I'll dust this thread off just because I discovered a new skill looking for brochure photos. You'll see the relevance in a sec I hope.
Spring 1971, Fifth Grade. I was on my third or fourth Wham-O Super Ball. I finally got the nerve, on a dare, to do what the old man forbade: Hit it with a baseball bat. I had already bounced it by hand over my elementary school building, breaking a window on the second attempt .. but I digress (I confessed my crime 10 years later).
Enter now my elementary school and the playgrounds around it and across the street. Though the school is long closed and the fencing around it gone, the baseball backstop is still in the same place and the building still standing.
Me with my "Harmon Killebrew" Louisville slugger, against my buddy, a lefty using his "Boog Powell" bat, and a couple of Super Balls.
Using Google Earth 40+ years later, the truth can be revealed. My magnificent blast was recovered 422 feet away, near the monkey bars, resting against the side fence. My buddy's drive was 406 feet, BUT it hit the roof of the school on a line, bounced up in the air, landed in the teacher's parking lot, and wound up at a neighbor's garage door.
I drew the chain link fence placements (they were six feet tall) in black and green, and labeled the Google Earth ruler measurements. We paced the distance way back when .. I argued that I won .. but I don't remember the distance. A couple tries later, the balls disintegrated (split in half).
In truth, had my buddy not hit the roof, his line drive mighta gone 500 ft. BTW, he went on to play minor league baseball in the KC Royals organization until a car accident ended his playing career. He was the real deal -- I was pure amateur hour material.
Any of you lay wood (a bat or golf club) to a Super Ball as a youngster?