I played stickball since I was about 7 yrs old. That was in 1942. I played in Manhatten on 17th street between 8th and 9th ave. We diddn’t use the sewers for bases, being tough to slide over when necessary. 1st and 3rd base were on the sidewalk anyway. We used buildings for for foul lines. You could take as many pitches as you liked, but only got 1 swing. We always played games on Sunday as there were hardly any cars parked on the street in those days. We always played teams from different Neighborhoods and always for money. During the week we just had guys get up and hit, if you caught a fly you got up till someone replaced you.
We also had a playground on the street, called Kelly Playground. We played ” against the wall” where you bounced the ball off the handball court and the batter swung after 1 bounce.We play with 3 players, a pitcher ,a batter and 1 outfielder. There was a tenement house wall above the handball court so you didn’t lose the ball. if you hit the wall and bounced between the wall and short line it was a single, between the short and long line a double, between the long line and the asphalt a triple. Anything on the asphalt was a homer.The 2 defensemen could field the ball and you were out if it was caught. 1 out per player, then you rotated to the bat. usually 10 runs was a winner.
There was 1 more variation. Fast pitch. you stood against the parkhouse wall, that was the backstop. The pitcher fired the ball like a baseball pitcher, we had a box drawn on the wall to determine the strike zone. 2 fielders beside the pitcher, and as many bounes the ball made detrmined the amount of bases you got.