Stickball - latest news, information, videos, photos, images

From Wikipedia: Stickball is a street game related to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game, in large cities in the Northeastern United States (especially New York City and Jersey City). The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, pensie pinkie, high bouncer or tennis ball. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation, i.e. manhole covers for bases or buildings for foul lines. This game was widely popular among Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Puerto Rican youths growing up from the 1920s to the 1980s in Boston, Philadelphia, New York City 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 League, the batter has to run the bases just like in baseball. See more...

From WordNet (r) 2.0: stickball n : a form of baseball played in the streets with a rubber ball and broomstick handle [syn: stickball game]