go off the bag to get the ball or the throw was late. Many obstacles: pine trees, garage, small pine trees, swing set, barn bank, driveway curb, gas pump, corn field, barnyard fence, etc. When we learned to hit to the opposite field, we had to call it a foul ball if it went to the wrong side of 2B. The pitcher kept us from it for a while by pitching inside and lots of change-ups.
  
  When we were a little older during summer days we played a lot of one on one with the corn crib doors as the backstop, using a normal baseball size ball filled with felt and yarn. We went through a lot of those balls and turned one set of corn crib doors into kindling and had to build some more and put up a tarp in front of them. We had imaginary hit zones and got tired of chasing balls so much so we shortened the pitching distances. My brother was 2.5 years younger, and 3 grades behind me, so he was about 5' less than me, maybe 50' to 45'. The pitcher called balls and strikes. I used to pretend my team was the Red Sox with Carl Yastrzemski, George Scott, Tony Conigliaro, Rico Petrocelli, etc. It must have paid off, because when he played varsity he broke up a few no-hitters, as it seemed he was the only one who could time the really fast pitchers.
• I Wear Pants

  We always played with tennis balls as well. Pitchers hand and ghost runners were used when required.
  
  The yards we played in always we large enough where we set up the house as an outfield wall where if you hit over it it was a home run. Fun times.
  
  If we felt like having an all out slugfest we'd play with racquetballs.
• cbus4life

  jmog;758374 wrote:I had to explain ghost runners to my kids when we first played wiffle ball and/or kick ball. However, my boys were 6 and 4 at the time. They are typically now explaining it to their friends since my kids are the ones playing outside all summer long while the other kids are playing video games.

  
  Well done.
• NNN

  

  OneBuckeye;758381 wrote:Whaaa, never heard of it but used ghost runners extensively
  
  Of course the arguement was always did the ghost runner on second score on a single? Or did the ghost runner on first score on a double? We normally went Yes, No. However it was very annoying when playing with baseball retards because they would never agree to the first.

  
  No and no. The assumption is that the ghost runners are exactly the same speed as the batter, which is reasonable because most kids today are fat enough to fall between "Mo Vaughn" and "small planet".
• NNN

  

  Shane Falco;758673 wrote:This thread makes me wanna be a little kid again!!!!!!!

  
  Nah, I like being able to go six weeks without losing teeth. Also, if my brothers punch me randomly, it's now considered assault instead of being defended by my parents as "probably because of something you did".
• coyotes22

  

  whiffle ball/ kick ball was some good summer fun
  
  never played pitchers hand, but ghost runners were a staple
• BR1986FB

  wildcats20;758742 wrote:Was it kind of a hard foam?

  
  Actually, I remember it. It was called a "Rag Ball." I'd make dudes knees buckle when I snapped off a curve with that bitch.
  
  
  
  As the ball became worn it got softer and then you could throw amazing curves/sliders and a knuckeball that would drop off the corner of a table. Loved that thing.
• thavoice

  sherm03;758408 wrote:We used to play some pretty intense 2-on-2 stickball games in the neighborhood. We played pitcher's hand, but only on plays at first base. Second, third, and home you could either bean the runner or had to tag him out. With only a pitcher and one fielder, and we didn't want someone to just dribble ground balls down the third base line and keep racking up singles.
  
  Ghost runners were a must, and we also played that the ghost runners moved the same number of bases. Our rule was that the ghost runner was the biggest fattest guy on the bench, and was too slow to score on a single.
  
  Those were some absolutely amazing times. I miss those stickball games.

  
  Yeah..pitchers hadn was only good for plays at first........you were essentially the first baseman.
  
  Friends in Coldwater have had a big whiffleball tournament each year for quite awhile. Played on communit picnic saturday (early august). they started getting someone to throw out the first pitch......
  had Mark Titus...a former buckeye who wrote a letter to the NBA about entering the draft...guess he is kind of famous....and he was SO FLIPPING HUNGOVER as he couldnt hang drinking at the local pub..McSobers.http://www.buzzardsglorywiffleball.com/past.htm
  
  I played in two basic whiffleball areas. One by my parents house...I still own the all time Homerun Record in the Slavik Road Whiffleball league and one in town with friends...that is where we did the 3 on 3 usually and batted opposite as to not mess up our basebal swings....was always a blast and justdont see kids doing it
• Fred Flintstone

  We played tons of baseball, whiffleball, hotbox, and other random games we made up. When needed we used ghostmen as well as pitcher's hand which we called pitcher's poison for some reason. We also played breezeball which was basically whiffle ball with a broom stick and whiffle golf ball. We made up a game in my friends backyard that we called strikeout. We drew a box (strikezone) on the back of his garage and then used a mini basketball and metal baseball bat, basically playing homerun derby but balls and strikes were called and 3 outs to an inning. We stood about 20-30 feet back and threw as hard as we could.
• fan_from_texas

  We lived in the country, so we had a lot more space. We actually had a full diamond in our backyard with 70-ft bases. Left field was unlimited (about 700 feet to the property line), right field went about 250 before you ran into our barn, and center field was about 150 before you hit the grapevine, which was barbed wire. Anything in the rf barn was a ground rule triple. Into the grapevine in the air was a ground rule double.
  
  We would set up our pitching machine and have it throw 90 mph knuckle balls. That was always a trick to hit. We set it up to throw the max once (104 mph knuckleball) but we were all too scared to step in against it.
• Laley23

  

  How did people NOT play pitchers hand??? Unless you all could round up enough guys to actually have a firstbaseman, you had to play pitchers hand. It is the best way to play a smaller numbers game of whiffle ball, softball, etc.
• vball10set

  ...and I always hated to see the street lights come on
• redstreak one

  

  Played whiffle ball, pickle, fly balls and grounders and loved every minute of it. Small neighborhood, only 5 boys around my age so pitchers hand was utilized as well. I played a game of whiffle ball with my son and daughter who are 7 and 5, and explained to him and her the rules. I also taught my children to play paper football and the make a circle with your fingers game and punch anyone who looks at it. You have to wipe it off of course! lol Trust me, my kids are taking balls and bats and other items to school all the time. So far, no notes home asking me to keep the footballs, basketballs and baseballs at home! Of course, we still play dodgeball in gym here! Gotta love living in the sticks!
• BR1986FB

  Living on a farm, 5 miles from town, I usually had to get creative when playing wiffle ball/baseball etc. Couldn't always have the guys over for a game so had to make up things by myself.
  
  To practice catching popups there was either bounce it off the roof and hope you'd get a good popup OR the "Polish Cannon." Hopefully nobody takes offense to it (I'm part Polish), but we'd take three pop cans, cut off the top of one and the top and bottom of the other two and tape them together in a tube. In the bottom, near the base, we'd poke a hole to light it. From there you'd put lighter fluid in the hole, drop a tennis ball into the cannon and light it. Thing would shoot perfect 75 foot+ popups in the air.
• GOONx19

  

  Laley23;759485 wrote:How did people NOT play pitchers hand??? Unless you all could round up enough guys to actually have a firstbaseman, you had to play pitchers hand. It is the best way to play a smaller numbers game of whiffle ball, softball, etc.

  
  You only need 5 guys on a team to not need one. A pitcher, two infielders, and two outfielders. The batting team supplies the catcher. Whoever plays second can cover first, too.
• se-alum

  

  redstreak one;759517 wrote:Played whiffle ball, pickle, fly balls and grounders and loved every minute of it. Small neighborhood, only 5 boys around my age so pitchers hand was utilized as well. I played a game of whiffle ball with my son and daughter who are 7 and 5, and explained to him and her the rules. I also taught my children to play paper football and the make a circle with your fingers game and punch anyone who looks at it. You have to wipe it off of course! lol Trust me, my kids are taking balls and bats and other items to school all the time. So far, no notes home asking me to keep the footballs, basketballs and baseballs at home! Of course, we still play dodgeball in gym here! Gotta love living in the sticks!

  We used to play at my grandma's house in Piketon all the time. She lived in the only house on the block w/ the old, old high school. On the church roof was a homerun. Two people would always set in the upstairs window and commentate the game w/ an old radio & microphone. Great times!!