Stickball
| Game | Stickball |
|---|---|
| Game Family | Baseball |
| Location | Urban Areas |
| Regions | US |
| Eras | Derivative, Post-1900, Contemporary |
| Invented | No |
| Tags | |
| Description | A game usually played in urban streets. The ball is rubber -- a “spaldeen,” now virtually the same that used in racketball, and bats vary but include broom handles. Allowances are made for traffic of various sorts, and the bases are specified at the start of play. (Verification needed.) [A] One variation of the game is found in a recollection of New York play by Gregory Christiano (see link below). [B] a Brooklyn variant: o With base running bases (invisible runners). Pitching and balls and strikes. Strikes determined by a chalk drawn box on wall behind batter. Box is filled in with chalk so that all strikes make a mark on the ball. Ball has to be wiped off after strike. A ball hit past the pitcher on a fly is a single, a hit midway to the outfield fence is a double, hitting the fence and bouncing is a triple, and over the fence is a home run. A ground ball that gets past the fielders and hits the fence is a single. If the grounder is caught cleanly it is an out. If missed it is and error and hitter is on first. With baserunning. Same rules, runners run out the hits. If there is a catcher, there is stealing. Sometimes this game is played with the pitch coming on a bounce When no facility was nearby, this game was often played on the street using sewer covers and cars as bases and landmarks for the number of bases awarded. Traditional pitching and catching. Umpires call balls and strikes from behind the pitcher. There is stealing. Inlet Grounds, PS 206, East 23rd Street and Gravesend Neck Road. The inlet is about 120 feet wide and five stories high. Two high walls with windows (with metal bars to prevent breaking windows: a well hit Spaldeen easily breaks a window.) Best played with three people on a team. Pitcher, catcher, and fielder. But there are 4-person games *(2 fielders) and one-on-one games. The fielders stand somewhere near the batter in order to catch the ball off the wall behind the pitcher. Caught off the wall, is out. A hit off the wall up to the second floor is a single. Higher up the wall, a double, then a triple. On the roof is a homer. BUT most of the balls hit on the roof come back. That is, the spin of the hitting a ball that soars within 120 feet has a backspin. If the ball is caught off the roof it is an out. This is a very dramatic play as it takes a few seconds for the ball to get on the roof, a few more seconds to the ball to roll back, then a few more seconds to see if the fielder will be able to make the play on a ball falling five stories and within a few inches of the wall, with backspin. Usually pink Spaldeens were used. But tennis balls allowed the pitcher much more variation and sharper curves and screwballs -- more surface. (Communication from Neil Seldman and Mark Schoenberg)
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| Sources | |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
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