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Stickball saga comes to a close
By George P. Hassett
Kids’ stickball games at the Brown School playground became the subject of political debate this month when a neighboring resident complained to her alderman about the damage home run balls are causing to the siding of her home.
At a Jan. 26 Board of Alderman (BOA) meeting, Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz requested that Commissioner of Public Works Stan Koty place a sign on the fence adjacent to 46 Josephine Ave. and in the school yards grounds that states, “No stick ball playing against house or fence.” Gewirtz said the order was the result of a call from a constituent concerning damage done to her home by home run stick balls.
“All the siding on my home is damaged,” said Rachael Burger the 46 Josephine Ave. resident who asked Gewirtz for help. “I have to repair it every time more balls hit the house. We don’t want to ban stickball, we just want to change the direction the kids play in.”
The order was approved by the board.
Two weeks later at the Feb. 9 BOA meeting, Ward 5 Alderman Sean T. O’Donovan put in an order “That neither the director of strategic planning and community development nor the commissioner of public works place any signs in the Brown schoolyard that restrict the playing of stickball, but consider instead extending the height of the fence as an alternative solution.”
Gewirtz said she had explored that option but the cost to the city of raising the fence — $30,000 ‚Äì was too expensive.
O’Donovan said playing stickball is an innocent part of growing up in Somerville and should not be discouraged. Many of his colleagues agreed.
“There is not a lot of open space to begin with in Somerville, and we don’t want to push the kids out into the street,” said Alderman-at-Large Bruce M. Desmond.
Ward 7 Alderman Robert C. Trane said a sign prohibiting stickball would not accomplish its goal.
“The signs banning stickball have become perfect strike zones for the kids,” said Trane. “The sound of the metal eliminates all the arguments about whether or not it is a strike.”
O’Donovan’s order was also approved.
The stickball debate ended two weeks later when Gewirtz and O’Donovan put in a joint order, “That the commissioner of Public Works work with the Ward 6 and Ward 5 aldermen to raise the fence at the Brown School playground so that stickball may be played against the fence, while working to protect the neighboring house.”
Gewirtz said she never intended to ban stickball at the Brown School playground.
“There is already too little space for kids in Somerville to play. I think it is important to provide and maintain the space we do have but also protect homeowners from property damage,” she said.
The woman whose initial call to Gewirtz set off more than a month of contentious stickball talk in the city said she doesn’t want the kids to play anywhere else but behind her house.
“I’m all for the kids playing stickball, we always get along great with them. I would just prefer they play in the other direction, so the siding of my house isn’t ruined every year,” said Burger.
For Alderman-at-Large Dennis M. Sullivan, the entire political discussion on the merits of stickball playing in Somerville is ridiculous.
“With all of the serious problems this city faces, we’re sitting here talking about stickball,” said Sullivan at the Feb. 9 Board of Alderman meeting. “Stickball? Should we really be talking about stickball in our time here? I mean it’s stickball.”
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