N.E. corner (where we played pinners).

Augie Mosco

"Pinners" was a ball game the boys used to play at recess and lunch. The game received it's name from the "pinner" of the building (which is the name for the architectural feature, the ledge, that protrudes from one or more sides of a building). We would bounce our rubber ball off the pinner and depending on the angle on which we struck the ledge, it would fly high or low. Two to three other boys would stand, facing the "impact zone", in single file perpendicular to the building. They (the opposing team) would try to catch the ball in flight. If they did, the individual was "out". If the ball touched the ground before being caught, it would be judged as a "single, double or triple". But if the ball flew high enough to hit the garage across the alley (which is no longer there), it was deemed a "homer"! We always seemed to gravitate to the N.E. corner of the building to play this game. As in the related photo, the 'pinner" just below the newly bricked up window (on the corner) was our "batters box". On returning to the old building, this last summer, I noticed how worn and eroded this particular portion of the stone was. I remembered that we played this game (in the same spot) for decades (the 50's and 60's) and we probably learned it from our predecessors. This very unique boy's game may have been played in that same spot for generations (50, 60, 70 years) for the wear of the stone indicates extensive trauma. I guess I'll never know.