{{Short description|Game similar to cricket in Dominican Republic}}
[[File:Jugando la Plaquita.JPG|thumb|A batter stands in front of his makeshift wicket.]]
'''La plaquita''' or '''la placa''' (English: little plate) is a bat-and-ball game played in the Dominican Republic with many similarities to cricket.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DR1.com - Dominican Republic News & Travel Information Service |url=https://dr1.com/articles/cricket.shtml |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=dr1.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Federation Focus: Baseball is in Dominican Republic's DNA|url=https://www.wbsc.org/news/federation-focus-baseball-is-in-dominican-republics-dna|access-date=2021-10-13|website=wbsc.org|language=en}}</ref>
Several Dominican MLB baseball players have attested to playing it as children.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vladimir Guerrero finally explained why he's so great at hitting balls on the bounce |url=https://www.mlb.com/cut4/vladimir-guerrero-finally-explained-why-he-s-so-great-at-hitting-balls-on-the-bo |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=MLB.com |date=26 January 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>https://www.jockbio.com/Bios/Vlad/Vlad_bio.html"The kids of Nizao Bani enjoyed a form of baseball known as La Placa. Home was a license plate, and a batter had to keep his bat touching the dish until the pitcher released the ball. This made Vladimir a great low ball hitter."</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Victor Robles electrifies the Nationals with risky but rewarding play |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/05/30/victor-robles-electrifies-nationals-with-risky-rewarding-play/ |access-date=2023-04-26 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Leap of Faith |url=https://www.milb.com/news/a-leap-of-faith-290436188 |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=MiLB.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jose Ramirez: Me in Real Life |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/indians-jose-ramirez-talks-baseball-as-youth-c256641746 |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Young|first=David|date=2012-03-20|title=2012 Dodgers Player Profile: Rubby De La Rosa, The Gem Had A Flaw|url=https://www.truebluela.com/2012/3/20/2884550/2012-dodgers-player-profile-rubby-de-la-rosa-the-gem-had-a-flaw|access-date=2020-09-18|website=True Blue LA|language=en}}</ref>
== Rules == [[File:LaPlaquita3.jpg|thumb|The bowler prepares to throw the ball to the striker.]]
Two teams of two players take turns fielding and batting. There are two wickets which are license plates (called ''placas'' in Spanish), with one fielder behind and one batter in front of each wicket. One of the fielding team's players throws the ball to the batter at the opposite wicket, who may then try to hit it. The fielding team's goal is to bowl the batter out by knocking over the wicket with the ball.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tyers |first=Alan |date=2017-07-02 |title=Jos Buttler and Alex Hales take a swing at a whole new ball game |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/baseball/2017/07/02/jos-buttler-alex-hales-take-swing-whole-new-ball-game/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Batters run between the wickets to score runs, with one run scored for each swap of the batters, though they can be gotten out if a fielder runs them out by hitting a wicket with the ball while they are away from it.<ref>http://diccionariolibre.com/definicion/La-Plaquita"en la parte delantera de la placa se dibuja un triangulo o un semi-circulo de acuerdo al gusto de los jugadores [...] Si no se esta al turno en el bate se debe siempre tener la punta del bate dentro del home (el triangulo o semi-circulo) sino el contrario puede tumbar la plaquita y es es [sic] un out."</ref> The batting team switches with the fielding team once their batters have gotten out three times, with the team that is first to 12 runs winning the game.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kurlansky |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XWwZh2OdRPMC&q=%22plaquita%22&pg=PA18 |title=The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris |date=2010-04-15 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-18686-2 |language=en}}</ref>
== See also == * Bete-ombro, a very similar Brazilian version of cricket * Vitilla, another famous Dominican street bat-and-ball game
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Street cricket Category:Sport in the Dominican Republic
{{DominicanRepublic-sport-stub}}