The Days of Stickball - NYTimes.com Re "They're Still Swinging for the Rooftops in East Harlem" (news article, July 9): Thanks for the article about stickball, a real New York street game! In the Bronx, the ball was pitched, and after one bounce you tried to hit it. You needed a very good eye to do that, because a broomstick is a lot thinner than a bat! And there were lots of special ground rules, like what happens if the ball is hit and goes down a sewer?