Category Archives: Stickball
as a kid in the Bronx i played…
Original author: pearson,m [e-mail]
as a kid in the Bronx i played stickball, handball and slugs. what fun it was to play stickball. we played against the wall – fast pitch, one bounce and the 3 sewer home run derby. i remember playing fast pitch with the coke factory behind us. a hit was anything not caught after one bounce. an out was over metal mess fence, over roof and the person who hit it there had to get it. sometimes the workers in the coke plant had windows open for air and watching us kids play. if ball went through open window it was an out. fast pitch and one bounce was two strikes per out. left the Bronx and came to Worcester ma. everyone was into hardball and never heard of stickball. still love stickball at age 62. in wheelchair now but want to play. would love to start a league here. any ideas?
I played stickball on 61…
Original author: Jerry
I played stickball on 61 street between 6th and 7th ave in Brooklyn in the late 50’s. Home plate was either the sewer near the Gooch’s house, or up by the lot near sixth ave. The latter was better because the outfield spread out at sixth ave. The leaders on the apartment house were the foul posts. The outfielders had to dodge traffic on the ave. Spaldeens were better. They didn’t egg as easy as the pennsy pinky. Max’s candy store on seventh ave would let us test bounce the balls to get the best one. Spaldeen 25 cents. Pennsy pinky 15 cents. Remember when they started to sell stickball bats with the black tape for grip. No more broom handles.
I see the messages above…
Original author: Michael Giannone
I see the messages above about Charlie Ballard, and the one way up top about my Dad Vito Giannone…… it makes me think about Charlie, and John Stephens, and my Dad. Those were great days, watching you guys play…and laugh…and live! You 3, and so many more of the oldtime stickball players, were all so great ! ! ! Thinking of ALL of you today….Happy 77th Birthday Dad – Feb 3rd, 1933.
Hi everybody In Dennis…
Original author: Michel Weber [e-mail]
Hi everybody In Dennis Lehane’s “Mystic River” I came across this sentence: “They had never been friends. They had never played stickball and kick-the-can and 76 on Rester Street.” Does anybody have any idea what kind of a game “76” might be? If you have the answer, please email me : weber [at] univ-nancy2 [dot] fr Thank you MW
We played on 108th Street…
Original author: mark mooney [e-mail]
We played on 108th Street facing Central Park back in the 1940’s . Naturally a home run had to go over the park wall. This presented a special challenge to the outfielder who had to stand on the white line on Eigth Avenue and dodge the traffic which was two ways back in those days.
I never met steve or any…
Original author: Anonymous
I never met steve or any of his family or friends. I only know what i’ve read here about him. My message is to his children… We are all terribly sorry for the burden 9/11 has placed on your life. Try not to forget, most people in the world are good…the world is good. Anonymous Brooklyn, NY
Another factor in distance…
It was Cornelia Street between…
Original author: bill mahan [e-mail]
It was Cornelia Street between bushwick and Broadway. Stickball was king unless Mrs. Grillo (2nd floor #24 on the block) called the cops at the 81st Precinct. Mostly they just told us to quit. a few mean ones would drop the bats down the manholes. if they did that, we’d just swich to punchball. Do something about that, Mrs Grillo! When it wasn’t stickbasll or punchball it was triangl;e, stoopball, Ace-King-Queen, zig-sag-tag, johnny on the pony or ringelevio. Boxball was also popular and every so often someone would get those wooden paddles with the little ball attached. When the rubber string broke, we’d use the paddles to play a sort of tennis. Lots of fun until the guy who was losing took his paddle and hit the ball as far awy as possible. Oh well, time to play stickball again. Bill Mahan
I grew up in the area 10th…
Original author: sean meloy [e-mail]
I grew up in the area 10th st, ave a in manhattan. late 50s to late 60s. All those games, mostly street stuff. from puchball stickball, stoopball, spaldeen was the only choice. Ace king queen, nyc, what memories, i would trade everything i own. for one game, with my old pals.