Stickball: A Street Tradition, in My Collage for LMAC #171

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Stickball
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This week @shaka offered a very interesting, and (for me) challenging template photo in Round #171 of the LMAC Collage Contest. (I don't compete).

The Photo by @shaka

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I'm not attracted to machinery, or industrial sites. However, I like graffiti, and that's what drew my attention in @shaka's picture immediately. I knew the graffiti would be incorporated into my collage, whatever that turned out to be. I had no set idea in the beginning.

At first I made a sort of fruit stand and included animation. This was disastrous (though the amazing plants, contributed by @borjan--this, this and this--to LIL are remarkable).

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I tried again, with the same theme. Another disaster. But then, I settled into a kind of peace with my collage and the train took shape. The idea of the derelict field came next. The stickball players followed naturally.

Stickball: Informal, Inexpensive and Accessible

When I see an empty field like the one in my collage, a pickup game of one sort or another will likely come to mind. I would play stickball with my siblings in the field next to my house. There exists a photo of us playing, but I will respect my siblings' privacy and not show that photo here. However, I will show a photo of my dog and cat in the same field.

The Field Where I Played Stickball, With My Dog and Cat
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Oftentimes, children will use a broom handle as a bat in a stickball game. I'm pretty sure we actually used a stick. Sticks were plentiful, sticks of every kind. We didn't have a baseball, so a catcher's mitt wasn't necessary. The spirit of stickball is spontaneity, comradeship, and play.

Youngsters Playing Stickball, Battery Park, Tip of Manhattan. 1973
Stickball YOUNGSTERS_PLAYING_IN_BATTERY Blanche, Wil, Photographer 1973.jpg
Credit: Will Blanche, Photographer. U. S National Archives and Records Administration. Public domain.

Generations of kids grew up playing stickball in New York. I don't know if the game was a widespread (across the U.S) phenomenon, but the game was as much a part of New York as bagels and pizza.

An article in a hometown NY paper, The Gothamist, waxes nostalgic as it explains, "At its most basic, all you need for stickball is a broomstick, a tennis ball or rubber ball and an empty street." Willie Mays, son of Harlem, credited his baseball skills to games of stickball he played in his neighborhood. As a star player he would famously return to the neighborhood and play with the kids. Here's clip of him doing just that (from Twitter):
https://twitter.com/SFGiants/status/1258251848634392576

I have read about organized stickball games, and stickball leagues. In my view, and the view of many veteran stickball players, organization defies the spirit of the game. As an article in Sports History Weekly explains, traditional stickball has one common feature: "... a freewheeling playing spirit and the absence of supervision".

Stickball still exists in some places, especially in the Bronx, where an organized (!) effort to keep the game alive has been active for years.

Link to a YouTube Video of an organized Stickball Game in the Bronx

But, in the opinion of many, increased traffic and gentrification have driven the game from most streets. Computers and social media are also suggested as contributing factors to the game's decline.

When I moved to New York City, in 1958, stickball wasn't a thing in my neighborhood. We had another street game--equally unsophisticated and spontaneous: stoopball. But that's a story for another blog.

My Collage

Rather than going into a long description of the process of making my collage, I will show a variety of images that by themselves explain the evolution. The collage came in stages. After the first disastrous collages were discarded, I came up with the idea of a train, and from that the rest evolved almost organically. It was quite relaxing.

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I owe my friends from LMAC for their contributions to LIL. The train car of course came from @shaka's original photo. For trash in the yard I thank @muelli (sneaker and wood chips). For the lovely dog, I thank @quantumg. For the saucy kitten, I thank @yaziris. For the train tracks, I thank @seckorama.

LIL

I also borrowed from Pixabay:

One picture from my personal album:

Making collages is a creative exercise and a rich experience. This week I went down memory lane and explored a part of my culture.

Please check out our winners from last week's contest, just published today. Tomorrow a new template will be published. Make a collage and join in the fun.

You can see that LIL, the LMAC Image Library, was an essential part of my collage creating process this week. Everyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from the library. Learn about the procedure here.

I wish all my readers peace and health.

Thank you for reading my blog

Hive on

letsmakeacollage history art culture sports recreation newyork proofofbrain creativecoin children
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17 comments
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I've never tried to play the stickball game
I'll ask around me if my people are familiar with it

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Hello @rafzat,
Stickball is really a poor kid's baseball. If baseball isn't popular where you live, probably stickball isn't either😇. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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I always those kinds of games and those really bouncy balls. I have never been very into organized sports, but I always liked non-organized street sports. I never played stickball either, but I did have balls similar to the ones used in the game, and I always liked bouncing the ball against a wall, since they bounce much higher than ordinary balls.

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Hello @mythcrusher,

It's interesting what games a child can make with a simple bouncing ball. You don't even need a comrade. The ball does all the work😀.

Thanks for commenting.

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My dear friend @agmoore.
I knew nothing about stickball, but now a little more. I am glad. 😎
But rather, I was pleased to see your two wonderful works of art. The moving one is a magnificent masterpiece. Wonderful.
Kind regards & 5 from 5 Stars! 😄

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Hello friend @muelli,
You are very, very kind. I had fun making these, so that's what matters, isn't it? If you think they are successful, well that makes my night.

Five stars from the LMAC master--Wow🌟 Thanks for reading and commenting

Kind regards my friend.

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College days used to be wonderful when a person could do whatever he wanted to do, play every game, spend time with his friends, we also played this game and had a lot of fun.

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Sports, casual or organized, do increase social cohesion. Good training ground for later cooperation among people. Learn team spirits and camaraderie.

Thank you for reading and commenting, @djbravo

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While I strive at all times to be the soul of agreeability, I must take issue with you on the fruit stand matter. If that's a disaster then I'm a....well I'm not sure what I am but I used to play rounders when I was a kid, something akin to stickball I think. Of course I was a star, being the fastest little stick on 2 legs.

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I'm not sure what I am

I know what you are.... wonderful 😇

I'm very happy you like my animated piece. Thank you. It was intended to look oh so much better. The idea was good, I think. The creepy hands and bemused dog. Had trouble with the execution.

Just looked up rounders and see the similarity.

the fastest little stick on 2 legs

Me too! Not the boys, but I outran every girl on Field Day throughout elementary school. Funny.

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Hi @agmoore 👋

Looks really great! 👍
The paper effect on the foreground elements makes it look like a real world collage. This indeed offers a different way of looking at a digital collage. Retro, wonderful!
And the way you have used existing material from the template to build the train also is beautiful and so creative.

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Thanks a million for using my LIL material in your art.

Very intersting lines about Stick Ball, @agmoore.
While I'm not really a mass sports fan and unfortunately can't fully empathise the fun that many others have with social bodily challenges, I'm still impressed by how creative we humans can be, even when it is about playfully distracting ourselves from mundane chores.
No other animal species can do this to such perfection and in such a variety. We surely have invented something for every preference. :-D

🤗

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Frieda is the best 🐕 What a personality. She is gift to every picture.

I'm glad my retro intention was evident. I've got good ideas but the skills are rough. Cut and paste. Determination. Those are my skills 😀 And love of creating a collage.

I'm still impressed by how creative we humans can be, even when it is about playfully distracting ourselves from mundane chores

I think it's an essential need. It explains most of the advances in human history. Curiosity, restlessness, adventure. Animals have some of that, but I think you are right, not to the extent that we do. Which is why children need to play. It is not wasted time.

Thanks so much for your kind words, and for taking the time to look carefully at my collage. Means a lot.

Have a most wonderful end-of-week, by friend @quantumg

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Stickball is an old game that is new to me, A.G. @agmoore. We played a lot of baseball at the grounds of the high school. Amazing how children can make a game out of whatever is available.

Love the characters you made playing the ball game.

Have a wonderful weekend my friend. The hummingbirds have returned. 😊

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The hummingbirds have returned

That is wonderful. You will be posting pictures for us, I hope.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Yes, children are inventive. Pots, pans, sticks. Children will find a way to play.

Wishing you the best and sunniest of weekends with your little yard friends, dear @redheadpei

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loved how you made a completely new scene!

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