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Little Italy hosting stickball tourney through Monday
The San Diego Union - Tribune; San Diego, Calif.; Sep 4, 1999; Ronald W. Powell

The streets of Little Italy will host a slice of blue-collar Americana long celebrated among the tenements of New York City. Today through Monday, stickball players will cut loose in the first annual Little Italy/Firefighters Stickball Tournament. Teams from New York City, Miami and Puerto Rico will converge on India Street, between Ash and Date streets, and battle it out each day from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Spectators can line the street and watch for free. Food and other items will be sold, with all proceeds going to the San Diego Firefighters Widows and Orphans Fund. The event is sponsored by the Little Italy Association, which was approached last April by a group of local firefighters who asked that it take the lead in staging the tournament. The association's board of directors consented and the group obtained the required city permits. Primary donors are the association, which contributed $1,000, and the San Diego Padres, who gave $250.

"This is our way to show firefighters that we appreciate what they do for us," said Marco Li Mandri, executive director of the Little Italy Business Improvement District.

He said the tournament also is a way to draw the public's attention to the historic downtown neighborhood. With new housing developments and a thriving business core, the area is in the midst of a renaissance. Stickball is played much like baseball, but is usually played in the streets. Players use mop handles or broomsticks as bats and strike a hard rubber ball about the size of a handball. The players don't use gloves.

Some trace the game to colonial Boston, while others trace it to 18th century England. It has been depicted in movies as the sport of the East Coast urban working class, who favor it because it is exciting and inexpensive. When played on the streets of New York -- where Major League Hall of Famer Willie Mays is a stickball legend -- manhole covers are used as home plate and second base, with parked cars or trees completing the diamond. Fielders must handle the ball's crazy caroms off of parked cars and buildings. Spectators sometimes watch from stoops, balconies or fire escapes. Everyone is responsible for yelling "Car!" when motorists approach the playing field. Players in Little Italy will not face the distraction of traffic over the Labor Day weekend because India Street will be blocked off.
Credit: STAFF WRITER

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