Stickball

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Stickball in New York Queens stickball.jpg
Stickball in New York

Stickball is a street game similar to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City and Philadelphia. [1] [2] [3] The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, [4] pensy pinky, high bouncer or tennis ball. [1] [2] The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation. For example, a manhole cover may be used as a base, or buildings for foul lines. [1] [2] The game is a variation of stick and ball games dating back to at least the 1750s. This game was widely popular among youths during the 20th century until the 1980s.

Contents

Variants

Kids playing stickball in Havana, 1999 Boys Playing Stickball, Havana, Cuba, 1999.jpg
Kids playing stickball in Havana, 1999

In fungo, the batter tosses the ball into the air and hits it on the way down or after one or more bounces. [5] Another variant is Vitilla, a popular variation of stickball played primarily in the Dominican Republic and areas in the United States with large Dominican populations.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street game</span> Sport or game that is played on city streets

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Indigenous North American stickball is a team sport typically played on an open field where teams of players with two sticks each attempt to control and shoot a ball at the opposing team's goal. It shares similarities to the game of lacrosse. In Choctaw Stickball, "Opposing teams use handcrafted sticks, or kabocca, and a woven leather ball, or towa. Each team tries to advance the ball down the field to the other team's goalpost using only their sticks, never touching or throwing the ball with their hands. Points are scored when a player hits the opposing team's goalpost with the ball."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitilla</span> Variation of stickball played in the Dominican Republic

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaquita</span> Game similar to cricket in Dominican Republic

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In sports, the term diamond sports refers to recreational variants of baseball, a bat-and-ball sport. The most popular and closely related sport to baseball is softball, with the two sports being administered internationally by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, alongside Baseball5.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Dandes, R. B. (May 5, 1985). "For These Boys of Summer, the Game Is Stickball" . The New York Times . Retrieved July 2, 2024. New York City was the hotbed of stickball interest. Devised in the 1920s, for many years the game was called One-Bounce. A pitcher would bounce a spaldeen - the little pink rubber ball that cost a nickel - to the plate. When it was hit with the sawed-off broomstick handle that served as a bat without being caught, the batter advanced to impromptu bases (sewers, for instance). [...] Stickball's popularity peaked in the 1950s. By the 60s, with the increasing number of cars that clogged city streets and the mass exodus to the suburbs, the game fell into decline.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. 1 2 3 Dupont, Kevin Paul (May 26, 2013). Written at New York City. "Stickball in New York is a vanishing game". The Boston Globe . Boston . Retrieved July 2, 2024. What's more quintessential New York than stickball, right? Uh, no, not right. Stickball doesn't live here anymore. At least not in the way it does in the mind's eye, how it did when a young, vibrant Willie Mays swung a broom handle in the street outside his old home in Harlem in the 1950s or when Joe Pepitone did as a stylish Yankee in Brooklyn in the '60s.
  3. Gold, Jonathan (September 11, 2017). "Welcome to Stickball Boulevard". ESPN . Retrieved July 2, 2024. Stickball was once an integral part of the urban youth experience. Images of ragtag groups of children playing in the street became iconic depictions of New York City and helped shape the world's perception of New Yorkers as the street-smart, rough-and-tumble class of America. Slowly, like so much of Americana, it has faded from the streets, cars and buses rendering the roadways perilous, Xboxes and iPhones commandeering kids' attention.
  4. Koerner, Brendan I. (March 13, 2005). "The Spaldeen Is Back (Even if the Dodgers Aren't)" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  5. "Stickball Basics". Streetplay.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  6. "Rocky". www.awesomefilm.com. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  7. "1979 Topps Rocky II #3 Stickball Champ! | Trading Card Database". www.tcdb.com. Retrieved 2022-08-27.