So Long, Sandlots…

Via the AP -

Sandlot baseball, a slice of United States life enjoyed for decades by boys from coast to coast, appears on the verge of extinction.

Many men over 40 remember those summer days when they headed to the park or vacant lot and played ball all day — or until Mom sent word that it was time for dinner.

Nowadays, most neighborhood ball fields sit empty on summer afternoons, the idea of unsupervised play having gone the way of the rotary-dial phones kids once used to round up the fellas for a game.

The reasons for the sandlot’s demise, baseball coaches and sociologists say, go back to the changing family structure, video games, parents’ fear of crime, and the proliferation of organized and so-called “select” teams for more-talented kids.

Johnny Damon of the New York Yankees says the structured environment of select ball sacrifices the fun kids get from playing on their own.

“I think nowadays kids are getting so worn out playing baseball year-round that by the time they get to the high school level they’re kind of tired of it, and tired of the politics of it, instead of just going out there and playing baseball,” Damon said.

Dan Gould, director of Michigan State’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sport, put it bluntly: “The end of the story is, the sandlots ain’t coming back, as much as we would like them to.”

Back in the summer of 1978, I was 15-years old. I can remember, back then, hopping on my bike around nine or ten in the morning, and riding it for several miles, each day, to meet up with my friends to spend the day playing pick-up ball…until it was time to come home for dinner. We would take a small break for lunch - but, that was about it. Basically, we played ball from ten-thirty to about five o’clock, non-stop, as long as it wasn’t raining.

We had to get up that early and travel that far to get a field - because the demand was so great. Some days, we even had some testy discussions with other kids as to who got there first and had rights to the diamond that day. It was a numbers game - and the “gang” who had the most guys on the field at the time of the discussion usually won. (And, if you lost, it became a mad rush to your “Plan B” field - hoping to get there before that field was taken.)

Today, where I live, there are at least five or six baseball diamonds within walking distance of my house. And, there are many, many, more within a short drive from me.

In the eight and a half years that I’ve lived here, I’ve never seen a pick-up game being played on any of these fields - ever. On a rare occasion, I’ve seen a dad and son on the field - with the father pitching some BP to the child; or, with the father hitting some fungoes to the kid. And, I maybe see that happening twice a year - if that often.

I’m always amazed to see these ball fields sitting there - going unused. It seems like such a waste.

So, when I read a feature like this one, claiming that “Sandlot ball [is] going the way of wooden bats…,” I have to agree with it. It’s amazing how much has changed in 30 years. And, it’s very sad too.

July 20, 2008 | Filed Under Random Thoughts

Comments

4 Responses to “So Long, Sandlots…”

ez569x on July 20th, 2008 12:01 pm

when i was about 12, my brother and i and a few friends started playing ball after dinner. at first the games were 4 on 4, and we ran the bases backwards, on half the field, self-pitch. within two years, we had to run down to the yard as there were guys who got turned away after the first 20! then we’d play cards until 2 am. every single day! of course, our turkey bowl on thanksgiving started out today. this game is still going strong in new york, for 37 years.
Raf on July 20th, 2008 12:43 pm

Instead of pickup baseball, they’re playing pickup basketball and football.

Around here, any open field will be overrun with soccer players. Kids have a lot more to do nowadays than we did as children. My cousins get shuttled from game to game, camp to camp; they couldn’t play pickup ball even if they wanted to.
OldYanksFan on July 20th, 2008 9:19 pm

Great stuff Steve. You’re at the top of your game.
I’ll bet many of our generations fondest memories involved playing pickup baseball type games (I played a lot of stickball). As a kid, traveling 5 miles by bike was common fare. Today, a parent wouldn’t let a kid get 5 feet away unsupervised. Such is modern day life.
Raf on July 21st, 2008 11:16 am

As a kid, traveling 5 miles by bike was common fare. Today, a parent wouldn’t let a kid get 5 feet away unsupervised. Such is modern day life.
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Another good point.