Did you ever play Stickball?

Ben Vitale

 

 

Many Long Island residents originally lived in the "Big City;" New York City. In the 50s, after the depression, money was scarce; very few people had money in their toy's budget. When I was a youth, my parents could not afford to buy me a Baseball Glove, and Baseball Bat. The name of the game for the entire population was to "improvise." Did I feel deprived...  Absolutely not; everyone that I knew was poor, but we did not know it! We simply did not have a frame of reference to compare against. It is amazing, how one could feel wealthy, in a poor community!

Most of my friends could not afford to buy real Baseball Equipment so we improvised! Someone that had a few dollars left over from his "Communion money" would buy a "Softball!" In Brooklyn, we called this a "Spaldeen." Now the scary part; we needed a Baseball Bat to play baseball, but no one could afford to buy one! “Hummm... “ Someone had to borrow a broomstick handle from their mother's broom, so that we could use it as a "Baseball Bat." The trick was to manage to get through the entire game, without breaking your mother's Broom Stick! If someone broke the Broom Stick, you would be in serious trouble! LOL.

OK! We managed to locate a Ball and a "Broomstick Bat," but where do we play Stickball? In the street of course; in the midst of moving Automobiles and Trolley Cars! LOL. Every city street had a "built in" Baseball Diamond; the "Sewer Covers" that were in every street made a wonderful "Home Plate" and "Second Base. "Hummm...” Where is first and third base? First and Third bases were the car door handles of any car that just happened to be parked on the side of the road. OMG; I certainly would not want anyone to use my car door handle for first base! It's amazing how one's perception of the same situation changes with age! LOL.

As soon as a game of Stickball began, concerned residents would hang out of their windows and remind us that if we broke their window we would have to pay for it!  Actually a “Spaldeen” ball would not damage anything that it hit except a glass window from a residence. I have never seen a “Spaldeen” break a car window! OMG a broken window was a year's worth of "Allowance!" OK… I managed to break one window; which put my allowance into austerity mode!

Stickball has become a tradition to many people. A group of people from across the country return to Brooklyn annually to play a “reunion game” of stickball. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/stickball-reunion-mixed-reviews-brooklyn-neighborhood-play-ball-lost-article-1.385876

I just loved to play stickball when I was young… Yesterday I discovered a treasure at the local novelty store; a genuine “Spaldeen.” It is amazing how a simple object like a rubber ball could bring back so many wonderful memories!

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