Category Archives: Locales

Yes! “I declare war on…..(country)!”…

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Yes! “I declare war on…..(country)!” Long pause before you yelled out the name to heighten the anticipation. We used the exact same rules as Mike. If you forgot who was what country, you sometimes declared war on yourself! (I remember doing this) After everyone froze, the person who caught the ball was allowed three steps towards anyone he chose to target, then threw the ball at him. If hit, the target was “it” and declared war for the next round. For the three steps, we were allowed to place the ball on the ground where we caught it, then back up and take a running jump for our three steps. I grew up playing this in Laurelton, Queens in the late 50’s and 60’s.

In the 1950’s there were…

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In the 1950’s there were great Stickball teams in New York. In the South Bronx(Jackson Knights, Lucky Sevens, Tigers), Italian Harlem (Pleasant Avenue), Spanish Harlem (Prestos, Home Relief, Devils), Little Italy (Mott Street), and Hell’s Kitchen (66th Street). These were tough smart teams that knew how to win close games, especially low scoring games. Many of the South Bronx players were still playing in the 1980’s and winning when they were well past their prime. Every good team thinks they were the best ever, but it would be interesting to hear from people who saw the Sixtyboys and the above 1950 teams play to get a real comparison. The Knights, Tigers, Sevens and Pleasant Avenue played hitting by-your-self and on-a-pitch. Mott Street played hitting by-your-self and the Prestos, Home Relief, Devils and 66th street played on-a pitch.

THERE’S NO MENTION OF THE…

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THERE’S NO MENTION OF THE SIXTYBOYS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE YOUNG BLOOD LEAGUE IN THE EARLY 80S — WHICH IN 6 YEARS CAPTURE 4 TITLES — THEY WERE FROM THE BRONX AND PLAY HITTING BY YOURSELF NOT THE YOUNG BLOOD STYLE WHICH WAS PITCHING IN ONE BOUNCE — NOW THATS SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT — WHICH IS NEVER MENTION,, ONLY MENTION IS THAT WE ARE IN THE STICKBALL HALL OF FAME — WE WERE GREAT — I THINK THE GREATEST STICKBALL TEAM ASSEMBLE IN ANY ERA (HITTING BY YOURSELF OR PITCHING)

Greetings, Streetplayers….

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Greetings, Streetplayers. I’m part of a group that is setting up a “play street” in Jackson Heights, Queens. We’re making one block of 78th Street (next to Travers Park) car-free every Sunday between now and Thanksgiving. Over the long run, we’re very interested in exploring ways to promote traditional street games on our play street. (In the near-term, the population of kids in the area is largely a bit too young for most of these games). We’d also like to find ways to demonstrate that a play street isn’t just for kids, perhaps by organizing an adult stickball game, or other such event. We’d like to invite this community over to play with us, and organize or demonstrate street games on our block. If you’re interested, please contact us at 78thplaystreet [at] gmail [dot] com Thank you!

I lived on 10th st between…

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I lived on 10th st between Dickinson & Tasker until I left Philly in 1976 at the age of 13. Played everything up Wilder st and Greenwhich st. I completely forgot about Manhunt and Hide the Belt. We could think of anything even if nobody had a ball. Love trying to explain Buck Buck to people. I remember between 5 kids nobody had 35 cents for a pimple ball. I used to be able to climb the alleys up 3 story buildings onto the roof. I’d collect all the “roofed” balls and come to the edge and yell “Jackpot!” throwing down a half a dozen pimple balls and halfballs. Would love to get my hands on a pimple ball now just to feel it. I remember it was soft enough to pinch with your middle finger so when you pitched it for slapball it would take a crazy bounce right before the other guy could hit it. Great website. Thank you for the memories.

I am not from Philly myself…

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I am not from Philly myself but half ball was huge where I come from in Charlestown, Massachusetts. My grandfather used to run the tournaments and I remember hearing of a team from Philly coming up here to play and vice versa. I was just wondering if anyone on this website would remember that.

Hey Bob. Saw your message…

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Hey Bob. Saw your message about playing stickball with fading fuzz tennis balls prior to WWII. I’m a 30’s guy who played in the streets of Jersey City and scattered with the rest when the “Mickey Mouse” popped in. Great times,guys and memories there.I just found this site as I’ve been trying to find a place out here that sells those balls we used so I can infect some grandkids with those old street/school yard games. My recollection is that we used a pinkish ball which I then understood to be manufactured by the companies that manufactured tennis balls. What they purportedly did was stop the process before putting the fuzz on to make our ball. At least that’s what my understanding was. They stopped making them, I was told, in the fifties. I’ve not been able to find anything in the San Diego area yet that is described as a Pensie Pinky or Spaldeen to compare it with what I knew as THE BALL.