Stickball is a
street gameA street game is a sport or game that is played on city streets rather than a prepared field. Street games are usually simply play time activities of children in the most convenient venue...
related to
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
, usually formed as a pick-up game, in large cities in the Northeastern
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(especially
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and Jersey City). The equipment consists of a
broomA broom is a cleaning tool consisting of stiff fibres attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is commonly used in combination with a dustpan....
handle and a rubber ball, typically a
spaldeenthumb| 250px|Modern-day SpaldeenA Spalding Hi-Bounce Ball, often called a Spaldeen, is a small pink rubber ball, somewhat similar to a racquetball, supposedly made from the defective core of a tennis ball without the felt. It was the more expensive and more popular version of the Pensie Pinkie...
, pensie pinkie, high bouncer or
tennis ballA tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis, approximately 6.7 cm in diameter and is usually yellow, but in recreational play can be virtually any colour. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...
. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation, i.e.
manhole coverA manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, to prevent anyone from falling in and to keep unauthorized persons out.- Description :...
s for bases or buildings for foul lines. This game was widely popular among
IrishIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,495,800 Americans reported Irish ancestry in the 2006 American Community Survey. The only self-reported ancestral group larger than Irish Americans are German Americans...
,
ItalianAn Italian American is an American of Italian ancestry, and/or may also refer to someone possessing Italian/American dual citizenship. Italian Americans are the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States.-History:...
,
JewishAmerican Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens or resident aliens of the Jewish faith and/or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...
, and Puerto Rican youths growing up from the 1920s to the 1980s in
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
, Philadelphia,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and Northern New Jersey.
There are three different styles of stickball based on how the ball is pitched.
Stickball is a
street gameA street game is a sport or game that is played on city streets rather than a prepared field. Street games are usually simply play time activities of children in the most convenient venue...
related to
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
, usually formed as a pick-up game, in large cities in the Northeastern
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(especially
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and Jersey City). The equipment consists of a
broomA broom is a cleaning tool consisting of stiff fibres attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is commonly used in combination with a dustpan....
handle and a rubber ball, typically a
spaldeenthumb| 250px|Modern-day SpaldeenA Spalding Hi-Bounce Ball, often called a Spaldeen, is a small pink rubber ball, somewhat similar to a racquetball, supposedly made from the defective core of a tennis ball without the felt. It was the more expensive and more popular version of the Pensie Pinkie...
, pensie pinkie, high bouncer or
tennis ballA tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis, approximately 6.7 cm in diameter and is usually yellow, but in recreational play can be virtually any colour. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...
. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation, i.e.
manhole coverA manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, to prevent anyone from falling in and to keep unauthorized persons out.- Description :...
s for bases or buildings for foul lines. This game was widely popular among
IrishIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,495,800 Americans reported Irish ancestry in the 2006 American Community Survey. The only self-reported ancestral group larger than Irish Americans are German Americans...
,
ItalianAn Italian American is an American of Italian ancestry, and/or may also refer to someone possessing Italian/American dual citizenship. Italian Americans are the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States.-History:...
,
JewishAmerican Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens or resident aliens of the Jewish faith and/or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...
, and Puerto Rican youths growing up from the 1920s to the 1980s in
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
, Philadelphia,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and Northern New Jersey.
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. The rectangle is chalked. If the batter does not swing and any part of the ball has chalk on it when it bounces back to the pitcher, the result is a called strike. If there is no chalk on the ball, the result is a ball. This type of play (seen in the picture to the right) is most commonly seen in schoolyards throughout, predominantly, Staten Island, NY, and to a lesser extent, Queens, NY and Jersey City, NJ. In slow pitch the pitcher stands 40 to 50 feet from the batter and the ball is hit after one bounce. In fungo, 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. In some versions of stickball there is no running, however in most leagues, including the
New York Emperors Stickball LeagueThe New York Emperors Stickball League is a stickball league in The Bronx, New York City. Established in 1985,, the league has eight teams and a youth division...
, the batter has to run the bases just like in baseball.
In Boston variations of stickball, a broomstick is usually replaced with a cut hockey stick, allowing a little more 'pop' on the ball if hit correctly. Also, when playing slowpitch, the ball is not necessarily bounced while pitched. A 'loaded wiffle bat', consisting of a Wiffle bat sawed-off and filled with wet newspaper or superballs then wrapped in electrical, duct, or hockey tape to hold it together, is also popular in the North Shore suburbs. 'Monkey Ball' is also usually allowed in slow pitch, regarding base runners. When 'monkey ball' is allowed, fielders can throw the ball at baserunners, eliminating the need to tag a base to get a runner out. An additional rule that can be played while running the bases is called "pitchers poison". This allows for fielders to throw the ball to the pitcher standing on the mound instead of a first basemen.
In another completely unrelated game by the same name, players stand in a circle all holding sticks, usually broom handles. They then pass a giant tennis ball to each other by rolling it along the stick and launching it. The objective of the game is to keep the ball flowing. Each player is unique in their technique. Unlike the other games which are related to
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
, this game is more akin to
hackey sackA footbag is a small, round bag, sometimes referred to generically as a hacky-sack. . The western incarnation of the sport was invented in 1972 by two men from Oregon City, Oregon, Mike Marshall and John Stalberger...
and
contact jugglingContact juggling is a form of object manipulation that focuses on the movement of objects such as balls in permanent contact with the body. Having little in common with "toss" juggling, it most typically involves the rolling of one or more completely transparent balls on the hands and arms to...
. 'The game involves smoothly moving the ball from one person to another using the ball and the stick. It’s cooperative rather than competitive and is beautiful to watch, something like Tai-Chi.'.The major difference between Australian StickBall and most games is the lack of competitive nature and an increased co-operation. It first appeared in Australia in the late 1990's and is now also played in the UK, Europe and India.
Stickball has recently experienced a revival in Northern New Jersey with famous Bergen County-based musicians Danny Britt and Jay "Gazoo" Allen creating a new co-ed league. This league builds on the success of the mid-1990's Wilson School Stickball League, which was established in Westfield, NJ, by 8 high school students. The league, based on the classic version of no-running stickball and governed by a Commissioner working off a modified Official Little League rule book, operated for three years. During that time, it featured a series of Home Run Derbies, a weekly newspaper, and two Old Timers' Days. Despite gaining notoriety after coverage in the Westfield (NJ) Record and the Westfield High School newspaper, the Hi's Eye, the league folded when all of its members entered college in 1992.
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