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In the Loehmann's parking lot

We'd gather in the summer afternoons

When the clothing store had closed

And all the cars had gone

The parking lot was now

Ready for us

Ready for stick ball

Except we didn't use a stick

We used wooden bats

We didn't use rubber balls

We used tennis balls

We created a box on the wall

With some type of cement

The remnants which are still visible today

In front of the box we'd stand

Ready to face the pitcher 

Who would try have us swing and miss

With an assortment of fastballs

Sometimes even curves

Some threw overhead

Some sidearm

Opposite home plate

Was the Mandalay

One of the buildings from 

Lefrak City's Section 5

If you hit the ball above the seventh floor

Of the Mandalay

It was considered a home run

We also had rules for singles

Doubles and triples

Once Julio hit a ball that broke a window

On the seventh floor

It was my grandparent's apartment

They usually were by the window 

Watching us play

Luckily not that day

One year we kept stats

Batting averages

We would be aware of how 

We did that day

Did we go up or did we go down

We also had a ringer

Who would show up once in a while 

He was was a few years older than us

And was planing to make baseball a career

Joel would sometimes hit the ball 

To the fourteenth floor if not higher

It was not an exclusive club

When new kids moved into Lefrak

We welcomed them into our league

A place to spend the hours

A chance to bond