Working on the perfect pitch

Jim Jones of Bloomington eyes up a ringer. (The Pantagraph/LORI ANN COOK)

Monday, June 30, 2008 12:21 PM CDT

By Scott Richardson
srichardson@pantagraph.com

Vinton Knarr's life is in The Pits. So is Bob Laskowski's. But you won't hear them whine about it. In fact, they love life in the wringer.

Make that "ringer."

The Pits is the town of Normal's horseshoe facility at Maxwell Park near Parkside Junior High School at the end of West Gregory Street. The two Normal men and about 15 other members of the Normal Horseshoe Pitching League can be found there every Monday at 6:30 p.m., weather permitting.

They practice their "flip" or "turn" deliveries and wait to hear the clink of metal on metal. Some get ringers half the time, others not so much. But no matter their skill level, they agree there's nothing more truly American than horseshoes -- unless it's apple pie.

"It is an all-American sport really," said Laskowski, who is semi-retired from DuPont in El Paso. "It's almost patriotic to throw horseshoes."

Historians think the sport evolved in the days of old Greece. Men who couldn't afford a discus started tossing discarded circular horseshoes at stakes. The practice came to America before the Revolutionary War, according to the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association of America. Horseshoes were a way for families and neighbors isolated on homesteads to pass the time.

Members of the Normal Horseshoe Pitching League toss their 'shoes in professional-quality pits with stakes planted in clay bordered by cement. Men throw from 40 feet. Women throw from 30 feet. Seniors over age 70 can choose whether to toss their horseshoes from the longer distance or the shorter. In addition to local contests, events are scheduled every weekend somewhere in the state. Springfield will host a nationally-sanctioned tournament in 2009.

No matter their age -- the Normal club boasts members from 19 to near 90 -- their goal is the same. They hope for a "ringer" where a straight line can be drawn between the tips of the 'shoe with the stake inside. A ringer counts three points. Anything within six inches of the stake is one point. Anything else is just exercise.

Laskowski did the math. If horseshoe pitchers toss 'shoes weighing 2.5 pounds 40 feet each time, they'll throw 400 pounds of steel about a mile in one hour.

Each competitor tosses 40 horseshoes during each match. Add up the points and the highest score wins -- except when they don't. The Normal bunch is a handicap league. Newer members who score consistently lower are given a few points head start when they toss against better players.

"If you walk by and see ringer after ringer, people might be intimidated," Laskowski said. "But everybody has to throw their first shoe. You'd be surprised at how good someone gets after a year."

Most people are introduced to horseshoes because they know someone who does it. For Knarr, 62, a State Farm Insurance Cos. retiree, the first exposure to the sport came at family reunions on his mother's side. She had a large family, one of 11 children.

"There were always guys there throwing horseshoes. My dad threw some. Whenever we got to the family reunion, I wanted to throw," he said. "(Now), it's sort of a connection to the past, a little connection to the farm."

Laskowski's father-in-law was quite good. Watching him gave Laskowski the urge to try.

"For several years, he beat me into the ground, but I really developed an interest in it," he said.

Laskowski joined the club several years ago after bumping into club members at a get-together. Knarr saw a notice about the club in The Pantagraph listed under summer activities. Both men enjoyed the laidback atmosphere of the congenial competitions.

"I've been there the past three summers, and I've never heard a cell phone go off," Knarr said.

The old-timers were eager to help them fine-tune their forms. Knarr tried the "flip" for a while until he heard that no one had ever won the national horseshoe championship using the technique that sends the horseshoe toward its target spinning end over end. The "turn," where the 'shoe spins one-and-a-quarter or one-and-three-quarter times parallel to the ground seems more accurate, he said.

Like bowlers throwing strikes, horseshoe pitching is all about muscle memory, Knarr said. Some national competitors can hit a ringer eight out of 10 times. Some club members can do it half the time.

"I'm not there yet," said Knarr, who scores the three-pointers about 15 percent of the time. My goal is to get a ringer one out of every four times."

It's not hard to get started. The more experienced players are happy to guide newcomers to what kind of horseshoes to buy. "Picnic" 'shoes, also known as "bar league" 'shoes, are fine to start, but most people who stick with the sport buy professional 'shoes on-line, the men said. Cost ranges from $45 to $75 for a new pair or about $20 for a pair of hand-me-down horseshoes, a small investment considering they last a lifetime.

"It's not like golf where you have a constant increase in fees," Laskowski said. "It doesn't take the time golf does and its something you can do in your backyard."

For Knarr, the meager start-up costs and the $10 dues the club asks each year are cheap prices to pay for a link to a simpler past.

"I have a lot of fond memories because of the family reunion," said Knarr. "Horseshoes were always there."

If you go

What: Normal Horseshoe Pitching League

When: 6:30 p.m. most Mondays, weather permitting

Where: Normal's Maxwell Park at Parkside and Gregory streets

More information: (309) 661-4601 or visit the Web site of the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association of America at www.horseshoepitching.com