Whether you’re in the mood to get out and play or sit back and watch, Queens has plenty of options for the sporting sort. Here’s the score on some contests and competitions to keep you occupied.
Take Me Out To Playoffs
Go to Shea and watch the Mets try their best. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
What could be better than a good old Amazin’ afternoon at Shea? The Mets are off to a great start this season; for the first time in a while, they’ve picked up the scent for playoffs.
After a busy off-season spent scrounging around in their piggy bank, the Mets are back in action for the 2005 season. Owner Fred Wilpon signed controversial pitching phenom Pedro Martinez and electrifying outfielder Carlos Beltran to big money contracts, bringing the team back up to Amazin’ respectability in the major leagues.
Forget that they’ve underachieved the last few seasons - the Mets look as hungry as ever. Willie Randolph, after many years as a player and third-base coach with the Yanks, has been brought in as the new manager, and we have high hopes he’ll bring a winning mentality to the club.
Win or lose, this summer’s your chance to check out some of the Mets youngsters like Kaz Matsui, Jose Reyes and David Wright as they blossom into the superstars of the future. The veteran laden outfield is looking strong and fan-favorite Mike Piazza is still behind the plate.
Although critics might mock Shea in an age of glittery new baseball parks, there’s still plenty of old time charm in the old Flushing Meadows domain. Championships have been won time and again there, scores of legendary players have donned the blue and orange, and what other ballparks can claim player silhouettes in neon lights on the stadium’s side? (JF)
Check game schedules and buy tickets at www.nymets.com.
Putt-Putting The Night Away
Enjoy golfing fun at Flushing Meadows. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
You’ve got to do more than putt to be the Tiger Woods of your ‘hood.
The hills aren’t that steep, and the wind rarely knocks off a cap or lifts a skirt, but sinking a cratered golf ball on the 18-hole Mini-Golf Course at Flushing Meadows Corona Park (which doesn’t even use backboards) requires a delicate touch. You have to be more firm that a putt, softer than a punt.
You don’t need to sink a hole-in-one to step into the spotlight. It’s also illuminated by electric lights, which come in handy for those who tee-off toward the end of the night. (Last call for golfers is midnight, 11 p.m. for pitch-n-putters. The course turns off its lights at 1 a.m.)
If you’re just looking to horse around, head to the pitch-n-putt. The mini-golf section is slightly, ahem, more serious.
“Most golfers play our course with a 9-iron, pitching-putt and a wedge,” the owners point out.
And when you’ve got an urge for a little bit more than a putt, there’s the Golden Bear Driving Range at Alley Pond Park. Early birds can whack away at 6 a.m., and night owls can swoop in for some pre-partying shots ‘til midnight.
(If swinging for the fences with a driver in your hands is too easy, there’s always the option of aiming for the cage vehicle, which slowly makes its away across the driving range picking up stray golf balls.)
Funny pants, green Master’s jacket and accurate score keeping not required. (AP)
For more information about Pitch-n-Putt and Mini-Golf, call 718- 271-8182. For Golden Bear Driving Range, call 718-225-9187.
Concrete Competition
Create hours of fun with a “Spaldeen.” |
Stoopball. Hit the Penny. Box ball. Pensie pinkie. Spaldeen.
If these words inspire an irrepressible desire to lace up your sneakers and hit the nearest patch of concrete, you didn’t grow up playing video baseball. Before the Xbox age, kids made up their own games using whatever was lying around. Broomsticks became bats, manholes became bases, the rubber cores of tennis balls became makeshift baseballs.
For you kids who missed out-and for you kids-at-heart passing on some yesteryear fun to the youngsters-here’s a quick refresher course.
Stoopball: This one’s a breeze. It uses the exact same rules as baseball, but all you need to play are several concrete steps, a ball and some friends. One team plays outfield (read the street) while the other’s up to bat. You can use a racquetball or, if you want to go authentic, pick up a Spalding Hi-Bounce Ball ($1.99, www.sportsunlimitedinc.com). (Some purists would insist upon a “Pensie Pinkie,” if you can dig one up.)
The batter throws hard at the step, and the number of times it bounces before being caught determines the number of bases ghost-runners advance. 1 bounce is a single, 2 a double, 3 a triple, and 4 or more a home run. If the ball bounces over the fielder’s head, it’s an automatic homer.
A variation on stoopball is off the wall, which follows the same rules but uses a wall instead of a stoop. Watch the traffic, now.
Boxball: Think ping-pong using sidewalk squares (or ones drawn on the street in chalk). The server bounces the ball once and then slaps it into his/her opponent’s square. Score one point if the ball bounces after that, or if the ball touches any part of the player’s body except the palm of the hand. The other player must then volley back into your square until the ball bounces twice.
Only the server can score a point, and games are played to either 11 or 21 points.
Hit the Penny: Another sidewalk square game. Place a penny on the crack between two squares, face your opponent each of you behind the lines of one of the two squares.
Take aim with the ball. The object is to hit the penny and flip it over (no rolling or bouncing of the ball). Score 1 point for each hit, 2 if the penny flips over-first one to 11 or 21 wins.
Punchball: Find yourself a good diamond-shaped set of landmarks to use as bases-manhole covers, mailboxes, or chalk-drawn squares will do-and 3 or more friends. The rules for Punchball are about the same as baseball, except there’s no pitcher, and you guessed it, you punch the ball instead of hitting it with the bat. (Another reason to pick up a Spalding).
You also can’t steal bases or bunt, and there are no strikes; if you miss or hit a foul, you’re out. Pitch or bounce the ball in the air to yourself to start your at-bat, and then punch and head for the bases.
If you have enough players, you can use basemen and outfielders. If not, a player is out when the opposing team throws the ball over a base (or when it bounces off one). This one was the top recess activity at P.S. 165 in Kew Gardens Hills.
Box Baseball: Again, same rules as baseball. Use your Spaldeen, three consecutive sidewalk squares, and a buddy. Face each other, straddling the two end squares. The pitcher’s object is to bounce the ball in and out of his opponent’s square without hitting the middle square, which counts as a ball. The batter’s goal is to slap the ball back into the pitcher’s square without it being caught. (The middle square also counts as a foul ball if the batter hits one in.) (JP)
Time For Tennis
Crowds fill the tennis center during the U.S. Open. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
Billed as the biggest professional tennis event in the country, the fourth and final installment of the Grand Slam is held each year at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
This year’s 125th edition, “could prove to be the most exciting and financially rewarding experience in the history of the sport,” according to the U.S. Open website. Last year, the USTA inaugurated the U.S. Open Series Bonus Challenge, which offered $1.3 million in bonus prize money to the top three men’s and women’s finishers in the U.S. Open series. This year, the prize has risen to $2 million.
While the best men and women tennis players in the world serve, volley and score on the Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong Stadiums for the chance to claim the biggest payouts in Open history, fans will be doing the complete opposite.
Tickets can run between $100 and $250 for one seat. The Open also offers a limited supply of its Supreme Package, which provides VIP parking in a premiere lot, a deluxe gift package, breakfast in the Player Dining Room, lunch at the Aces/Stadium Grill restaurant and afternoon cocktails at Mojito’s Lounge. This offering starts at $775 for the Open’s first evening session and jumps to $1,500 for the Sept. 11 men’s final. The average prices for an individual pizza, sandwich or pasta dish are $10 and water, soda and alcoholic beverage prices are about the same. (MR)
For more information you can check out the tournament on the Web at www.usopen.org.
Bulls-eye!
Toss your luck in a dart league. |
There might be five different ball games being shown on the television screens throughout Traditions Pub in Briarwood on a Tuesday night, but there are at least 20 people who have their aim centered on something else.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays are dart league nights and the players are assembled in the front of the bar, lining up their shots and hoping they are on their game.
Games played are called Cricket, 301, 501 and 601 and they involve accurate hand-eye coordination - something that can be difficult if you’ve had one drink too many.
In England and Ireland, dart games are a very popular sport and professional tournaments have been featured on ESPN, where crowds are rowdy and cheer and scream for their favorite players.
Weeknights in the summer aren’t always very crowded at Traditions, since St. John’s University students are out of the dormitories until the fall, but when school is in session, there can be a conflict of space, but the dart crowd and the college drinkers don’t seem to mind too much.
Before Gantry’s Pub in Fresh Meadows closed two years ago, the excitement of dart games usually drew a decent crowd to the back of the bar almost nightly, where SJU fraternities would square off against one another in leisure games and it was widely known that the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity usually ran the board.
A good set of darts can cost over $100, but most bars usually have a set on hand. According to Raj, the manager of Traditions, there are over 20 bars in Queens that are a part of the Tuff Dart League, where the year- round games are held at participating bars and each team has about 10 players. The games start at 8:30 p.m. and usually end around midnight. There is a $300 team league fee and that covers trophies and prizes awarded to the best teams. (MR)
To learn how to get involved in a Tuff Dart League, call Raj at Traditions, 718-526-9448.
Our Concrete Ballparks
A Phat Head chucks a pitch. Tribune Photo by Michael Rehak |
The Phatheads were taking extra batting practice for their 1 p.m. softball game at St. Felix Field, which borders Queens and Brooklyn and, like almost every square foot of the neighborhood, is concrete.
Players don’t wear cleats, they bleed and bruise trying to slide, the fans are family members, there are harsh words during the game, maybe even a brawl from time to time, but the importance of it all is that these guys truly love the game, the competition and camaraderie.
There are about 40 teams that play from April to September in the BVD men’s softball league, which holds double headers every Sunday on eight fields located in concrete parks throughout Queens. According to the league president, Al, the league has existed for about 25 years and the cost is $600 per team. The teams take a collection to pay for their lone umpire, and amenities like jerseys and bats are not provided.
Most teams have their own jerseys made and all have team names. The Phatheads players prefer to use nicknames instead of last names on the back of their jerseys. Names like “He Hate Me,” “I Hate Joe,” “Beef,” “Vintage,” “Brewsky,” “Half Baked” and “Fully Baked,” are some of the nicknames that the Phatheads players prefer.
Home runs aren’t traditional in the respect that the field length is short, but the fence is high, so if a player hits one over, it’s a ground rule double. It’s a slow pitch league and if a player hits a foul ball with two strikes, the batter is out. Stolen bases are not allowed and a runner can have a courtesy. There are many other rules that aren’t traditionally used in baseball and none of the players seem to mind, in fact the rules are better suited for players who might be years past top athletic shape.
Like the rest of New York City, the BVD Men’s Softball League is far from traditional and to an observer and a fan, it is definitely an experience that provides fun, excitement and intensity that can only be found in the place we call home. (MR)
To find out more about the league call 718-894-5449. Also, check out the Parks Department web site (www.nycgovparks.org) to learn about playing on gentler fields.
