Vitilla
| Game | Vitilla |
|---|---|
| Game Family | Baseball |
| Location | Dominican Republic |
| Regions | Rest of World |
| Eras | Derivative, Contemporary |
| Invented | No |
| Tags | |
| Description | The game of vitilla ("vee-TEE-ya') is reportedly played widely in the Dominican Republic. "What Dominican doesn't play vitilla?," asked Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez. Several other Major Leagues attribute some of their skills to the game. ". . . the concept is the same [as baseball] -- to hit a moving object with a stick. But because the vitilla is smaller than a baseball and moves unpredictable when thrown, and because the bat is thinner, some . . . believe playing it so regularly helped their hand-eye coordination." A Times article does not detail the game's rules, and it is not yet clear to Protoball whether batters actually run bases. A photograph suggests that balls and strikes are determined by whether a pitched cap hits a small (12 inch?) target set up behind the batter. The article refers to a similar game, called chapita, played in Venezuela.
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| Sources | James Wagner, "Dominican Players Sharpen Their Skills With a Broomstick and Bottle Cap," New York Times (Sports Sunday section), October 6, 2017. Accessed 10/9/2017 via search for <nyt broomstick bottle cap> May be at https://nyti.ms/2yNiVE4 A version with baserunning is shown at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8Aw2cBer84. This clip evidently shows New York area play. A six-minute intro to the game on MLB Tonight with Pedro Martinez and others is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzDbWAH4gL0 |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| Comment | Protoball welcomes additional details on the games rules, history, and spread. This item was spotted by Alexa T. McCray. Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Edit with form to add a query |
| Has Supplemental Text |
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