Off-point, maybe, query re "stickball"

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated  Mon, 2 Aug 2004 23:46:44 -0400,
  Wilson Gray <hwgray at EARTHLINK.NET> writes:

>  We used to play a game with a real bat and a real baseball. The batter
>  tossed the ball into the air and hit it as it was coming down. The game
>  was called "knockout." Everybody but the batter was a fielder. Catch a
>  ball on the fly and you became the batter. Fielding three grounders
>  also made you the batter. If the batter swung and missed, it just made
>  him look like a dork.

We called it "playing Peggy" (or maybe "playing peggy", "peg" being a term in
baseball for a type of throw from a fielder).  There was no catcher, but one
of the fielders pitched.  A fielder (there were no specified positions except
pitcher) became a batter if he caught one fly ball, two first bounces, or five
grounders.

>  There was a special bat called a "fungo bat" that was used in the same
>  way by coaches for fielding practice in organized baseball. We just
>  used any bat handy. I never understood why the pros needed a special
>  bat for this kind of thing.

The book "The Physics of Baseball" explains the why of the fungo bat.  Recall
all the fuss about corked bats?  The very light fungo bat is the extreme of a
corked bat,  great for getting range with a batted ball (necessary if you're
supplying practice flies to the outfield) but too fragile to be used against a
pitched ball.

       -- James A. Landau