Throwback Thursdays will feature nostalgic hit in depth pieces bringing you back to your 90’s-early 2000s childhood
The game everyone wanted to see growing up on the playground. The schoolyard baseball game to end all schoolyard baseball games.
4th graders vs. 4th graders.
City vs. Suburbs.
P.S. 118 vs. Third Street
Arnold Shortman vs. TJ Detweiler
Hey Arnold! vs. Recess.
What if the two most famous playground kids meet up to face off in a game of school yard baseball. Now everyone knows Hey Arnold! and the gang as Hey Arnold was a staple in every kid’s childhood, but Recess was still popular but more of an exclusive watch. Yea the characters are all recognizable but only so many kids had the luxury of accessing “Toon Disney” and the weekly appearance on ABC Sunday morning cartoons. We take a dive into what could have been if these two schools crossed paths on the playground.
P.S. 118
Advantages
Home Field Advantage: Arnold and the gang turned a vacant lot into the baseball mecca known as Gerald Field. Not only did they build it from scratch they also had to reclaim it from their annoying middle-aged crazy neighborhood folks. Pure grit. No way P.S. 118 is letting these suburb kids come into Gerald field and take an easy W. Not to mention, can the Third Street outfield play the wall? How will they react to chasing down fly balls into an oncoming street? Things you don’t experience in a fenced in playground.
Depth: P.S. 118 is deep in talent and potential. Left side of the field is particularly strong as Gerald has range to cover for whatever lanky Stinky cannot cover as well as a sneaky athletic Rhonda who can track down balls in left. City frog catching champion Sid will track down any fly ball and you know his frog catching mitts aren’t dropping anything. Right side of Phoebe, Harold, and Eugene is a concern but what they lack in athletic ability, they lack in other attributes. Phoebe will be able to implement analytics into the P.S. 118 clubhouse, Harold will intimidate with size and shit talk, and Eugene can serve as a team scapegoat.
Gritty Leadership: Led by Arnold, these squad couldn’t be a grittier group of kids with a better leader. Growing up in the heart of New York city, Arnold and his gang have seen and experienced some things. From avoiding being trash canned by 5th graders, to coming back to a W in the Mud bowl with trick plays, to defeating the Sewer King on his home turf, Arnold will get these kids to victory any way possible. With Arnold on the bump, gotta love P.S 118’s chances.
Disadvantages:
Team chemistry: Despite strong leadership and grit, these team has some quirks. With Arnold and Helga teaming up as Pitcher and catcher, will Helga be able to keep her cool with football head and avoid blowing up on him or professing her undying love for him, especially if Lila is watching in the stands. If Helga can keep her cool this could be a dangerous duo for Third street. Sid, stinky, and Harold are a trio of trouble when together off the field. Multiple off the field instances have kept them off the ball field such as mooning their principle. P.S. 118 needs this trio to be trouble free.
Third Street School
Advantages:
Team Discipline: The third street school comes from a playground with a social hierarchy ruled by a 6th grader known as King Bob. The Third street squad embody discipline, and everyone knows their role, a true team atmosphere and dynamic. An Ashley-free team will help keep levels heads on the playing field especially for Spinelli.
Vince: TJ Detweiler is the known face and heart of The Third Street school, but Vince is the franchise player. Always a first pick in any school yard game, Vince is the king of the court specializing in kickball where he once kicked a kickball to China. Vince is going to have to have a huge game and the short left field street will be a big opportunity for Vince who’s used to hitting balls over fences.
Disadvantages:
Depth: This show and this team lack serious character depth. Outside of the core 6, it was slim picking for Third Street school. A major disadvantage of Arkansas suburban elementary schools. However, they were able to snag the twin diggers who will hopefully bring the right shovels in order to navigate this city soil. Lastly, the team had to pick up known schoolyard snitch and teacher’s pet Randall. Despite his unfavorable playground habits, wouldn’t be surprised if Third Street implements Randall’s spying skills to try to steal P.S. 118’s signals in an Astros esque scheme. Hey, it was these three or a group of Ashleys that would give Regina George and the plastics a challenge. How far and how long can Vince and TJ carry this group of misfits?
Kick Ball: Unfortunately for Third Street School, baseball isn’t their top game. Third street school is a red ball school that specializes in kickball and four square. Adapting to true baseball may be a challenge for this group as there is not a lot of tape out on their game. We all know Vince, TJ, and probably Spinelli will step up but everyone else is a question mark.
Result:
Third Street School opened to an early lead in the second inning as Vince hit a two-run shot into the left field street scoring Spinelli as well. TJ Detweiler held P.S. 118 scoreless for a few innings until a Rhonda double drove in Arnold and Gerald to tie the game at two after three innings. P.S. 118 starts to take some damage as the bottom of the order makes some noise with Phoebe and Stinky singling and being driven in by Helga and Arnold. 4-2 after 4. Third street cannot get anything going for the bottom of the order but a deep Mikey single drives in TJ and Vince to tie at 4-4. However, P.S. 118 is just too much for Third Street as a hitting spree and some untimely Randall and Gus errors give P.S. 118 an 8-4 victory. Post-game cele at Arnold’s NYC rooftop bedroom with plenty of Yahoo soda. Add another W to Arnold’s HOF childhood.
WATER COOLER TALK 