great stuff: football and international politics

[Laurence Horn]

On Mar 16, 2012, at 12:43 PM, Larry Sheldon wrote:

> On 3/16/2012 3:47 AM, W Brewer wrote:
>
>> <<<  still a debate over whether the Chinese or the English invented the
>> game>>>
>>
>> WB:  We also invented the game at St James Elementary School, Mt Ranier MD,
>> circa 1955. We called it kickball, and rules were determined by the biggest
>> kid in the parking lot.
>
> We played kickball at Chevy Chase elementary in Toonerville (Atwater
> district, Los Angeles) in the late 1940s -- rules similar to softball,
> as modified by circumstances,

In all the versions of kickball I remember playing (early-mid 1950s, NYC), you can retire a runner by hitting them with the ball (between bases).  Such throws are frowned upon in softball.

LH

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