OH, and to all here, for pickup baseball games, was it hard to get a catcher(s)?
We had “some” catcher’s equipment. It was hard to get anyone to want to play due to foul tips, in the dirts etc.
Picking teams, we always tried to get the younger kid -Pete “the Greek” - because he was fearless behind the plate.
He also made a great hockey goalie when we played on a frozen pond with a real puck and the goalie had a catchers mask, that’s it.
We never had a catcher for pick-up games. We would play ‘fast pitch’ with a rubber ball and the target would be an “x” in a box painted on a wall in a parking lot(strikezone)
If we played lob, we would catch the pitch with one hand and throw it back to the pitcher if we didn’t swing.