Also known (and preferred, these days) is the name “Lou Ball.” One reason I like to differentiate “Lou ball” from “Indian ball” is that indigenous tribes of Native Americans have been playing a game of stickball for centuries. That game is more closely linked to the modern-day game of lacrosse, but it’s what some people outside of the St. Louis metro area think of when they hear the term “Indian ball.”
So I’m going to refer to it here as Lou ball, after good ol’ St. Lou, and you can call it whatever you like. I realize that the game has been referred to as Indian ball here in St. Louis for several generations, and old habits die hard, so who knows what it will be called in the future. The important thing is that it’s a GAME and it’s fun to play, whether your six or a hundred and six.
That out of the way, Lou ball is played similar to fuzzball, but preferably on a baseball diamond or grass & dirt sandlot as opposed to blacktop, and it’s played with a baseball (or softball) rather than a tennis ball or corkball. One major difference between Lou ball and fuzzball is that a member of your own team pitches to you. As usual, ghost runners are used, and there are only two ways one can “reach base,” and that is by hitting a single (the batted ball rolls to a stop before a fielder can pick it up) or hits a home run either over a fence or beyond a designated home run area, such as a line of trees.
A gentleman by the name of Chris O’Leary of “The American Indian Ball Association of America” (?) has available for download a diagram of an Indian ball field and very detailed rules that you can find here. Those rules are quite a bit more complicated than the game I remember playing as a kid in the common ground behind my house with several other 12-year-olds from my neighborhood, but hey, I guess it’s good to have if the need ever arises.
Cork & Fuzz 