jai alai

jai alai, ball game of Basque origin played in a three-walled court with a hard rubber ball that is caught and thrown with a cesta, a long, curved wicker scoop strapped to one arm. Called pelota vasca in Spain, the Western Hemisphere name jai alai (Basque “merry festival”) was given to the game when it was imported to Cuba in 1900.

History

Jai alai developed from a form of handball, and it is presumed that the availability of a lively ball made possible by the introduction of rubber to Europe from South America permitted players to speed up the game. The next step, it is thought, was the introduction of the guante, a simple leather glove worn on the right hand, which in turn led to the use of a flat wooden bat, or pala. A cartoon for a tapestry by Goya in the Prado museum, Madrid, “Juego de Pelota” (1777–90), depicts such a bat in use on a one-walled court. Later the guante developed into a catching and throwing device leading finally to the evolution of the cesta, at first a short implement but now about .76 metre (2.5 feet) long, gracefully curved and efficient, with which the player can catch the ball and hurl it with tremendous power and speed. Each cesta is custom-made of Pyrenees Mountain reeds woven over a light, ribbed frame of Spanish chestnut; a leather glove sewn to the outside holds the player’s hand securely. The pelota (q.v., Spanish “ball”) is a little smaller than a baseball and harder and heavier than a golf ball. It is made of hand-wound virgin rubber with a few final turns of linen or nylon thread and covered with two layers of hardened goat skin, the outer layer of which can be replaced. In play, speeds of 240 kilometres (150 miles) per hour are not uncommon. Professional players have worn protective helmets in the United States since 1967.

The court and the fronton

The modern three-walled playing court, or cancha, averages about 53.3 m long by 15.2 m wide and is 12.2 m or more high. The walls and the floor are made of special material to withstand the pounding of the ball. The spectators sit in tiers along the open side with the front of the court to their right, the side wall directly in front of them, and the back wall to their left.

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The entire plant is the fronton; some Basque frontons date from as early as 1785. The game is played professionally in 10 frontons in Spain: 5 in the Basque country, of which the one in Guernica is the finest; 2 in Barcelona; and one each in Palma de Mallorca, Zaragoza, and Madrid. It is also played in southern France and in Milan. In the Western Hemisphere it is popular in Mexico, where there are two frontons in Mexico City and one each in Acapulco and Tijuana. It was played in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, first in Chicago and then in New Orleans, but in both places it was withdrawn after the gambling laws were changed to ban betting on the game; it was demonstrated without wagering in New York City in 1938. The Miami fronton, with 5,100 seats, the world’s largest, was the only one in the United States when Florida adopted a law in 1935 permitting pari-mutuel wagering on the sport. Since that time professional courts have been established at Tampa, West Palm Beach, Daytona Beach, Orlando, and Dania (all in Florida) and in Hartford, Conn. The game was popular in Cuba before it was banned after the revolution in 1959, and there are two frontons in the Philippines. Except for the United States, where there are only two frontons for amateurs, it is a popular amateur sport wherever it is played professionally.

Players

First-class players traditionally have come from the Basque country. Outstanding contemporaries include Juan Cruz Bustinduy (playing name Juaristi) and Francisco Asis in the front court and Ramon Soroa and Tomás Cortajarena in the back court. Most players reach their top form in their late 20s or early 30s, but one of the greatest of all time was Erdoza Menor, who played until he was in his 50s; he dropped dead on the court of a heart attack. Management of the fronton in Miami supports training schools in Spain for the development of young players, the one at Guernica having graduated many of the world’s greatest. There is also a school at Miami where promising young amateurs may receive four or five years of training for a professional career.

The game

The principles of the game are very simple. The ball is served against the front wall and must land in a designated serving zone; the opposing player in the case of singles, or one of the opposing partners in doubles games, must catch and return the ball before it touches the floor more than once. The ball must be caught and thrown in one continuous motion. The object is to bounce the ball off the front wall with such speed and English (spin) that the opposition cannot return it and loses the point. Play continues until the ball is missed or goes out of bounds. The ball is out of bounds if it strikes the area clearly marked in red around the front wall, strikes the overhead screen above the court or any other area marked in red or outside the foul line. If a player stops his throw because another player is in front of him, interference may be called, and the point will be played over.

The basic game played outside the United States, partidos, is a match singles or doubles game to 10 to 40 points. Betting is on the eventual outcome of the game, at any time during the game. As the points fluctuate, so does the spread of the odds. The American game is adapted to the pari-mutuel system. Six to eight one- or two-member teams compete for five to seven points. Two players or teams play for one point, the losing side retiring from the court and the winning side continuing to play until it loses a point and is retired or wins enough points to win the game; play-offs determine second (place) and third (show) positions. Betting is the same as at horse races, each player being identified by a number that is called his “post position.” Under the American Qualifying Point System eight post positions (players or teams) play for five points. Play follows the usual elimination system until three positions have made three points each; the three then play off for win, place, and show places. The popular quiniela wager, in which the bettor picks two players or teams to finish first and second, in either order, was originated for jai alai wagering in the 1930s by Richard I. Berenson, former president of the Miami fronton. The quiniela wager has since flourished at horse races, dog races, and other events throughout the world. The quiniela in jai alai wagering was followed by the perfecta, in which the bettor must pick first and second in that order. Horse racing’s daily double, the selection of the winners in two different events, also became popular in jai alai; and a Big Q., picking the quiniela in two events, was later introduced.

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