Stickball

Stickball is a street game related to baseball Baseball

Baseball is a team sport [i] popular in North America [i], parts of Latin America [i], the Caribbean [i] ...

, usually formed as a pick-up game, in large cities in the eastern United States United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a...

. The equipment consists of a broom Broom

A broom is a cleaning [i] tool [i] consisting of stiff fibres attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical [i] ...

handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen Spaldeen

A spaldeen is a small pink [i] rubber ball, somewhat similar to a racquetball [i], supposedly made from ...

or pensie pinkie. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation, i.e. manhole cover Manhole cover

A maintenance cover or manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a maintenance hole [i] ...

s for bases with cars or buildings for foul lines. This game was widely popular among Italian Italian people

The Italians are a Southern Europe [i]an ethnic group [i] found primarily in Italy [i] and in a wide-ran ...

and Irish Irish people

The Irish are a northwest European ethnic group [i] who originated in Ireland [i]. ...

youths growing up from the 1930s 1930s

...

to the 1980s 1980s

The 1980s [i] officially refers to the years from 1980 [i] to 1989 [i]. ...

in New York City. It is still popular today among city kids of all backgrounds.

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Stickball is a street game related to baseball Baseball

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a...

. The equipment consists of a broom Broom

A broom is a cleaning [i] tool [i] consisting of stiff fibres attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical [i] ...

handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen Spaldeen

A maintenance cover or manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a maintenance hole [i]...

s for bases with cars or buildings for foul lines. This game was widely popular among Italian Italian people

The Italians are a Southern Europe [i]an ethnic group [i] found primarily in Italy [i] and in a wide-ran ...

and Irish Irish people

The Irish are a northwest European ethnic group [i] who originated in Ireland [i]. ...

youths growing up from the 1930s 1930s

...

to the 1980s 1980s

The 1980s [i] officially refers to the years from 1980 [i] to 1989 [i]. ...

in New York City. It is still popular today among city kids of all backgrounds.

There are three different styles of stickball based on how the ball is pitched. In fast pitch, the batter has a wall or fence as a back stop. A rectangle is drawn on the artificial backstop in order to create a strike zone. This type of play is most commonly seen in schoolyards throughout Queens, NY Queens

Queens is one of the five boroughs [i] of New York City [i]. ...

, and is arguably the most challenging style of play. In slow pitch the pitcher stands 40 to 50 feet from the batter and the ball is hit after one bounce. In fungo, the style most often used in organized league play, the batter tosses the ball into the air and hits it on the way down or after one or more bounces.

The batter may be out after one, two or three strikes, depending on regional rules. If the ball lands on a roof, porch or breaks a window far away it is usually ruled a home run. Hits are decided by how far the ball travels. Hence, the batter does not run in stickball. Otherwise the rules follow those of baseball.

Stickball

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