Legends Corner: Howie Eisenberg

Howie Eisenberg: A Handball Life

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 “Handball was my first and enduring sports love. My priority was always handball. When I was three I decided then that I wanted to be the AAU champ before I knew the difference between an A and a U. I won or finished second in 26 national open finals, compiling a total of 47 1-wall national open top 4 finishes over 4 different decades.”

Howie Eisenberg started playing handball at the age of six and became one of 1-Wall’s most prolific, power-hitting stars of the 1900’s, earning an induction into the USHA Hall of Fame in 2003. Despite being talented in multiple sports, Howie’s focus always remained handball, as his quest to be the best never wavered. At a time when an estimated 500,000 1-Wall players filled New York City’s 2,000 public courts and hundreds of beach club courts, Howie’s dedication to his craft took him to the top of the sport as a teenager, a perch he maintained for nearly four decades. Howie played and learned from the best in the sport, to include Vic Hershkowitz, Oscar and Carl Obert, Wally Ulbrich, Marty Decatur, Kenny Davidoff, Jim Jacobs, Fred Lewis, Naty Alvarado, Sr., Steve Sandler, Tati Silveyra, David Chapman and so many more, eventually sharing the court with 30 Hall of Fame players.

In Howie Eisenberg: A Handball Life, Howie guides us through his handball journey in this special four-part Legends Series interview. Now 81, Howie’s memory is as keen as his power was revered, so enjoy this special tour through handball history as told by one of the game’s great players and historians.

In part one of Howie Eisenberg: A Handball Life, Howie discusses his start in handball, the other sports in which he excelled, what initially piqued his interest in handball, the 1-Wall scene in New York City during his childhood, his greatest accomplishments in handball, the best players of his era, and so much more.

Howie, thank you very much for sharing your handball journey with the WPH. We are thrilled to relive handball history through your eyes.

What sports did you play before handball?

None. Handball was my first and enduring sports love. I played a lot of basketball though and was on my high school and college teams but my priority was always handball. While I considered myself a good shooter and ball handler, for various reasons my sojourns on teams were cut short. This applied to baseball as well. I hardly ever played baseball but because I threw so hard I made the Brooklyn College freshman team but quit when not having any idea how to actually pitch I incurred a slight muscle pull and did not want that to interfere with my chances to win the nationals when Vic Hershkowitz took me as a partner, so I quit the team. I took another shot at baseball when I was a junior and made the team because I had “a natural hop on my fast ball” according to the coach. But realizing pretty quickly that I was not going to do much pitching until I learned how to actually pitch, I quit once more.

That was not the case with table tennis which I started playing at 12 and won or came in second in state and regionals boys 15 and under tournaments and was rated  # 4 nationally in that division and was 1 of the better junior players  in the country at 16 when I stopped playing competitively. I would occasionally play paddle ball as a diversion from handball and from ‘61-66 won the national singles 4 times and was 2 time runner-up to my nephew, Vic Niederhoffer, twice. We also won the doubles together twice. Except for some money games I hardly played any paddleball after that.

I also swam whenever I could but never competitively.

What was it that initially drew you to handball?

I grew up going to the Brighton Beach Baths (BBB) in Brooklyn which had about 40 courts and was the mecca of 1-wall handball. Every weekend the greatest players in the country would play in the “sweeps” initially with spectators watching from wooden stands and then from Garber Stadium, an exhibition court that seated 1500 and would have 500 standing watching the sweeps on weekends and national tournaments that were held there. When I was 3 years old my brother-in-law told me that Vic Hershkowitz was the national AAU champion and was the best player in the world. So I decided then that I wanted to be the AAU champ before I knew the difference between an A and a U. I started playing at age 6 and by the time I was 8 or 9, I would get to BBB just before it opened, race to Garber Stadium through the men’s locker area and practice on that hallowed ground for 10 minutes before the men took over. It was an even bigger thrill for me and 3 friends to actually play a few points during glove change timeouts of the sweeps in front of the big crowds.

 

How many active 1-Wall players would you estimate there were when you were playing?

1-wall handball was the most participated in sport in the NYC metropolitan area from the 1920s through the 1960s. Men, women and children played. The 2,000 courts in the NYC parks as well as the hundreds in beach clubs like BBB were fully occupied from morning to night on weekends usually with 4 people playing doubles and another 3 teams having next as winners stayed on the court. My guess is that a half million of the 8 million in the city played the game at 1 time or another.

Was 1-Wall small ball or big ball bigger during your time? Did you play both?

Pink Ball, played with a Spaldeen which was not only Brooklynese but was a trademark of a ball made by Spaulding, was the only “Big Ball” played when I was growing up. Racquetball wasn’t invented until the mid ‘50s so there was no Big Blue, which of course was a racquetball. Kids started with pink balls and when they got strong enough graduated to playing with a handball. Some continued to play pink ball and there were guys who were really good. Because unlike the much deader racquetball, pink balls were pressurized and bounced like handballs, they could be hit with more velocity enabling the low serves, hard drives and angles off the court that aren’t possible in big ball.

I started playing with a handball at 13 and essentially quit playing pink ball but would occasionally play a pink ball money game later on.

What are your greatest career accomplishments?

The events that are most memorable to me were:

• My first tournament win, the BBB 12 and under when I was 11
• Winning the 5,000 entrant NY Daily Mirror NYC Parks Department Junior Championship beating Marty Decatur when we were both 17
• Getting to the finals of the ’57 AAU at 18 in my first national tournament playing with my idol, Hershkowitz, after coming back from 9-17 in the semis in the 3’rd against former champs, Lefty Kirzner and Red Kravitz who were heavily favored, then losing to Oscar and Carl Obert despite playing the best that I had in that tournament when Vic’s ankle sprained practicing the day before could no longer hold up
• Beating Steve Sandler 2 straight in the semis of the ’60 USHA nationals when we were 21 and 20, respectively, and then losing in the finals to Oscar Obert in 3 despite almost winning the 1’st and winning the 2’nd by a big score
• A 21-20 third game loss with Joe Danilczyk to Oscar and Ruby Obert in the doubles finals the next day on a controversial call
• Beating Joe and Charlie Danilczyk at an exhibition at the Brooklyn Central Y in ’62 in the first match that Ken Davidoff and I ever played together
• Coming back from 14-18 in the third to beat Oscar and Ruby 2 years later in the ’62 AAU finals with Ken Davidoff for our first national championship
• Kenny and I beating former national singles and doubles champ, Arty Locker, and Walter Genza, then the Danilczyks easily followed by a win over Hershkowitz-Marty Decatur that was not very close in an invitational tournament at BBB
• Beating Decatur and Joe Danilczyk 21-12, 21-4 but losing to the Oberts in the finals of the ’62 USHA
• Beating Carl Obert for the1’st time in the ’62 USHA. Prior to that his sharp breaking hooks had decimated me
• A loss with Davidoff to Oscar and Ruby in the ’64 AAU finals after 3 horrendous calls in a row at 18 all in the 3’rd with pandemonium reigning
• Beating Davidoff and Arty Reyer with Davy Norvid 21-10, 21-10 in the 2’nd and 3’rd games after losing the 1’st in the best match I was ever to play
• A ’65 AAU finals singles loss to Davidoff followed by finals losses to Sandler in the ’66 AAU, ’67, ’68 and ’69 USHA despite running through everyone else including Ruby Obert, Carl Obert, and Decatur
• The 65 USHA doubles finals loss with Arty Reyer to Wally Ulbicht–Kenny Holmes after we had beaten Oscar and Ruby in the semis. We won the first and were ahead 20-12 in the second when I hit what 1299 of the 1,300 people watching at the Brownsville Boys Club thought was a rolling kill shot from 15 feet behind the long line. It was called a skip ball by the head ref who was 55’ from the wall calling blocks and they went on to win that game and the third
• Losing in the ’66 USHA doubles finals with Sandler to Joe Danilczyk-Reyer after beating Oscar and Ruby, again winning the first game and having a big lead in the second but not closing the deal
• Beating strong teams like Dennis Hofflander-Jack McDonald in the ’66 and ’67 national 3-wall with Davidoff but losing to Oscar and Ruby in 3, and Decatur-Lou Russo, respectively, in the finals
• The ‘71 AAU doubles championship with Davidoff beating Decatur-Marty Katzen in the quarters, destroying Carl and Ruby Obert in the semis, and beating former champs, Sandler-Weber in 2 in the final
• Reaching the finals in ‘71, ‘72, and ‘73 with my protégé, the late Neal Bocian, a lefty whose swing was the mirror image of mine
• Playing with Joel Wisotsky and dominating then current national doubles champs, Kent Fusselman-Al Drews 21-8, 21-6 in the ’72 NYAC 4-wall invitational and overpowering Seimi Fein playing with Ray Neveau in the ’73 NYAC event 21-14, 21-8. Seimi and Ray were also the current and 4 time national and world 4-wall champs when we played them
• Beating Hofflander-Gordie Pfeiffer in the ’74 national 3 wall with Bocian capped by a crucial fly kill by Neal from 38’ away from the front wall
• Winning a Flatbush Y invitational with Wisotsky over Decatur-Reyer in the mid-70s
• Winning the ’79 USHA with Wisotsky and then defending in ’80 beating Joe Durso-Albert Apuzzi and Bocian-Morty Katz at age 41
• Prevailing over Sandler in the ’82 masters on a 100-degree, 95% humidity day in 3 games. The masters was played before the open that year and Steve was the current (’81) open champ at the time we played. Although I don’t consider age group wins in the same category as all of the open events I mentioned, beating Steve in 3 under those conditions was very special to me
• Finally winning together with Bocian in the Seniors in ’85. Neal had emulated his mentor’s propensity for seconds all too well but did have an open doubles win as well as a runner-up finish in singles along with his losses with and against me. Even though it was not an open, this was a poignant win for us
• Losing by a point with Tati Silveyra in the ’97 nationals at age 58 to 3 time champs, Eddie Maisonet-Paul Williams after playing virtually no 1-wall since moving to California 11 years before. It was not a bad last hurrah of my open career
• Although not as meaningful to me as open events, beating 4-time defending champs, Joe McDonald-Mike Dunne with Tom Natale winning a national 4-wall Golden invitational felt good as did beating defending champs, Grossenbacher-Miller, with Don Ardito in winning the 2000 3-wall Supers event for my last national championship
• In summary, I won or finished second in 26 national open finals, compiling a total of 47 1-wall national open top 4 finishes over 4 different decades. This included 6 singles losses, 5 doubles wins and 15 doubles seconds with 11 different partners. Notice that I have included the finals losses of which there were a number more, that I considered abject failure at the times but many years later came to appreciate that it was an accomplishment to be # 2 in the country which was tantamount to being # 2 in the world because 1-wall was hardly played outside the U.S. Age group events extended the period of my finals finishes to 6 different decades and included 5 singles and doubles championships along with another 13 seconds

For those unfamiliar with the 1-Wall game, what makes a great 1-Waller?

Power is definitely at a premium in 1-Wall. If used effectively it enables one to serve lower and hit kills from closer to the ground and further from the wall that stay down better, hit passing shots that leave less time for an opponent to reach and hit angles that carry further off the court. While I have always been obsessed with power, especially my own, I believe it is accurate to say that on all but high defensive returns, the harder you hit the ball, the harder it is to return it. Of course speed, superior hand eye coordination, fast reflexes, and good anticipation are important just as they are in all phases of the game but are perhaps even more vital in 1-wall because of the fast pace of the game. A strong off hand is valuable but because without side walls you can basically run around the ball to hit with your dominant hand, I don’t think that is as important as it is in 3 or 4-wall. Similarly even though stamina is important, because points don’t generally last as long in singles as in 3 and 4-wall, it doesn’t have quite the significance. Having said that, as anyone who watched me win the first games against just about everybody but lose matches because I was fatigued especially against Sandler, my deficiency in that area was a tragic flaw. Fortunately for me there were very few who could keep the ball in play long enough against me to exploit it.

How often did you play handball when you were on your way up and when you reached the top?

As a kid I played as much as often I could which meant practically every day maybe 4 to 6 games a day when the weather in NY allowed which was mostly from March through October. Later on I played 3 or 4 games about 4 times a week. When it got cold I didn’t play handball at all, playing basketball or table tennis or hung out at pool rooms where I ”made my living”, but that’s another story.  I started playing indoors in the cold weather when I was 19 where I played about 3 times a week.

Besides playing matches, how did you practice to improve your game?

I threw and hit balls against the wall lefty trying to emulate Hershkowitz. I developed a natural swing but never had anything like the power of my right. I would also practice fly-kills known as off-the-wall shots in NY. Fly-kills and drives became a very big part of my repertoire in all phases of the game. In actuality after age 16, I never practiced anything in 1-wall but did practice back wall shots and ceiling punches when I took up 4-wall.

Who was your coach and greatest influence? What was the most important lesson he taught you?

My brother-in-law, Arty Niederhoffer, an NYPD officer who was 21 years older than me was my mentor and role model in handball and in life. Arty despite having damaged his arm as a blocking back in college was just short of being in the class of the guys who played in the sweeps. Because his sidearm swing was limited he served good hooks with an Irish whip stroke and would fly kill the returns. Arty taught me how to play. We used to play another cop, Marty “Ace” Rosenbloom who had been a national singles finalist, and his son Jeff starting when I was 6. Of course the men would play easy with us as they nurtured our development. Arty always emphasized attacking the ball so the serve and shoot style became integral to my game key noted by fly-kills. I always had a big backswing and thus needed more space and time to get into position than most so if I guessed wrong on returning a hook, I was in trouble. Arty taught me how to read hooks including his own which I became proficient at and by the time I was 16 when I started to hit really hard, the student was able to beat the teacher.  Later on there was 1 notable exception to my hook reading acuity, Carl Obert. There was something in the way he swung that threw me off. At Arty’s suggestion, I took slow motion films of Carl serving which revealed a “tell” that Arty pointed out that enabled me to read and tee off on those serves. After surprising both Carl and myself by coping with his serves in the ’62 USHA, I never lost to him again.

Was cross-training a big part of your routine during your prime? What did you do to prepare for tournaments?

As I mentioned, I played other sports but never considered them cross-training. In fact I was probably the stupidest reasonably successful athlete ever. I actually thought that stamina was something you were either born with or not. I literally did not know the meaning of conditioning. It was not until I was 30 near the end of my prime that I for some reason decided to run the five mile round trip on the Coney Island boardwalk every other day for three weeks. Sandler and I then played a $50 money game and I lost the first this time. He then spotted me 2 for another $50 in the second and I won that. We played a third event which I also won. He then asked me to spot him two. I refused and said everybody knows I get tired after one game with you and this will be the fourth. You’re the national champ and there is no way I’m going to spot you anything, especially in our fourth game. We played it even and I won 21-8. After this “miracle” I immediately did my five-mile boardwalk run and two days later did three miles on the banked 92’nd Street Y track. I had no idea how to run on a banked track and pulled something in my groin which resulted in my losing to Arty Reyer, whom I was a prohibitive favorite over in the nationals 10 days later.  I was so pissed at this that I didn’t run for another 10 years.

That was 1980 when a guy who worked for me at Princeton University explained how aerobic training can help in anaerobic efforts and he got me to run on the Princeton flat outdoor track. The result was that I was in the best shape of my life although 10 points worse at 41 and not only defended our open doubles championship with Wisotsky successfully but beat Sorrel Feldman, whom I think won the championship the year before, 21-1, 21-3 in the masters singles finals, and easily beat two good players, Danny Vera and Tony Gonzales, 20 years younger than me, before losing a close three-game match in the quarters of the open singles. Besides those instances, other than not playing for a couple of days preceding the event, I did nothing to prepare for a tournament.

I’ll say one more thing about cross-training. When I was in my mid 20s and not having played competitive table tennis for 10 years, I played in an all day tournament just for kicks. In table tennis because your opponent is only 9 feet away from you even though the ball may be hit at 50 mph, you have much less time to react than for a shot hit at 85 mph which travels 16’, to the wall and 16’ back to you if you are standing on the short line. That night I had to play a handball exhibition against Joe Danilczyk who hit almost as hard as I did. The ball seemed as if it was moving in slow motion to me and I had all the time in the world to tee off on his serves and drives. Despite this revelation, demonstrating how dumb I was, I never tried playing table tennis as a cross-training exercise.

From the time you first started playing, how many years did it take to become a contender in the biggest tournaments?

I started playing in the sweeps at 16 with and against Hershkowitz, Moey Orenstein, arguably the best doubles player ever, Lefty Kirzner who had really good hooks and hit big angles off the court, Davy Small, a tremendously hard hitter, and other formidable players. I could hold my own then most of the time if I played with a top player but until a few years later I didn’t consider myself their equal even though I got to the finals with Vic at 18. When I was 19, playing with a friend of mine who hit hard but was not a great player in the national AAU, we took a game from Oscar and Ruby and it was 15-all in the third before losing. At that age I was erratic but capable of playing as well as I was ever to play. I proved it two years later by getting to the finals of the national USHA in singles and doubles.

Can you discuss your most memorable match?

Actually there were two related matches. The first was the ’62 National AAU, the first tournament that Ken Davidoff and I had ever played together facing the heavily favored multiple champs, Oscar and Ruby Obert who were 9 and 5 years older than me, respectively. We won the first, lost the second and were behind 18-14 in the third. We got them out, ran 4 and after a long rally Oscar returned a shot through his legs, and Davidoff hit an unreturnable angle to the right. The fired up skinny 20 year old then got in the face of Oscar whom I had seen crush steel beer cans with 1 hand that I probably could not dent with a hammer and screamed, “hit the next one through your nose.” Much to Oscar’s credit he refrained from crushing Kenny as he did those beer cans. We made the next point to go ahead 20-18, The Oberts called timeout and we were approached by Moey Orenstein whom in addition to his handball endeavors was also a collector for Mafia bookies and loan sharks. Moey was betting big on us and he told us in no uncertain terms to switch sides for the last point. Kenny asked me if we should do it. In 1-wall the lefty plays the right and the righty plays the left so the strong hands are in the middle. Moey felt that Kenny serving from the left would throw the Oberts off and give us the advantage. I disagreed, feeling that we would be at a disadvantage in a rally. Moey was furious at my rejecting his strategy. A long rally ensued which fortunately we won, which not only brought us the national championship but allowed me to leave the area in one piece.

Two years later in the ’64 AAU finals, Kenny and I were facing Oscar and Ruby Obert for the fifth time. We had lost to them in the ’62 and ’63 USHA finals, and won a winner-take-all invitational money match against them in Paramus, NJ, so this was the rubber match. Just as in ’62, we won the first, lost the second and were behind 18-14 in the third. We got them out and when Kenny ran 4 it seemed like a reprise of ’62. Kenny then hit a hard drive that passed Oscar on the left that hit the line. Carl Obert who was sitting next to Leo Arazie, the linesman, screamed OUT into his ear. Leo called out … I mean good. During the 10 minutes that the refs took to decide what to do, the crowd went crazy. My 65 year old dad almost had a fist fight with Carl, and the Oberts’ father barely escaped with his life for a reason I will leave unsaid. The point was then replayed and I hit a rolling kill shot with my left in front of myself and stood still which is legal in 1-wall. The ref calling blocks said it was an intentional block and called me out. Ruby got up and made 2. We got him out. Then Oscar served a wet ball that Kenny never got to swing at as it skidded on the wood floor. The rule was unless someone is seen wetting a ball there are no replays of skid balls so it was another second place for us.

Who were the guys you admired when you first started playing?

Vic Hershkowitz whose power, speed, serves, kills with either hand from any position were awesome; Morty Alexander who would fade way behind the long line, let the ball drop really low and shoot flat kill shots that were unreturnable; Davy Small, one of the hardest hitters with a beautiful picturesque swing.

What victory do you consider to be your breakthrough?

Although I started playing in the sweeps at 16 and was able to hold my own playing with a top player, and although I got to the finals of the national AAU at 18 with Vic, it wasn’t until a year later when playing with a friend of mine who was just a solid player. We won a game and went to 15 all in the 3’rd before losing to Oscar and Ruby. At that point when I played my best I felt that I could contend against anyone.

What were the biggest tournaments to win during your prime?

The national AAU and USHA were virtually the only 1-wall tournaments with a very occasional invitational tourney. The USHA started holding 1-wall nationals in ’59 and had a 2 year hiatus in ’75 and ’76. The last AAU event was in ’76.

All of the best players played in both so each was as prestigious as the other to us.

What was your most satisfying/important win?

The win that meant the most to me was my and Ken Davidoff’s first national championship over Oscar and Ruby Obert in ’62. I guess the most important win was a money match for $3,000 that I played with Steve Sandler against Hershkowitz and Orenstein in ’61.That was the equivalent of $30,000 or so in today’s dollars. However since they were past their primes at the time, it wasn’t nearly as meaningful as it would have been had they been younger. Of course the result would most likely have been different.

What was your most disappointing loss?

The ’60 finals loss to Oscar. The score was 18 all in the first. I hit a low serve to the left that I thought was going out but it caught the line for an ace. I was so overjoyed that I jumped 4’ in the air. The ref, Stanley Mullins, whom I had never even spoken to, harbored a grudge against me because Davy Norvid, the guy he asked to play with the year previously opted to play with me. Mullins saw me jump and had an excuse to call a foot fault. I then double faulted. So instead of it being 19-18 and I’m up, it was 18 all as Oscar got up and made the 3 points. I won the second 21-11, but lost the third. My disappointment was compounded the next day when Joe Danilczyk and I lost the first, won the second going away, and were up 13-5 in the third against Oscar and Ruby. Then, for the first and only time that I ever saw, Ruby switched to the left which turned the game around as they got to match point at 20-all. We got them out. They got Joe out and my serve evolved into a long tense rally. I hit an overhand shot near me, Ruby pushed me before returning it, which should have been called an intentional hinder. The ref in the back called block. Joe hearing the call and assuming the play was dead just pushed Ruby’s return back to the wall, and Oscar with no pressure on him at all, fly killed it. Neither of us even tried to return it because a call had been made. Mullins, again the chief ref, not only didn’t call it intentional, he overruled the block call, saying the play stands “because Howie and Ruby were blocking each other the whole match.” Our protestations to no avail, the Oberts got up and made the point to complete my nightmare weekend with another second place.

What was the strength of your game?

Power. While I was never particularly strong, the mechanics of my swing enabled me to hit arguably harder than anyone whomever played. It was getting into position, stepping into the shot, the big backswing, getting my body into the ball, point of contact and follow through with my legs as well as my arm. I also had a theory, never substantiated, that the backstroke that I have been doing for what seems like forever in oceans and pools developed a muscle in the back of my arm that contributed to the power. Because I hit that hard I was able to serve much lower than most and get the ball over the short line which made it difficult to retrieve, as well as serve deep hooks whose velocity compounded the problem of dealing with them. While hitting hard made my drives more effective and angles carry further faster off the court, I also prided myself in blasting shots that came off the wall right at my opponents who had difficulty reacting to them which I really got off on. Hershkowitz always admonished me for that, preaching the value of hitting hooking drives at an opponent’s feet. Killing opponent’s serves was also something that turned me on. When I was running points blasting ball after ball, I used to feel like an irresistible force. I wasn’t what is termed quick but I had good foot speed and was able to get to shots that a lot of others couldn’t. This may have been counterproductive sometimes because I would often retrieve balls far off the court necessitating a long run back and with my limited stamina get more fatigued than necessary. Another natural attribute that was invaluable that I have is very fast reflexes. I use the present tense because it is probably the last physical talent that I still have. That characteristic is really important in table tennis in which the response time to an opponent’s hitting and spins is so short. Something can drop out of the medicine chest that I perceive out of a corner of my eye and I instinctively catch it, which is great unless it happens to be a razor that dropped.

As far as shots that I hit well, fly kills and drives were integral to my game. Another favorite move of mine was to fade back on slow moving shots to the left, let the ball drop very low and hit kills with a reverse to the right corner. That was really effective if hit in front of a partner who was standing still in front of his counterpart on the right. If the other guy got in front of him and I drove the ball instead of killing it, he would be too close to the wall to handle it. The converse, sidearm angles to the left with a natural on it or overhand kill shot angles to the left that carried far off the court were also part of my repertoire. Driving service returns back very hard with my right, which I was often able to do on shots to the left by running around the ball, negated the other guys’ serves. Different players are able to hit hardest at different heights. Nobody hit a serve harder from very low than Davidoff. I hit somewhat harder than Kenny during play and could also hit very hard overhand. There were two others who hit extremely hard overhand, Ruby Obert before he decided to conserve his arm limiting that stroke and Wally Ulbricht.

Who were the best players of your era?

I will respond to this question considering the ‘60s which was the period of my prime although I did win 3 times and come in second in national open doubles tournaments 6 times between ’71 and ’80.

Ken Davidoff had a great serve, hit very hard, good offhand both overhand with good angles to the left and underhand with high loft defensive service returns that carried to deep court. His natural lefty hook angles to the right took you way off the court. His serve was awesome, followed by fly kills or straight kills or drives. Kenny also had a fierce will to win which belies the warm hearted person he is.

At the start it was the 3 Oberts. Oscar had great power and unlike taller guys like me and Steve August didn’t need to get behind the ball to generate that power. He had a very strong if sometimes erratic off hand, was fast and though he smoked had very good stamina. Oscar was a killing machine shooting from anywhere and was even better in doubles fly killing and blasting everything. If his serves were stronger he would have been absolutely unbeatable. On the other hand which is literally true since he is a lefty, Carl Obert’s greatest asset was his serve with very sharp breaking hooks albeit not with the velocity of his brothers. Carl was exceedingly fast and thus a great retriever and also had excellent stamina. Ruby hit very hard, was also a good retriever and very steady and was a great complement to Oscar in doubles. All of them were very tough competitors.

Steve Sandler could run all day, had a great left that hit high loft service returns as well as kills and angles that moved you all over the court. He hit with pace although not especially hard, killed when he had the shot or drove to all parts of the court. His court positioning was excellent as he kept his opponent behind him as he moved him around the court or killed in front of himself. He beat all 3 Oberts to win the national AAU when he was 21 before developing a serve. He became even tougher later on as he started serving really effectively from the left or right. Playing a 3 game match against Stevie for me was like dealing with the “rope a dope” strategy that Ali used against George Foreman, getting him to punch himself out before administering the coup de gras. A film of the ’68 nationals in which the typical point when I served against Ruby Obert in the quarters and Marty Decatur in the semis lasted one or two shots, and some against Sandler lasted 28 shots bears this out. Steve would return serves that went for aces against the others. I would blast drives or kills or hit angles that he also retrieved. He was running all over the court as I exhausted myself.

Marty Decatur was the epitome of the dictum that work ethic, effort and perseverance and can allow one to get the most out of his potential. Marty had very good ability, a strong serve, a superior off hand, was a reasonably good retriever, hit with pace, killed well but didn’t excel in any of those facets. Yet, Marty became a 26 time national champion in 1, 3 and 4-wall. He was the 1 of the best 3-wall players ever and the consummate complement to his partner in all phases of the game.

Joel Wisotsky who was primarily a doubles player was also great in all 3 phases of the game winning 15 national doubles championships in 1 and 3-wall, and many regional 4-wall events. Joel hit very hard and was a tremendously aggressive player fly killing from deep as well as attacking service returns at the wall. As his partner in a number of 1 and 4-wall tournaments, I can attest to the fact that Joel was the best closer since Korvorkian. When he got to 16, he was like a bloodhound who smelled 21.

Wally Ulbrich was also primarily a doubles player. He hit extremely hard, especially overhand, had a very powerful deep serve with good hooks and also attacked the wall, fly-killing at every opportunity. His hard driving exerted constant pressure.

Joe Danilczyk, another doubles specialist, had great power, hit hard deep serves with hooks that broke big and would fly kill the returns whenever he could. His hard drives complemented the kills.

Arty Reyer whose hip was fused to his leg because of osteomyelitis when he was young and had a pronounced limp developed a unique style within his limitations and won many doubles championships. Arty couldn’t get into position like the rest of us but had very fast hands, good reflexes and was able to stay inside the short line and in front of his opponents as he handled most of their drives and killed in front of himself or his partner.

Charley Danilczyk whose prime was in the ‘40s and ‘50s and whose arm was no longer what it had been, was an extremely cagy doubles player. He legally blocked to perfection and drove many opponents crazy with his shtick. He came in second with his brother, Joe, 3 times in 1 wall nationals and won the 3 wall championship with him. Charley and I were tied at 17 all with Oscar and Ruby in the 3’rd in the ’60 3-wall before my inability to keep the serves off the left wall that I was trying to hook “out the door” lost us the match.

Except for Charlie, every player mentioned is an HOF inductee. Other HOFers I played with or against include, Hershkowitz, Orenstein, Al Torres, Mark Levine, Durso, Apuzzi, Eddie Maisonet, Jim Jacobs, Angelo Trulio, Ken Schneider, Steve August, Stuffy Singer, Fred Lewis, Nati Alvarado, Bill Yambrick, Hofflander, Pat Kirby, Lou Russo, and David Chapman. Including myself, that’s 30 of the 44 men in the USHA HOF.

Of those great players, who was the most difficult matchup for you?

Until I was able to read his hooks, it was Carl Obert. While I played close matches against Wally Ulbrich in doubles, which was his specialty, I never won any of them. He even beat me in the ’74 USHA singles when although I was past my prime, I was still good enough to beat a young Apuzzi and Ken Ginty to get to the semis. I do think that I would have beaten him in singles had we played in the ‘60s.

Did you have a regular doubles partner? If so, who was it? What were your biggest wins together?

Ken Davidoff and I played together in 7 national open finals, 5 of them being akin to WWIII against Ruby and Oscar Obert. As mentioned earlier, our biggest win against them was the ’62 AAU championship. In the ’71 AAU which had a full draw of 64 teams, although neither of us was what we had been earlier, we beat 3 formidable teams. In the quarters we went against Decatur playing with Marty Katzen, a player little known outside of NY who played in very few tournaments but who had great talent. Marty K. hit hard, had sharp breaking hooks on his serve and during play, and a very well rounded game.  We split the first 2 games and won the third 21-8. We ran through Ruby and Carl in the semis 21-10, 21-6. We won the first game big against Sandler-Donnie Weber, a former championship team who had beaten Reyer-Mike Dickman, also former champs in the semis. We took an 18-5 lead in the second. At that point Kenny seemed to stop playing, pushing back shots and not hitting with any authority. Davidoff didn’t say a word to me about it during the match but he had slipped a disc in his back. Steve and Donnie got to 16-19. Then Kenny, transcending the intense pain that he was in, served an ace to get to match point followed by a serve that literally rolled as it cleared the short line inches high. That injury essentially ended Davidoff’s handball career. He didn’t play again until a year later, when in a short lived comeback extremely limited by his back issues, he got to the ’72 USHA doubles finals with Sandler, losing to Wisotsky-Russo and never played again.

After Davidoff my regular partner was Neal Bocian, my protégé, 11 years my junior whose game emulated mine. Neal had a great left arm which enabled him to serve and drive very well. He killed and fly-killed at every opportunity. Like me, Neal had a big swing and needed room and time to tee off on the ball. With me calling hooks for him as Hershkowitz and Davy Small had for me before I was able to read them on my own, and with Neal positioning himself similarly to Davidoff, his game was a strong complement to mine. My biggest regret with Bocian was that I didn’t emphasize the importance of having a good defensive off hand, the lack of which detracted from his greatness.

Besides Davidoff, the player that I was most compatible with was Joel Wisotsky. Joel was a take no prisoners offensive juggernaut powering every shot and killing from everywhere. After our 4-wall wins there in the early 70s Joel was given an athletic membership to the NYAC who insisted that he play doubles only with fellow members. With the 1 exception of the Flatbush Y invitational, we were precluded from playing together. It wasn’t until the twilight of our careers in ’79 that the serendipitous circumstance of Joel being left without a partner just before the USHA nationals when a job opportunity for Ken Ginty, his erstwhile partner, dropped out and the club sanctioned his playing with me. We made the best of that opportunity winning that tournament and defending the next year. 

How has the small ball game changed from your era to today?

It has become much more conservative with almost no one playing the type of aggressive game that was standard until the ‘80s. Players rarely hit serves and shots near the lines. Some give up the tremendous offensive advantage of the serve in 1-wall by hitting second serves up for fear of double faulting. With few exceptions overhand shots are stroked softly rather than driven hard. Off hands have become very strong and look a lot more impressive than that of most players of my and previous eras but the art of high off hand lofts as defensive returns taking an opponent into the backcourt seems to be a lost art. Even those beautiful natural swinging off hands are sometimes counterproductive as players choose to hit shots with their off hands that could be taken with their stronger more accurate dominant hands. You also need more time to get set to swing naturally so attempting to return serves or angles that way without being set results in more unforced errors.

Can you talk about when Jimmy Jacobs played Steve Sandler in a one game 1-Wall exhibition?

There was an article written in Sports Illustrated about the match which was mostly fabrication. This is how it went down. Jimmy, Lou Kramberg, Kenny and I were talking at the 92^nd St. Y when out of the blue, Jim said. “I heard that Steve Sandler would play me 1-wall with just his left.”  I said that I don’t know if he’ll play you but if you haven’t played 1-wall, he’ll beat you.” Jim said, “There  is no man in the world that can beat me in any kind of handball with his off hand and I have $10,000 that says it won’t happen.”  I told him you won’t get down for 10,000 but maybe 500. He said, “you arrange the game for 2 weeks from Saturday and I promise not to play any 1 wall for those 2 weeks.” That’s why he wanted 2 weeks – so he had 2 weeks not to practice 1-wall or learn from Marty Decatur, his close friend. He was so sure that he would win that he laid each of me and Kenny 100 to 20. I didn’t think that the match would come off because I couldn’t understand why Jim whom was then universally thought to be the best 4-wall player of all time, and acknowledged by many professional athletes like Bob Waterfield and Jim Bouton as the best athlete on the planet in a 6 page Sports Illustrated spread about him would want to play against Steve’s left. Yes, it would have been an accomplishment for someone who had not played 1-wall to win, but it would certainly not appear that way to anybody but 1-wallers. Not only did he show up, he brought a reporter and photographer from Sports Illustrated, his own cinematographer, and Kramberg with 5 grand of Jim’s money to bet. Before the match at the den of iniquity known as Avenue P Park in Brooklyn where denizens like Emile the Bookie, Harry No-Gloves, Irving Bald Eagle, Crazy Donnie, Karate Joe, Louie the Hooer (whore in Brooklynese) hung out. Seeking to fatten the pot, Jimmy made a Shakespearian type speech to the crowd before the match saying that it was his honor and privilege to be on a court with Steve Sandler, a great champion and that he was looking forward to learning at the feet of the master.  He did get down for 500 and the rest is history, with Sandler’s left beating Jim’s two 25-4. The few times Jimmy got up, Steve would wait for the hook which did not break as sharply on concrete as it did on wood and return it either with his straight left or his backhand which was unbelievable. Jacobs was so intent on not hitting out that he kept the ball in the middle of the court which of course allowed Stevie to do whatever he wanted as he moved Jimmy all over the court when he wasn’t hitting kill shots or unreturnable angles.

What can 1-Wall do to gain mainstream recognition in the U.S.?

While 1-wall was THE game in NY, it was hardly played in the rest of the country. The USHA Board of Directors which was comprised completely of 4-wall players over the years with the exception of Paul Williams never accorded 1-wall its due. I tried to change that perception as 1-wall commissioner from ’82-’86. I was able to get more Handball Magazine coverage of the national 1-wall and got them to finally recognize a player whose accomplishments were primarily in 1-wall by inducting 18 time national champion, Sandler into the HOF in ’85 but it wasn’t until 2003 when 2 more players in the same category were inducted, Arty Reyer and myself. That opened the door for subsequent 1-wall player inductions. There was gradually more Handball Magazine coverage of 1-wall events. However, when I was interviewed for a Board position in 2006, I was astounded by a question asking whether I believed 1-wall should be part of the USHA. This was after the USHA had been conducting national 1-wall tournaments for 44 years.  When I was elected to the Board and reprised my 1-wall commissionership, I pushed very hard against the entrenched attitudes for much greater 1-wall recognition and support. I was able to get the Board to agree to hold the first USHA national big ball championships which Davidoff and I ran with the help of the 1-wall committee. By that time 1-wall events had been mandated to be included in every WHC World Championships through the innovation and efforts of Tom O’Connor of Ireland and was starting to be played in a number of countries. The propagation of 1-wall to the 60+ countries playing the sport today was jump started by invitational tournaments held in Italy and the Basque country. Once again, fighting opposition, I was able to get the USHA Board to reluctantly approve sending (but not funding) Team USA participation and it was a great privilege to be named captain. The host countries provided lodging and meals and we all paid our own transportation costs. When the others saw the level at which the game was played by the NY’ers who comprised Team USA and Team Puerto Rico, they were motivated to proliferate it. The 21’st century has also seen an expansion of 1-wall play to various places in the US. I believe the key to really accelerating this expansion is getting it into the World and Olympic Games with world-wide TV exposure and corporate sponsorships. In that regard, the WPH and US Wall Ball Association can be instrumental.    

Now in your 80’s you continue to stay very fit. What advice do you have for the older crowd to stay fit and active into their golden years?

Actually great shape and staying fit and me are an oxymoron. I now recognize the health value of regular aerobic and weight bearing exercise especially as you get older. But anything I do in the former regard with the exception of occasionally using a stationary bike is incidental. I swim because I have always enjoyed it and not as part of a thought out exercise regimen. I play table tennis as sublimation for handball, which I finally had to give up at age 75 because of multiple tears in both shoulders. It’s not handball but it is the competition and camaraderie that keep me going.  The weight bearing exercise that I occasionally do consists of lifting the packages of dog food that have been delivered to our door to a storage closet. While I’m not proud of it, I am the last person to ask about keeping in condition.  

Word Association

Jimmy Jacobs: most skillful 4-wall player I ever saw

Steve Sandler: relentless

Ken Davidoff: second best 1-wall player ever

Joe Durso: self-defeating, not as good as he could have been

Satish Jagnandan: best player since Sandler in the mid-70s

Tyree Bastidas: does not get the most out of his great ability

Cesar Sala: not quite as good but along with Satish, could have been competitive with the best

Joe Kaplan: solid but not a great player

Photos courtesy of Howie Eisenberg

Thank you to handball legend Howie Eisenberg for sharing his incredible handball journey on the WPH Legends Series.

David Fink

WPH Patreon Writer