St. Louis is not only known for corkball but when the summer leagues
are over and the cold winter sets in, it's time for winter ball. And
winter ball in St. Louis consists of fuzzball.

In fact, every winter the South Broadway Athlethic Club has a
fuzzball league that consists of most of the area corkballers who are
looking to keep their swings in shape.

Fuzzball in St. Louis is much like the version of corkball played in
the California corkball league. The main difference however, is that
the tennis balls have the fuzz burnt off of them making them black
and hard to see in the poor indoor lighting. The burnt ball also
seems to have alot more movement then a regular tennis ball.

Now burning the ball is an art. First you must find the right brand
of ball. It seems that some brands burn better than others. Most
guys perfer some kind of Penn ball but I haven't figured out just
which one yet. Once the proper ball is selected, the burning process
begins. The fuzz must be burnt down but not completely off the
ball. If you hold the ball too close to the flame, the fuzz bubbles
and I don't think that is good. If you hold the ball too far away
from the flame, the ball is not burnt enough. Also it seems that a
number of pitchers like to "warm" the balls between innings. I
haven't figured that one out yet.

The game is played in a cage and double innings are played. Four
inning make a complete game. One swinging strike is an out if the
catcher holds the ball and two strikes are an out regardless of
whether the catcher holds the ball or not. A catcher catching a foul
tip with a man on base constitutes a double play. The pitcher does
not throw off a mound.

Currently there are eight or nine teams in the league. Players from
the local coorkball clubs sometimes cross club lines to play on a
team made up of two or three player from various local clubs. But
mostly the local corkball clubs are represented.

Currently the South St. Louis Corkball League has a five man team
that is, so far, undefeated. The team consists of Bob Eller, Tim
Kobler (TK), Jeff Vilmer (JV), Tim Salee, and Bob Young. A tough
team to beat with three starting pitchers and plenty of good hitting.

It's a fun game to play. You guys in California might want to try
burning a few balls yourselves and seeing if you like it.