This past weekend was the annual St. Anthony's Italian Festival in Baltimore's Little Italy. While there are many ethnic festivals held every year, this is one of the oldest, having its origins in the Great Fire of 1904. As the inferno raged in downtown Baltimore, the parishioners of St. Leo's in Little Italy prayed to St. Anthony to spare their community. The first festival, in 1905, was a celebration of this salvation. It has continued every year.
Naturally, a bocce ball tournament is at the center of the festivities because bocce ball is already the reigning pastime in the tight knit community. Thomas D'Alesandro park, in the heart of the restaurant district, has had two regulation bocce ball courts since 1994. They are 80' by 13' and topped with a very fine, light gray stone dust -- considered the perfect surface for a fast roll. And yes, the nightly games, played under the lights and stars, are an attraction for visitors. Diners frequently stop by the courts to watch the weeknight league play.
There are actually so many teams (with up to eight players on a team) that the league is divided into a Sicilia Division and Sardegna Division.
While Little Italy is the best known venue for bocce, it is not the only place to play. A new bocce league has been formed in Federal Hill, and they are looking for Baltimore neighborhoods to participate. Starting in September, they will be playing at Latrobe Park on Tuesday nights.
In Bowie, a regulation bocce ball court opened at the Senior Center last year. It quickly became a favorite for team play.
In Manchester (Carroll County) there are three bocce ball tournaments being held this summer, as fund raisers for the nature center and park in the small town. The first, this Saturday June 19, is intended as an introduction to the sport. The others will give them the opportunity to pit those newly acquired skills against other teams.
If you're wondering what bocce ball is about, it is a game of skill, strategy, and cunning. The game requires two players to toss four balls (the "bocce," about three pounds in weight) in the pit as close to a target ball, or "pallino," as possible.
After one player throws a ball, the next player will try to toss a ball closer to the pallino than his opponent. Players can accumulate up to four points per round by getting their balls closer to the pallino than their opponent's closest ball. The first player with 12 points wins the game.
Bocce found its way to Italy during the middle ages, where it was played in the streets among the lower classes. The game came to the attention of the nobility when they were hit on the shins by wayward balls. This presented a problem for the humbler people who enjoyed the game, as the upper classes did not appreciate the intrusion. They did, however, take to the game themselves and bocce immediately became a favorite of the privileged set.
Fortunately, bocce is now a game everyone of every age and origin can appreciate. It's fun to watch, and an established part of the charm and diversity in Maryland's world of sports.
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