Nice memories! You missed "Halfball" though. The "ball" is a traditional baseball-sized rubber ball, but cut in half. This had a lot of advantages in the 50s and 60s, especially when playing a "field" which went from one curb to the opposite curb of a neighborhood street. Half-balls never rolled far. They weren't very aerodynamic either. Pitches were almost never straight and "fast balls" were impossible. No gloves required for the fielders, if you had enough kids to have fielders. Many games were just one-on-one. Even if you get a direct hit with your bat (stick or whatever was handy), the ball wouldn't go more than maybe 20-30 feet. It was much less likely to break a window across the street or dent the fender in a car. Of course cars were a lot sturdier too in those days.
A comment from a Chicago-area friend who prefers to remain anonymous:
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We played with 3 kids in the alley
1 batter
1 pitcher
1 fielder
With a rubber ball and the pitcher bounced the ball on its way to the plate. The place where the ball landed determines what base the batter was on and imaginary runners moved too.
Also
We played with right field only and a dilapidated 16 inch softball. Pitcher, batter, 1 infielder and 1 outfielder on the grass at the park. Of course no mitts required for 16 inch softball.
Also
We played in the driveway until my Dad got aggravated with the marks on the garage door and someone hit the ball through the window in the house across the street
And we ran home from school to turn in channel 9 and watch the 8th and 9th innings of afternoon Cubs games on WGN
when i did this, the 2 brothers who lived behind my parents rowhouse always had the "field" their yard was very long but not super wide. so we had kind of an oblong "diamond" on the grass. I probably played at least 2-3 times a week in that yard every week during the summer from the time i was 8 to 13/14. We always used a tennis ball instead of a real baseball (because real baseballs really hurt when you get hit with them). Cal Ripken (famous Baltimore Orioles player at the time) lived in the neighborhood at the time which added some interest.
Nice memories! You missed "Halfball" though. The "ball" is a traditional baseball-sized rubber ball, but cut in half. This had a lot of advantages in the 50s and 60s, especially when playing a "field" which went from one curb to the opposite curb of a neighborhood street. Half-balls never rolled far. They weren't very aerodynamic either. Pitches were almost never straight and "fast balls" were impossible. No gloves required for the fielders, if you had enough kids to have fielders. Many games were just one-on-one. Even if you get a direct hit with your bat (stick or whatever was handy), the ball wouldn't go more than maybe 20-30 feet. It was much less likely to break a window across the street or dent the fender in a car. Of course cars were a lot sturdier too in those days.
A comment from a Chicago-area friend who prefers to remain anonymous:
======================
We played with 3 kids in the alley
1 batter
1 pitcher
1 fielder
With a rubber ball and the pitcher bounced the ball on its way to the plate. The place where the ball landed determines what base the batter was on and imaginary runners moved too.
Also
We played with right field only and a dilapidated 16 inch softball. Pitcher, batter, 1 infielder and 1 outfielder on the grass at the park. Of course no mitts required for 16 inch softball.
Also
We played in the driveway until my Dad got aggravated with the marks on the garage door and someone hit the ball through the window in the house across the street
And we ran home from school to turn in channel 9 and watch the 8th and 9th innings of afternoon Cubs games on WGN
when i did this, the 2 brothers who lived behind my parents rowhouse always had the "field" their yard was very long but not super wide. so we had kind of an oblong "diamond" on the grass. I probably played at least 2-3 times a week in that yard every week during the summer from the time i was 8 to 13/14. We always used a tennis ball instead of a real baseball (because real baseballs really hurt when you get hit with them). Cal Ripken (famous Baltimore Orioles player at the time) lived in the neighborhood at the time which added some interest.