The Annual Artists & Writers Charity Softball Game in East Hampton

In the late 1940s, artists and others on the East End of Long Island would get together to play softball in Springs. These included Willem de Kooning and his wife, Jackson Pollock and more. Several writers joined them. Then in 1968, a group of artists and writers in the Hamptons challenged each other to a game of softball to raise money to cover the legal costs of two artists who had protested the Vietnam War. Since then, the event has been held each year in the summer. Today, the Artists & Writers Charity Softball Game takes place annually in East Hampton, NY and raises funds for charities like The East End Hampton Day Care Center, The Retreat (for battered women and abused children) and East End Hospice.

What makes this annual event so exciting are the celebrity players. In the past, team players have included Alec Baldwin, Christie Brinkley, Lori Singer, B. Smith, Donny Deutsch, Jay McInerny, Dustin Hoffman, Kurt Vonnegut, George Plimpton, John Irving, and many others who've tossed out softballs and swung bats for charity.

2011 Update: This year's game will be held on Saturday, August 20. 2011, starting at 2 p.m. at Herrick Park. (Practice starts at noon.) Suggested donation: $10.The event usually takes place on an August afternoon in Herrick Park in East Hampton, NY. For this year's date, check my About.com - Long Island homepage for updates in August, or visit the official charity softball site at Artists & Writers Charity Softball Game .