Was is common for Grammar School or Junior High schools to sports in the late '50s? Did grammar schools or elementry schools have band or orchestra? Beaver was only in 2nd grade would he really have not been picked the 2nd grade baseball team after missing one fly ball.

It seems poor Beaver is never given much of a chance to show his abilities. The ball hits him on the head and you’re out. At least in Beaver The Athlete he got to try try again and did well. In Younger Brother that Mr. Doyle sent him packing after one practice. That was really bizarre but back in the day if you weren’t very good at something you were told to try another sport as no one cared about self esteem.

I don’t remember anyone that young trying out for band but you had to start somewhere. In elementary school we only had 6th graders in band. However I did think we had a band only in junior high. We just sang in elementary school.

Yeah there wasn't much going on in our elementary school. There wasn't even a cafeteria--it was a small town and all the kids rode their bikes to school. I know some of the kids brought their lunch, but I lived close enough that I just rode my bike home for lunch.

There were no activities like band, sports, etc.--that waited for high school. No poses for class pictures in the fifth grade, no chance to make a face, no yearbook for the pics to go in. Yes, they did snap a picture of you every year. Our principal was a huge, hulking man named Dr. Shine, and everyone was scared of him. Far cry from today, where many kids have no respect for adults at all.

All we did was learn. We did have a play in the eighth grade. It was called True, Blue, and Trusted. I don't remember what it was about, but I played a Reverend.

Meanwhile, back to topic. Remember, in an early episode (was it the one with the broken window?), Beaver smashed the ball and Wally said he didn't think Beaver could hit it that hard. Then about a year later he was so bad that he swung like a rusty gate, made faces, etc. Then another year later he's a quarterback on the Lightning Eleven calling Wally's play, old 98. Two years later he's in the park league and he can't even throw the ball to the coach, and as you said he tosses the ball at the basket and it comes back and hits him in the head. A few months later he's the star of a football game for catching Terry's touchdown pass.

He was in Wally's shadow, since he was such a top-notch athlete, but they did portray his abilities differently, depending on the episode.

We had a Memorial Day program in elementary school and still remember the songs we sang. We had an all purpose room that was used for a lunchroom, gym, auditorium and a fair. In the early grades we went home for school. We had a showcase at the entrance and each grade had a chance to make a display. No band at elementary school just glee club for 6th graders.

They showed Beaver a lot doing sports but never showed Wally just reported he did well. I don’t think we ever see him do track, play football, baseball or basketball except in season 1.

You know, that's a good point. We never see Wally playing/doing anything sports-related. Nor any of his crowd. What we see of Beaver in organized sports is limited, too. We saw him on location with the Lightning Eleven. I think the baseball early-on was a soundstage, no running the bases or anything. The only other scenes were some limited Park League scenes, and at the Ice Palace we don't see any actual skating (of course, Beaver couldn't skate after the shady salesman took advantage of his innate gullibility).

Yes, All-Purpose room. That's exactly what it was called in our school. Gym, lunch room, auditorium, anything else it was needed for.

We did see Wally and Lumpy throw the football in Bachelor at Large. We saw Beaver tumbling after Wally did some and was embarrassed. Eddie was so uncoordinated he couldn’t even jump over the bush or sink a basketball. He did hit the ball through the window. We saw Wally getting dressed for baseball but never saw him play. Beaver thought he was a football pro telling Wally how to play in Beaver the Hero. Lumpy struck out in Lost Watch but told Daddy he got a homer. We saw Larry and Beaver throw the baseball and Larry threw it way too high.

Yeah, the tumbling...1,2,3, alley oop!

Eddie didn't want to play football one time because he thought he'd mess up his hair, or something. He did referee the Lightning Eleven game. Any other time he was the team manager, picking up or throwing towels, or stuffing them into the trash can.

I think Wally said Eddie was good at hand ball but lousy at track. Not too coordinated.

I think Wally said handball was the only thing Eddie was good at.

Also good at typing and shooting off his mouth. Or as Bill Scott a.k.a. Scott said he’s popping off.