Father Al Smith is shown in this photo with his Dad. The good Reverend was thoughtful enough to loan us a memento from his youth, an item of memorabilia we all used when the high cost of a “rocket” baseball was all of .98 cents.

These balls usually lasted about 3 innings unless the game was played in the rain. (no rain outs in our youth) Anyway once the cover flew off around the pitchers mound ,it was time to bring out your Dad’s roll of friction tape so the game could continue. The pitcher had the advantage with a retaped ball because the tape was “sticky” on both sides. Anyway, we thank Father Smith for sharing his fond memory with us so we could remind you of an era when baseball was really a game. ENJOY!