{{Short description|Variation of stickball played in the Dominican Republic}} thumb|Children playing vitilla, 2011
'''Vitilla''' ({{IPA|es-DO|βiˈtiʝa}}) is a popular variation of stickball played primarily in the Dominican Republic and areas in the United States with large Dominican populations.<ref name="NYT1">{{cite news|last1=Wagner|first1=James|title=Dominican Players Sharpen Their Skills With a Broomstick and Bottle Cap|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/sports/baseball/red-sox-rafael-devers-dominican-vitilla.html?_r=0|access-date=16 November 2017|work=New York Times|date=6 Oct 2017}}</ref><ref name="NYDN1">{{cite news|last1=Chiusano|first1=Scott|title=Grab your brooms and save your plastic caps, because Vitilla is sweeping through New York City|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/vitilla-hope-historic-sport-decline-article-1.2370205|access-date=18 November 2017|work=New York Daily News|date=22 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8Aw2cBer84 |title=Hit a Vitilla? Hit Anything: Urban Recreation {{!}} Part 1 |date=2015-11-10 |last=Red Bull |access-date=2025-06-17 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQBIo3rop04 |title=EL NACIMIENTO DE UN DEPORTE "LA VITILLA" By LIVIDOUSA |date=2023-11-25 |last=LIVIDOUSA Dominican Vitilla League in the USA |access-date=2025-06-17 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpuK9J5Vr0c |title=¡Pelotero a la bola! No te pierdas el torneo de vitilla en el Bronx |date=2015-10-14 |last=Univision |access-date=2025-06-17 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
==Overview== Overall rules and baserunning is roughly similar to basic forms of baseball, but there are only two bases in addition to home plate, only two or three fielders, a broomstick is used as a bat<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-07 |title=El béisbol dominicano se "cuece" en el popular juego callejero de la vitilla |url=https://es-us.noticias.yahoo.com/deportes/b%C3%A9isbol-dominicano-cuece-popular-juego-174725082.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=Yahoo News |language=es-US}}</ref> and a large plastic water bottle cap,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-20 |title=Juego de vitilla sería nombrado patrimonio de la humanidad |url=https://www.espn.com.pe/beisbol/nota/_/id/7318910/vitilla-beisbol-callejero-patrimonio-humanidad-unesco-republica-dominicana |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=espn.com.pe |language=es}}</ref> called ''la vitilla'', is used instead of a ball.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2bGfrZ7DPE |title=La vitilla, el juego callejero que afina la destreza de los beisbolistas dominicano |date=2022-04-07 |last=AGENCIA EFE |access-date=2025-06-17 |via=YouTube}}</ref> The game also has aspects of Cricket, in that there are no walks or looking strike counts and strikeouts can be made by hitting a target behind the batter. The vitilla disk is difficult to hit, since it can float like a disk and can spin wildly at very high velocity, making for unpredictable fielding. The skill and coordination required in vitilla is credited with giving Dominican Major League Baseball players an advantage in hitting and fielding.<ref name="MLB1">{{cite web |title=The Clasico De Vitilla: A stickball-style tournament that just might be harder than baseball |url=https://www.mlb.com/cut4/the-red-bull-clasico-de-vitilla-a-stickball-style-tournament/c-150978766 |access-date=16 November 2017 |website=Cut4 |date=24 September 2015 |publisher=Major League Baseball}}</ref> The game evolved from Dominican stickball in the 1970s, and had its first formal tournament in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Llenas|first1=Bryan|title=Vitilla, Dominican stickball using broomstick and bottle cap, starts hitting in U.S.|url=https://www.foxnews.com/sports/vitilla-dominican-stickball-using-broomstick-and-bottle-cap-starts-hitting-in-u-s|website=Fox News Sports|date=5 December 2016|access-date=16 November 2017}}</ref>
==General rules== {{External media|image1=[https://www.flickr.com/photos/leocab/4008141215/in/photostream/ Clasico de Vitilla - Red Bull]}} As a young street sport, there are no formal rules or governing sports authority to set rules. Beteyah, a company that makes vitilla equipment has suggested rules,<ref name="Bet1">{{cite web |title=How to Play |url=https://beteyah.com/pages/how_to_play |access-date=18 November 2017 |website=Beteyah |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201040901/https://beteyah.com/pages/how_to_play |url-status=dead }}</ref> and another sources of rules derives from the Red Bull Clasico De Vitilla tournaments,<ref name="MLB1" /> and the LIDOVI.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reglamento Básico |url=https://lidovird.com/?page_id=2662 |access-date=2025-06-17 |language=es-DO}}</ref> Terminology is generally in Spanish, the primary language of most players.
Here is a list of ways vitilla differs from ordinary baseball:<ref>{{Cite web |title=El juego de vitilla |url=https://mktg.mlbstatic.com/tigers/documents/fans/kids/sunday/0920/vitilla_es.pdf |website=MLB}}</ref> * '''Field configuration''' Vitilla has a home plate and two bases, ''primera'' (first base) and ''tercera'' (third base); there is no second base. The base path is a triangle, 50 feet on a side. The pitcher's mark is 45 feet from home plate, centered in the field. There is no mound. There is a circular strike target behind home plate, about 18 inches diameter, about 18 inches above ground. The 15 feet in front of home plate is a foul area, in addition to the standard foul lines connecting home plate with ''primera'' and ''tercera''. There is a home run line, perhaps 100 feet from home plate. *'''General Play''' The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins. The number of innings is agreed upon before the game begins, as is the number of fielders. Scoring and innings are similar to baseball: each team gets to bat once an inning, and three outs ends a team's turn at bat. A player scores when they advance around all bases and return to home plate. * '''Batting''' The ''lanzador'' (pitcher) throws the vitilla towards the strike target, the ''bateador'' (batter) stands in front of, but does not block, the target, and attempts to hit the vitilla. A strike is called if the vitilla hits the strike target, or the ''bateador'' swings and misses the vitilla, or the vitilla is hit foul with less than two strikes. There are no walks; hit-by-pitches count as strikes if the ''bateador'' blocks the target, and pitches that are not swung at or miss the strike target can be re-thrown. Hits and base running are similar to baseball, but there is no base leading or stealing. * '''Fielding''' Fielders include the ''lanzador'' and two or three ''jardineros'' (fielders). There is no catcher; the ''lanzador'' typically keeps a large supply of vitillas nearby. Gloves are not typically worn. The ''lanzador'' must keep a foot on the pitcher's mark, it is legal to skip or bounce pitches to the ''bateador''. As in baseball, field outs are made by catching a hit ball before it hits the ground, or by tagging a runner with vitilla in hand, or by tagging a base and forcing an out.
== See also == * Stickball * Plaquita, another popular Dominican bat-and-ball game * Backyard cricket
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Baseball genres Category:Street games Category:Team sports Category:Ball and bat games Category:Forms of cricket