See this story at BrooklynPaper.com.<\/p>\n
By Dennis Lynch<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Paper<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It was a hit!<\/p>\n
Stickballers from Brooklyn and beyond showed off their skills during an “Old Timers Day” exhibition match before the Cyclones beat Hudson Valleyon July 10. The Clones also screened parts of “When Broomsticks Were King” — a documentary about the beloved urban pastime — on MCU Park’s big screen, an honor for Brooklyn-born filmmaker Jason Cusato.<\/p>\n
“It was an absolute blast,” the Park Sloper said. “To get stickball out there so everyone can know what it is and how much passion these players have, and to get the film screened on the jumbotron, it was just good all in all.” <\/p>\n
Cusato’s award-winning flick traces the history of the game that dominated Brooklyn’s streets last century. Young baseball fans substituted broomsticks for bats, rubber Spaldeen balls for baseballs, and bases for sewer grates to play their own version of the national pastime on the streets of Kings County.<\/p>\n
And members of the “Stickball Hall of Fame” went head-to-head in a three-inning, Brooklyn-versus-Manhattan throw down (which Brooklyn lost). The game was a preview for an upcoming match in front of the Wonder Wheel at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park on August 13. Brooklyn old timers will look to reverse their fortunes and best the Harlem team in a best-of-five series, Cusato said.<\/p>\n
Reach reporter Dennis Lynch at (718) 260–2508 or e-mail him at dlynch@cnglocal.com.<\/p>\n
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