The NASA children's page has a much better explanation.

The original Spaldeens [a name which has now been trademarked by the Spalding Division of the Russell Corporation], first sold in 1949, were just tennis balls that had been rejected for slight defects -- before the addition of the fuzzy coating. Rather than toss them in the trash, Spalding, based in Springfield, Mass., stamped the words "Spalding High-Bounce Ball" on the pink or gray rubber rejects and sold them cheaply to wholesalers.

Another popular game involving a Spaldeen was "stoop ball" which, in our neighborhood, involved two players. The one "at bat" would throw the ball against the front edge of one of the brick or concrete steps leading up to your house (called, for reasons I don't know, the "stoop")which would cause it to richochet back toward the "fielder."

A home run, as I remember, was getting it across West Maple Drive on the fly into the Ballestrino's front yard.

The "sticks" used in stickball were actually hacked off a broom leaving the stub of the handle and the entirety of the straw base intact. Because we only used them to hit red rubber balls, they had a useful live of about 65 million years.

I'm not certain where all the sticks came from. I've wondered whether, in the year 2525, when they dig up Long Island, archeologists will wonder at how large the women must have been back in the 1950's to have been able to utilize a whisk broom of those dimensions.

Mullfotos of the Day


Marketing. It's all in the marketing. The sign at the top is down the left field line. The sign at the bottom is down the right field line.

More beer signage: Ignore the "Turkey Leg - $5.00" business (although I did hear a guy asking his whether she wanted one). Focus, instead, on the prices for the domestic beer and the specialty & imported beer.

I think we could have saved some big money by simply having the sign say: "Beer - $5.00" and then use the next line for some cross selling: ("Goes GREAT with Turkey Legs!")

In the press box among my pepes. Very excellent.
(Mullfoto by the Space Coast Stadium public
address announcer who was very kind to me,
but whose name I was not smart enough to get)

Catchy Caption of the Day

Actual Caption:

A file photo of polar bear cub Knut playing in the Berlin zoo in this undated picture, released on March 2, 2007. Berlin Zoo rallied to the defence of Knut on Tuesday, rejecting demands that the animal be allowed to die after being abandoned by its mother.

Hmmm... there are people in Germany who wanted to kill the adorable, cute, defenseless, baby polar bear cub? No kidding.

(Handout/Archiv Zoo Berlin/Reuters)