Category Archives: Stickball

I grew up in Ridgewood on…

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I grew up in Ridgewood on the border of Brooklyn and Queens. We played stickball on a short street which was on a hill with first and third painted in (2nd was the sewer). We would hit by ourselves (no pitching), with 2 strikes. The thing was that if you hit it over the roof before second base you were out and if you hit it over the roof over 2nd base across the block, you won the games. These rules were to protect the ball from being lost. Neighbors were not particularly happy about us playing in the street, we were loud, the ball might break a window, land on the porch, etc. so they’d call the police. If the cops would come and catch us they’d stick the broom handle in the holes of the manhole cover and snap the bat, so we’d have someone on watch who would call out “Chickee the cops” if he saw them coming. If warned we’d hide the bats by rolling them under the cars next to the curb. To this day I still can’t throw out a broom handle.

growing up in Philly, we…

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growing up in Philly, we played halfball and used a broomstick as a bat.One version of the game was called “running halfball” which was played in the local schoolyard with the same rules as baseball. We had an umpire calling balls and strikes and our pitchers could make that halfball curve in toward the batter, curve away, and rise or drop suddenly. Speed of pitch was optional, slow or fast depending in the batters weakness.Those were the happiest days of our lives and are still a sweet remembrance. Kids today who play organized sports don’t know what they are missing. the camareraderie was wonderful. at age 69, I wish I could go out and play today. AHH! sweet memories.

We played in the streets…

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We played in the streets of Brighton Beach & Coney Island. We usually never had money to buy a stick. We got our broomstick from the backyards a few blocks away from where we were playing, so that we wouldn’t be bothered by the owner claiming it was her stick. The only time we played stickball in the schoolyard, with bases, is when we played another block or neighborhood. Its all great memories, except for the owners of the mop handles.

In Edison, New Jersey in…

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In Edison, New Jersey in the 1970’s I played stickball anywhere there was a wall. Mainly in the schoolyard which was behind my house. There were a few boxes (strike zones) painted on the various brick walls. Around the perimiter of the school was a 12 ft chain link fence which made up the fields. Most games were played with just two guys (pitcher and batter). Depending on the field hits were scored accordingly. Like past the pitcher on a fly, but before where the blacktop turns to concrete was a single. Past the tree on a fly was a double. To the fence on one bounce was a triple. If it hit the fence on a fly it was a homerun. Invisible men on base had to be forced in. Three outs each. Unlike most of the stories though we used a regular baseball bat rather than a broom stick. We also used a solid sponge rubberball. It was painted white and had threads molded like a real baseball. After a few innings the paint would crack and start to peel off. By the end of a game the ball was gray since all the paint had peeled off. I started playing again with my 13 year old. I live in North Carolina now and there aren’t many stickball boxes painted on the walls. Actually there aren’t any. We finally found a good field. We use masking tape to make the box and remove it when we’re done. I think its probably a little more responsible then painting on the wall. Anyway I haven’t been able to find these balls where I live. When I visit Jersey I usually pick some up, never enough. If anyone knows the type of ball I’m talking about and where I can get them let me know. I’d like to be able to buy them through the internet.

What neighborhood in Brooklyn…

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What neighborhood in Brooklyn were you from? We’ve been finding that Stickball in Manhattan was mainly slow pitch, in the Bronx fungo (hitting by yourself). IN Queens – fastpitch, wall ball – or what was jsut called stickball was played mainly as you describe. In fact, we’ve just talked to someone who has a L.I City Queens league based on this. Brooklyn seems to have had a combination.

We played stickball in the…

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We played stickball in the schoolyard of P.s. 209, Brooklyn. We never played with more than three people on a team. Our rules were simple, chalk box on the wall for the strikezone, no arguments there just look at the chalk on the ball. Hit the top of the fence on a fly and you had a double. Hit the bottom of the fence on the fly and you got a triple. Anywhere over the fence and you touched them all. No toe left on my Pro-Keds after a month. It’s too bad I can’t find anyone to play stickball with in Southern California. I’ll always be a Brooklyn boy at heart. Talking about this makes me want to get up and walk down to Nathan’s and get a bag of those greasy fries, nothing like it in the world.

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The Stickball Classic was scheduled for Staten Island today. Last night’s barrage of rain made the game date questionable. This morning players and game assistants looked out to pouring rain, particularly in the Brooklyn/Queens region. Although the rain had stopped by game time, many of the teams and assistants scheduled to be at the event were not there. Stickball Commissioner Curtis Sliwa decided to call the game. The make up time will be shortly announced. The players were obviously disappointed. As the weather cleared and the sun peaked out, it became clear that games could have been held, however, the call had already been made and announced. Players and fans will have to wait to determine who will represent Staten Island in the 1999 Stickball Classic. It should be noted that one of the 3 teams that showed up were the Brookfield Bomber, a team that has already secured its place in the finals by taking the Brooklyn crown in the first week of competition. Even though the day would not be “official” fun was not to be denied. Players decided to take advantage of the day and play anyway. A good crew of players was on-hand when we left midway in the first game. Please post the results of the games so we know what happened. Hope to see you guys at the next one.

Man, was I surprised and…

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Man, was I surprised and excited to find this site!! First off to Hugh McNally…You’ve done an outstanding job of putting the rules together in an articulate manner. Very professional. (It reads like it was written by a technical writer.) Anyway, I played Skully (or Skelly?) growing up in the Bronx and Queens. The game was slightly different between the neighborhoods I grew up in. In lived in the Bronx until second or third grade. I remember playing first with the broken necks off Coca-Cola or Heinekein bottles which we removed by running the neck-end of the bottles over a manhole cover. Eventually we began using the glides off of the bottoms of chairs and desks. (The desks had large glides, while the chairs had smaller ones.) I remember melting down Crayola crayons into the gliders. (It was pretty cool trying to customize the colors in your cap for that unique look.) I remember just using the plucking technique. There were two: 1)Flicking the middle finger from contact with the thumb (for power shooting, i.e.- Blasting or for long-distance shots) and 2)Flicking the index finger from underneath the thumb, while using the other three fingers as a brace (much like when shooting pool). This technique worked best for finesse shots (i.e.- hitting your opponent soft enough to keep him around for bait on your next shot, or when shooting around the Skully so that you didn’t get stuck inside, or overshoot your intened box.) After moving to Queens (Springfield Gardens area), I remember using the caps off the Dellwood milk containers. We started weighting them down with candle wax. Wax was surpassed by Playdoh or clay later. But eventually the preferred top came to be the bottoms from Push-Up ice cream. We’d weight them down with multi-colors of clay and scrape them against the ground to help smooth them down underneath. They were awesome!!! We would even put a chrome tire valve cap (taken from a car or bicycle) in the center of the cap and use it as an aiming site! The other technique that I was introduced to in Queens was called, “Flying your cap”. This was usually used for covering very long distances (i.e.- shooting back into town to become (or after becoming?) a Killer.) It could also be used to shoot at any time. (It was preferred when shooting from corner to corner across the board.) This is how we did it: 1)Place the cap in between your thumb and the first digit of your middle finger 2)While keeping your forearm parallel to the ground and against your waist, pull your arm back 3)Push your arm forward briskly, while flicking the first digit of your middle finger forward (much like when some flicks away a cigarette butt) The top should now be propelled forward as it rotates (from the flicking of the finger) and should cover a long, or short distance (dependent on the force of the forwrd arm thrust and the flick of the finger). Using this technique you can hit your opponent from long distances. (Think of the little pistol with the rifle stock that Lee Van Cleef used in “For a Few Dollars More”). I also remember the start line being far enough from the “1” box that you’d be better suited trying to “fly your cap” than to pluck it. The shooting sequence of players was determined by the closest one to the “1” box. I also remember the fun of blasting your opponent so hard that he’d start rolling on his side all the way out of town (he wasn’t allowed to stop it on his own.) I live in California (Bay Area) and am 33 now, but still love to play. I’ve shown this game to my nieces and nephews and they all love it!! I’ve also shown it to a few of my buddies and they love it too! It’s like being a kid all over again. I just moved to a smaller town outside of San Jose, and intend on teaching the kids in the neighborhood and in my new congregation how to play this truly timeless game!!! Anyone out there, please feel free to e-mail me at: thunt [at] obsidianinc [dot] com or NYsquared [at] aol [dot] com P.S.- I also have fond memories of playing Stickball (played in the street or between two walls of a school builing), Ring-O-Leavio, Punchball (with the sponge ball or Pinky), Roundup, Freeze Tag, Dodge Ball, and the favaorite with the girls…Run, Catch, and Kiss.