Sandlot Baseball: A History

                                           No one can really pinpoint when sandlot baseball started. The term sandlot, traces its origins to the 1870’s. This emerged from San Francisco as an in-town park and empty lot that could be used as a versatile venue for various sports. It refers to a makeshift field which could be nothing more than an empty piece of land composed of grass, dirt or sand that is big enough to host a game. Objects used in playing the game can be improvised to take the place of bases, balls, or even bats if they are unavailable. 

                                           Despite the evolving culture surrounding sandlot baseball over the years, the tradition has persisted into the 2020’s. Sandlot baseball teams, a nostalgic relic of the past, continue to exist, with at least 110 teams since 2006, and notably 21 teams formed as recently as 2022. 

                                         Rules may be changed on a game-to-game basis. These rules are agreed upon prior to the game by all the participants. As of 2024, there is evidence that sandlot ball continues to be played in places like, Minneapolis, Corry PA, Clearfield PA, Ringold GA, and Southern Pines, NC. 

                                         When I was young, we would play on empty lots when we could not use the school playground. There was a huge field across the street from the house where I lived in Redondo Beach. We would go over there and play 3-flies up and other games that did not require 9 players. Sometimes we would play over the line or 500. The next street down from the field there was a trailer park. About 350 feet away. We always tried to keep from hitting balls into the street or the court. One time, I just really got a hold of one and hit it on one of the trailers roofs. We did not hang around to go get the ball. 

                                       Most of the school playgrounds we played on back then were all dirt. Very few of us had gloves. We were lucky to have a real bat and ball. The first time I ever played 3-flies up, I had no glove to catch the ball with. But it was fun, and we would usually play until it was too dark to see the ball.

                                       But back in the day, sandlot ball was the way many players began their baseball journey. Now, they have little league, pony league, Babe Ruth baseball. There are traveling teams that young players can join. Bryce Harper is one of those who made it all the way from that environment. 

                                      When Babe Ruth was playing the game at St. Mary’s, it was basically sandlot baseball. Many turn of the century players got their starts playing on fields that were empty lots, or in the case of many rural players, empty crop fields. Dizzy Dean played under those conditions in his home state of Arkansas. 

                                       Sandlot baseball gave many youngsters their introduction to baseball. Some balls were made out of tape. Sticks would be used for bats. Some just used their bare hands to catch fly balls, grounders and line drives. One of the better baseball movies ever made was The Sandlot. It followed a group of kids in the Los Angeles area who played on an empty lot. They would pool their money to get a 1.00 baseball. They would use that ball until the cover would come off or it was lost. 

                                      Real life was not much different. I remember us kids going into the brush at Arroyo Seco Park looking for baseballs that had been lost during the games played there by adult and high school teams. We could usually find a couple. One time I even found a box of baseball cards that had been opened. All the Dodgers were gone. 1959 Topps cards. 

                                       Sandlot ball kept the game alive in the rural areas. In the big cities they would play stickball. Not all that many open lots in a city like New York. In stick ball the ball was a red rubber ball called a spaldeen. Willie Mays one time after he was already with the Giants, played a game of stickball with some kids in New York city. I remember seeing a photo of that. Babe Ruth was also one to stop and watch kids when they were playing sandlot ball. 

                                         With so many other options coming along in the last 30 years, kids are more likely to play in an organized league. The popularity of sandlot ball has faded because of that. The factory teams and teams formed by small towns have disappeared. But sandlot ball will always be a part of the history of the game. Baseball is much richer because of the players who participated in those pickup games. 

                                                                             Al Kaline accepts a trophy for his sandlot team. 

                                                                                                 Around The League

                                        Houston gave the Dodgers a hand by beating Arizona 8-0. San Diego beat the Giants, 5-1 in San Diego. The Phillies won and are the #1 seed in the NL. That could be a good thing. The Dodgers now sit 4 games in front of the Padres and remain 5.5 in front of Arizona. The Padres have 19 games remaining, the D-Backs 20, and the Dodgers, 21. The Dodger offense only scored 1 run for the second game in a row. A judge dismissed the legal challenge to the A’s stadium funding opening the door for the A’s to move there in 2027. Teoscar Hernandez left the game after being hit on the ankle in his first at bat. It was called a contusion. Still waiting to see if he will need imaging on the ankle. Wrobleski is going to start Saturday’s game. Looks like Teo might have to go on the IL. On yesterday’s post someone was talking about the rash of injuries to starting pitchers. In the pregame show, Andrew Freidman spoke about the Dodgers putting together a team to find solutions to this problem. 

                                                                                                 Minor League Report.

                                               OKC beat Sugar Land, 1-0. Alex Gamboa got the win going 6 scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits, 2 walks and striking out 5. The OKC run was scored in the second inning and was unearned. Outman, Rushing and Ward had the only hits with Outman scoring the only run. Dodson, Graterol and Little finished up with Little getting his 1st save. 

                                                San Antonio beat Tulsa 9-3. Ferris started and got the loss, his 3rd. He went 5 innings allowing 6 hits, 2 runs, walking 1 and striking out 5. Keith, 16, and Ramos, 15, hit homers. Keith and Fernandez had 2 hits. Harris and Sublette gave up 6 of the 9 runs between them.

                                                Great Lakes lost to Dayton, 4-1. Romero went 7 innings and allowed only 1 run, 3 hits and a walk and struck out 10. Ramirez pitched 2/3rds of an inning and gave up 3 runs. DePaula and McLain had 2 hits apiece. That was the total the entire team had. 

                                               Rancho lost to Visalia 7-0. They had only 5 hits. Quintero had 2 of them. Hope was 0-3.