Changing face of playground baseball

By RENE TORRES

Before you read about playground baseball, allow this writer to share a fictional story about a little boy who dreamt of becoming a hero…

“If only I could hit the ball, it would be a cinch,” said the little boy. He was known to swing for the fences and often stared at his bat with much disgust. I’m talking about “Little Johnny Strikeout,” who dissolved in tears every time his teammates mocked him when he swung like a rusty gate. But soon things changed…

One day after practice, as he sat crying at a park bench, he heard a distant voice telling him not to give up. The mysterious voice offered the following advice, ‘Keep your eye on the ball and swing level at all times.”
Little Johnny heard that same voice again as he stepped up to the plate with two outs and the game on the line. “Hit’em where they ain’t,” he said. Johnny followed with a mighty swing clearing the fence with room to spare.

After the game, a stranger approached him to offer congratulations; it was that same familiar voice. “Just a minute mister,” Johnny countered, “Who are you?” The man responded, “I’m Joe DiMaggio.”
By 1936, many kids wanted to be like Joe D. and in order to create more heroes like him, the Brownsville playground league made some rules changes…

DEPRESSION ERA DIAMOND HEROES…
Being that the city playground league had too many “Little Johnnys,” it was time to change the rules of pitching. According to playground baseball officials, the game was for kids to have fun. No more deceiving the batter with illegal pitching deliveries. Playground baseball in Brownsville in 1933 would see a major change on how the game was played.

The local committee that monitored the league said, “The game was designed as a hit-and run affair.” The new rule would compel hurlers to keep their shoulders parallel to the front of the plate during the delivery of the ball.

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