CAPTION STICKBALL Three of the former Bensonhurst stickball buddies who get together every year to honor their deceased friend, T. Vollaro. Photo courtesy of Andy Furman
It started as a sports get-together some 12 years ago. Today, it has morphed into a community love affair.
Tom Ferrante remembers — and remembers it like it was yesterday.
“We grew up in a very tightly-knit group,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle the other day. “It was a group of friends and families.”
It was a group that congregated on 77th Street between 15th and 16th avenues.
“We were close, very close,” he said. “Anthony Vollaro was part of the group.
“The man they called ‘T’ passed when he was 18,” Ferrante said, “and he had two older brothers and one younger.”
And T’s oldest brother Mike got the gang together in 2012 for a small stickball tournament.
Well, maybe it wasn’t so small — there was also a block party that had 77th Street closed.
“It’s a big day-long party,” Ferrante said, “and we do it to honor T.”
The 77th Street Tournament is the T. Vollaro Memorial. And it’s just for the neighborhood guys and ones on the block.
The rules are quite interesting:
- Self-hitting (without a pitcher)
- Running the bases
- Five-on-five teams
Ferrante says they had six teams, with five players on each, for this year’s T Memorial.
There’s more.
“Eight years ago,” Ferrante said, “we made a cup with the winners’ names on it.”
Yeah, they’re serious on 77th Street.”
The schedule is quite easy, and honestly, no one really has to be in game shape.
“We eat all day long,” Ferrante said, “and there’s music, beer and, of course stickball.”
The festivities get underway at 9 a.m., and play officially starts an hour later.
The traffic — is it a problem on 77th Street?
“Well,” Ferrante admitted, “one of the guys has a Children at Play sign, which says, please turn.”
And the cars do, so 77th Street is all theirs for the day.
The 77th…
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