Cabbage Ball, Uniquely New Orleans

I am continually amazed when I find that things that I grew up with and assumed were common around these United States were unique to New Orleans. Case in point: Cabbage Ball. My 7th grade daughter decided to try her hand at her school’s softball team this spring. As you know, the ball used in softball is not particularly soft, as evidenced by the many bruises on her legs and arms from errant pitches. I mentioned that we used to use bigger, softer balls, called cabbage balls and suggested that we should get one for her to practice with. I didn’t get much of a response from either the daughter or the husband so I dropped it. While looking for news about the Mississippi flooding in Louisiana, I came across this news report about the resurgence of cabbage ball in Louisiana schools. Come to find out, cabbage ball is unique to New Orleans’ parochial schools, who knew? Yep, just one more thing that sets my upbringing in the New Orleans area apart as unique.