PHOTOS BY HARRIS

Early Sunday morning, the sound of a gasoline-powered golf cart gets louder and louder as it approaches an area that is about to be flooded with dozens of carts driven by men ready to participate in what many of them call “the highlight of their week.” It’s not a golf course. Rather, it is an asphalt-covered parking lot that serves as the field for a game of stickball.

Stickball originated in the city streets, with rules similar to baseball, but played without the cost of baseball equipment. A mop handle and a pink rubber Spalding (pronounced spaldeen) ball are used for game play, while manhole covers and car doors are used for bases. The men who arrive to play stickball in The Villages, Florida, bring their mop handles and spaldeens, but instead of creating bases from the city street, they use chalk to create the bases.

Participating in a game of stickball in The Villages can make a 70-year-old retiree feel like a 12-year-old back in The Bronx. The game itself hasn’t changed much. Now the men look out for each other and their families, but the trash talking remains the same.

I’ve been documenting Sunday morning games in The Villages, Florida, to tell the story of the game, the men, and the best day of their week. — Mikki K. Harris, Meek School Assistant Professor