The Ethical Stickball League
The Ethical Stickball League, begun in the mists of time, but still prospering, plays every Sunday on the Hastings High School playground. (Click here for detailed schedule information.) So called because of the high moral standards of the players who double as umpires on their own plays, the league boasts not only absolute rectitude, but repartee and baseball chatter seldom encountered on a ballfield.
Many have come and gone since its inception, but two of the founding fathers, Kevin Ettinger (Commissioner) and Stefan Kanfer (Deputy Commissioner) remain vital and active participants. Other players are Steve Becker, Howard Weishaus, Bob Rittner, Bob Tucker, Jack Dammann, Andrew Ettinger and Alan Fine. Also worthy of mention are the ever-ready substitutes who are willing to fill in when one of the regulars is absent. Currently that is Tim Ettinger.
Excellent seats for viewing are reasonably priced, and fans are encouraged to participate by retrieving the many balls which land over the fence. Even passersby are recruited for this service. Although the league's budget requires that balls be returned to play, players are always willing to provide autographs or even free admission to future games to fans who return the balls.
Click here to read a June 10th, 2007 NY Times article.
Click here to read a May 30th, 2011 TheDailyDobbsFerry.com article
The Players
Jack "Late Lightening" Dammann
Andrew "Death to Flying Things" Ettinger
Alan "Tuscaloosa"
Fine
(Nickname dubbed by Mr. Rittner, because it was Groucho Marx's
favorite joke.
"While shooting elephants in Africa,
I found the tusks were very difficult to remove.
But in Alabama, the Tuscaloosa."
"Animal Crackers")