If there is anyone who lives…
If there is anyone who lives in Pa and is interested in getting together to play on the weekend please let me know. Also if there is a team outside of Pa who is willing to meet somewhere midway that would be great…… For anyone who has played this game, there is nothing like those memorable plays that last a life time, and keep you playing the game. Anyone who has played the game knows it
My Dad, Vito Giannone, I’m…
My Dad, Vito Giannone, I’m sure was one of the greatest stickball players ever in his prime, and definitely if measured by his love of the game. He lived stickball, looked forward to it all week, and played all day Sunday. It keep him going, it was when he was his happiest. We flew to Puerto Rico for the stickball championship one year and I realized what a true family all of the players were. My Dad passed away a few years ago after an illness that took his sight and his hearing . . . but through it all he still loved to clench that stickball bat which we kept by his bedside. I would love to hear any memories you have of my Dad. I miss him a lot, and the stories he told over and over about the game he loved and the people he came to regard as family. My Dad was the nicest man I ever knew, he went straight to heaven and did not have to stop along the way, and he’s already started a stickball team up there . . . thank you,
chris persampire is my teacher!he…
Anyone here from brighton…
Oh, yeah. Haven’t heard…
Hi, I am writing a magazine…
Hi, I am writing a magazine article about traditional games, and I would like to include some stories of parents and grandparents who are trying to keep them alive by teaching them to their kids and grandkids. If anyone out there would like to talk or email with me about this, I would be most grateful! Juliette
these “shooters” were called…
these “shooters” were called carpet shoooters, and the preferred projectile were pieces of linoleum or remains taken from the cans that held furnace refuse. We would fashion a crossbow from wood and secure rubber bands at the top and a spring clothespin at the base. Does anyone remember the seasonal items, Tops, I think in the fall and a game called crack top where a contestant would have to throw his top in a circle and if missed, have to place his top in the circle and risk others hitting and breaking it. There was often a kid who couldn’t throw a nickel top and have to use one of those $1 duncan plastic tops with predictable ending.Then pea shooters and in the spring yo-yo’s. Representatives would come to school yards to show their craft.Very often they were Phillipinos.
I remember playing stickball…
I remember playing stickball (fast pitch wall ball against the school wall in the summer months from early morning until the sun set and we could no longer see the ball. Unlike most of the games played in NYC, those of us on Long Island that played usually used a tennis ball instead of a pinkee ball. The advantage of using a tennis ball was it couldn’t be hit as far. This was critical if you were playing on a small field. It was also great for pitching because the seams on a tennis ball are shaped exactly like a baseball and you can throw all of the same types of pitches (curve, screw, 2 & 4 seam fastball, etc). Actually, you can get a lot more movement on a tennis ball than you can with a baseball. One of the great things I remember about stickball was the ability to get a game going just about anywhere at any time. Our group of kids used to go from school yard to school yard and play against anyone who was willing to play. Those were some great times.