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Stickball Game Is Closing Ybor Street

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By RICH SHOPES

rshopes@tampatrib.com

Published: March 27, 2009

TAMPA - Here's a traffic delay more at home in Brooklyn than Tampa: 9th Avenue will be shut down today between Republica de Cuba and 13th Street because of a stickball game.

That's right. A film crew will be on hand to capture the 90- minute promotional event by Yahoo Sports, dubbed as "old school" versus "new school," or stickball veterans against upstarts.
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is expected to play, although it's questionable whether the Annapolis, Md.,-born major leaguer will be as prodigious in a street game as on the baseball diamond.

Stickball, a favorite in New York, Boston and Philadelphia neighborhoods, typically involves a rubber ball or tennis ball and a broomstick. In Philly, the ball sometimes gets chopped in half, transforming "stickball" into "halfball."

The game is set for 12:30 to 2 p.m. The road will be closed longer, however, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to give the film crew time to set up and take down its equipment.

The five- to 10-minute video eventually will run on Yahoo Sports, producer Corrin Arasa said.

She expects about 10 players, all Yankees fans, to participate.

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