Wireball is a street game related to

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, usually formed as a pick-up game, in urban areas of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The equipment consists of a pimple or pensie pinkie ball and a convenient place in a street or driveway where an electric power line or group of power lines bisect horizontally. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation. It can be played with one or more persons per team.

Rules

Opponents stand facing each other on opposite sides of the

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

. Limits of play are defined by agreement, usually the

width Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

of the street and landmark in the street such as a

manhole cover A manhole cover or maintenance hole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, an opening large enough for a person to pass through that is used as an access point for an underground vault or pipe. It is designed t ...

as the furthest limit of the field. The object of the game is for the “ batter” to throw the ball over or hit the wire to get a hit. The fielder must catch the ball before it bounces to make an out. Hits are scored accordingly- a ball thrown successfully over the wire and uncaught is a single. A ball that touches the wire and continues over it is a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

. A ball that hits the wire squarely and drops straight down is a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. If the fielder touches but does not catch a home run ball, it is a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

. If the batter throws the ball under the wire it is a

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

. As in

, foul balls count as strikes for the first two, but you cannot foul-out. The rules vary from neighborhood to neighborhood.

Tips

The ball is thrown hard and high above the wires. The closer the batter can get to a

vertical Vertical is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Vertical direction, the direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity, up or down * Vertical (angles), a pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting s ...

trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete tra ...

the better. It is not unusual for the batter to stand almost directly below the wire. The game is more fun and easier if a group of wires is used (two or three).

Notes

References

* Howard, B.
“Ultimate Summer Fun”
“Philadelphia City Paper”, June 5–12, 1997. * Meyers A.: ��The Jewish Community of West Philadelphia” Arcadia Publishing, 2001, , {{ISBN, 978-0-7385-0854-2, p. 40. Ball games Street games Team sports Baseball genres

Rules

Tips

See also

Notes

References