By Christina Johnson
RUMSON – If there’s pink Spaldeens flying through the air on June 11, it must mean its time for the annual all-day Stickball Tournament in Janet and John’s Alter’s front yard on the Avenue of the Two Rivers. This may be the final year for the beloved neighborhood tradition, as their sons, the founders, find their futures are taking them farther away from home. We spoke with Kevin “Pookie” Alter, 23, a recent graduate of the Naval Academy, who will take a four-year post in San Diego next year. His brother, Matt, 25, lives and works in New York. They are both graduates of Rumson Fair Haven High School.
How did the stickball tournament get started?
Ten years ago my brother and thought it would be fun to have a tournament. We had six teams. So many people heard about it, that the next year, the number of teams doubled. Right after the first year, we discovered we can make it something special, and we made it for charity. So we charge each team of four players $200. This year we have 16 teams. We’ve donated to Homes for Our Troops and others.
Why stickball?
We saw it in New York, and we thought it was kind of fun to use a broomstick and Spaldeen. For the tournament, we use a special stickball bat. I think the fun part of this game is you can really hit the ball a lot farther than Wiffleball. We’ll buy 36 balls for the tournament; probably 30 of them will break from wear and tear, we hit ‘em so hard. We play with the typical three out, like in baseball. The only difference is we play one-pitch. The batter has one opportunity to hit the ball. Games are 30 minutes long, one at a time. My uncle is the umpire. He gets heckled, they give him a hard time. The teams trash talk each other. It’s all good.
How do the teams distinguish themselves?
Each team has a different color t-shirt. I get them for each of the 16 teams. Some like to have matching socks. Some, when they come for the pre-bat warmup, or come up to bat, they play a theme song. Put Me In Coach – that song called “Center Field” by John Fogarty is popular. Then you have guys who play Fetty Wap, the rapper.
What’s the most fun about the tournament?
Man, the funniest thing is seeing some guys – who haven’t run sprints or run around the bases in a long time – hitting a home run and then to see them hit the bases, its funny. Best part of is most of everyone who plays is from the Rumson community. Some of them are flying in.
How much will you raise for charity this year?
Hopefully we can raise $10,000 for Homes for Our Troops, which builds special adaptive homes for severely disabled veterans, mortgage free.
What does your father think of the lawn when you’re done?
Before the tournament, it’s a beautiful green lawn. It looks gorgeous. When we finish the day, its got dirt spots and blood sweat and tears all over it.
Growing up, everyone played baseball. We watched the movie “Sandlot.” That was like our all time favorite move. For some reason playing this stickball game in our front yard, this feels nostalgic. I think that’s why a lot of my friends have come back to play. It reminds you of when we were kids.
