Story of The Stairs

     Been out at my Dad's (Happy 92 by the way!) more of late. Some great neighbors that I've known since I was the age of my boys.  The Dickinsons, Grants (Mr. G gave me my first Sidney Bechet record), The Ayabes, Collins family, the first Oliver I ever knew down the block....but here's a particular story.  About stairs. And neighbors.

   A very fine game you can play with a tennis ball, a good set of stairs, and a clear path of sidewalk leading to the street is necessary .  You also need a good pair of eyes to prevent running into the street and being hit by an oncoming vehicle in the attempt to make a great catch.  Two people can play and its a very simple; one batter and one fielder. The batter throws the ball (varied by velocity and angle of the throw) into the stairs attempting to get anything from a meager bounce to a rocket which is created when a hard throw meets the point of a stair.  The ball lands in three areas curbside for a single,double or triple- and into the street, a home run.  Occasionally the ball will fly deep and high, arcing across the street reaching the sidewalk on the other side.  A mighty blast.

     For the resident within these homes, this can be an nuisance; the sound of a ball rattling within a stairwell can be loud. Sometimes the ball will bounce upward and against the front door at the top of the stairs.  Sorry!  The Goldsmiths at 346 always had the best stairs and for a kindness we didn't truly appreciate then, they didn't mind us playing on them.  They moved out of the neighborhood way back in '72 but we enjoyed the transition time as stair baseball -all-the-time!

     Our core group of the Grant Brothers, John and Robbie, myself and John Dickinson would spend
many cool, breezy  and sunny weekend days playing stair baseball or walking in circles.  Funny thing is when someone moves out of a house, someone else moves in and they don't always appreciate kids playing baseball on their stairs.  My recollection is the sound of a door being pulled open and a new face appearing and accusing us of destroying his property.  "What do you think you kids are doing?!"  Never one to shy away from a war of words, John D. responded with something in the way of "get lost, old man".  And we were off to the races.

       Over time "old man" was amended to a more affectionate "rookie" in response to the new neighbor's claims of athletic prowess.  Now 40 years later, the Mares still reside at 346.  Bringing along Dexter I acknowledged this landmark by showing up unannounced and playing stair baseball on Rookie's steps. This was also for you, John D.

       It seems that 40 years can relax people and as has been their way for nearly all those years, the Mares welcomed our visit.  Milt and Soni, glad you're around and thank you for always welcoming Dexter and Oliver.  They are great neighbors.

                                  some thugs from 30th AV: Milt(Rookie),un-named, John and Rob, whose
                                    father introduced me to hockey and lasting, some of the greats of Jazz
                                                            updated photo from 12/12

      Also, here's some pics from Oliver's second game. Not liking being a catcher, he reports. Enjoys being a good teammate, listens deeply to his coaches, and loves to run the bases.

          
                                         And a big shout out as well to our dear friend Johnna Rapp who
                                               shares a birthday (9/16) with Dad. Two of the best Yo!