I pitched in Little League, and my buddies and I played 12” and 16” ball in our yards or vacant lots. My parents owned a vacant lot next door to us on the corner of Grove Ave & Fillmore in Oak Park. That was our ball field, as well as for other things. I hated it when they sold the lot and the new owners built a home on it.
But, we moved to Southern Wisconsin in ‘55, and I soon found buddies there to play ball with. My family built a new home o two lots, so the side lot again became a place to play ball. It was then that I got into Little League.
Soccer? Never played it. Never wanted to. As you say, all those ‘foreigners’ might play it, but not us kids. Baseball & football. And not touch football, either. We played for keeps.
Why does the Springsteen song “Glory Days” pop into my head all-of-a-sudden?