while it would have looked best
on my shelf - it obviously went to a good home. The orb's construction does offer food for thought. I'm unsure how it fits in - as the evolution and morphing of the balls parameters - while to some degree mirroring the evolution of the ball in professional use - wouldn't nessesarily be borrowing from one style and the other when someone made themselves a ball to play with. I think more times than not - one used what one had available to make them. There were no rules - I imagine like today children and adults would want something functional and contemporary - something that most closely approximated what was being used. Perhaps they re-purposed Irish Al's old leather shoe and that's what they had to work with? Not disparaging the ball in any way. It is unusual for sure and would fit nicely in any higher-end collection.
Interested where one then puts such a construction when considering the "belt" or band style ball if this style is to be considered the interim step. I imagine in different areas of the country - exposure to the game and it's elements might be varied allowing for god knows what :-)
As this is but a small part of my collectible interests - I really don't spend enough time thinking about some of the related issues and carrying them to some sort of satisfactory conclusion given what's out there. That's why it's great to have a place to talk about this stuff - at least for me. Hope you will offer more thoughts as I would like to hear them.
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