http://economics.about.com
I think the ZLC needs baseball uniforms. I want #77!

Mike

I'm sure Tosca would be proud of the R-L-R-L lineup.

http://economics.about.com
I'm sure Tosca would be proud of the R-L-R-L lineup.

How many of the ZLC are lefties? Or are you speaking in ideological terms, not handedness?

Unfortunately, as far as baseball skill goes, the player I most resemble is Tanyon Sturtze. Every year I'd walk almost no one, strike out about 3 batters every 4 innings, and give up way too many homers. That's why I'm now an economist. :)

Mike

http://economics.about.com
I really like the new logo. It's shiny and a bit cartoony, which I don't see as being a bad thing at all. It's quite professional looking and it's infinitely better than just stealing clip art. :)

Mike

Speaking of baseball skills, I did suggest to Kent some time ago that we hold a wooden bat game in the Toronto area with members of the ZLC. But I think we all got busy and it didn't ever go anywhere.

I think that some posters might be a little better at the thinking game than the physical game but it would be fun anyway. Thoughts?

http://economics.about.com
I think that some posters might be a little better at the thinking game than the physical game but it would be fun anyway. Thoughts?

I'd play in a second, although I'm pretty lousy (I'm great at getting hit by pitches and getting caught stealing). I'd also be really interested in playing a round of golf, if there's any golfers on the Box. I just starting playing the game about three weeks ago, and I'm totally hooked. I don't think there's been more than 2 or 3 days where I haven't been on a course or at the driving range.

Mike

I'm sure Tosca would be proud of the R-L-R-L lineup.

How many of the ZLC are lefties? Or are you speaking in ideological terms, not handedness?

I was talking about the 4 pictures in the logo

I golf, I play ball, I do it all. I'm like Bo Jackson but smaller and poorer.

http://economics.about.com
I was talking about the 4 pictures in the logo

Ooops. No wonder I was never good at Where's Waldo.

Mike

I think the ZLC needs baseball uniforms. I want #77!

I would be more than happy to order us Batter's Box baseball jerseys if there was enough interest to get a dozen orders. Price would be about $25-35 depending on quality, I'm not sure about numbering.

I would be in, but I'm sure I would be the one with the ZLC batboy uniform. ;)

http://economics.about.com
I would be more than happy to order us Batter's Box baseball jerseys if there was enough interest to get a dozen orders. Price would be about $25-35 depending on quality, I'm not sure about numbering.

I'd like to take a look at them before deciding, but if they were nice enough Hannah and I would probably each want one. Unless of course it becomes like Baseball Prospectus where the sizes are L, XL, and XXL. I sent them a nasty note saying that we're not all comic book guy and BP does have female readers, but for some reason they never got back to me. :)

Mike

I like "Da Box". Maybe that could be worked in, in combination with the logo.

I'm up for a ball game, anyone wanna try Monday evening 6:30 at Christie Pitts on the north gravel diamond?

at least 12 people have to RSVP in the affirmative to make this a go.

Monday evening 6:30 at Christie Pitts on the north gravel diamond

I live about 67 seconds walk from that diamond, so it's hard for me to say no.

In response to Moffatt's question, I'm a switch-hitter, so you can load the line-up anyway you want. I have more power hitting left-handed, but I have somewhat better bat control from the right side. However, don't throw me a fastball down and in if I'm batting left-handed. Like many left-handed hitters, that's my favorite pitch.

A, I would LOVE to play a pick-up game of baseball, but, alas, the 3000 miles may preclude such an event. This has always been my biggest gripe against baseball: you can't grab a ball and glove and throw something together like you can in basketball. Even a football skirmish can be arranged relatively easily, or you can play solitaire and just kick field goals if you want. Baseball is tricky to play alone.

But if anyone is looking for a kick-ass game that requires only two people, find an Incrediball (soft-stiched, regulation-sized baseball -- made by Easton, I believe), head to a Little League field, preferably with a fence, and let it rip fast-pitch style. When (if) you hit the ball, then you sort of guess as to whether it's a hit or an out, etc. I'm 33, but whenever I see my friends down in California, we try to play this as much as possible. I don't imagine I'll ever out-grow it. It has some practical benefits, A, because it actually increased my bat speed quite a bit, since the distance from the mount to the plate is only 45 feet, and it also improved my batting eye, as I was able to learn to not only to distinguish between curve balls and fastballs, but also to lay off them.

Seriously, other than actually playing the real game against high-level competition, this fast-pitch game is the most fun I had playing baseball. Softball is like watching C-Span by comparison.

Gitz, I'm confused, how did the Incrediball teach you to distinguish between curve balls and fastballs? Does it somehow make it easy to throw a curve? The Easton web site tells me nothing more than that they do make a product called an Incrediball.

Jonny, the distance from home plate to the mound in my Incrediball game is so short (45 feet) compared to regular baseball, I learned how to pick up the rotation of breaking stuff that much quicker, so that when I went back to 60 feet, I found it eaiser to figure out what was coming. Easier, of course, which is a long way from "easy." I was amazed any of us touched the ball -- we probably threw in the low 80s, which may not seem fast, but keep in mind it's only 45 feet -- let alone were able to lay off curve balls that started out in the strike zone bue eventually dropped out of the zone. The best way to explain the game is to play it. I wish I lived in Toronto; I'd give you all a clinic. I'm sure Coach knows about the Incrediballs, because I'm sure he's had some indoor practices where they come in handy.

Anyway, it's too bad I figured all this out and turned into a poor-man's Lance Berkman-lite at about age 24 -- of course it's even more too bad that I'm so friggin' short (5'7"). I'm no Warren Newson, but if I had been playing this game when I was 15 -- and if I hadn't gone to a top-notch Division I program (USC, for the newcomers) -- I'm sure I could have, at the very least, played college ball. As it is now, there's not much use in softball for a guy with a quick bat who can, among other qualities, lay off curve balls in the dirt.

Gitz, I think the key here is that you're playing with people who can actually play baseball... I'd be happy just to consistently throw it in the strike zone, and I can't think of any of my friends who would set a higher standard than that.

But I do play a mean ping-pong!

http://economics.about.com
What's the difference between an Incrediball and a normal baseball?

I can hit the strike zone pretty regularly, but I can't throw over 55 for more than 15 pitches. I blew out my rotator cuff at 17 which ended my baseball playing days and which will require surgery in the next couple of years. Unfortunately I'm pretty inept at every other position and I'm a lousy hitter, so other than playing shortstop for the world's worst slowpitch team I don't get on the field much anymore.

I'd love to play table tennis with you sometime, Jonny. It's a highly underrated game.

Mike

First, I would go with a jersey. Shonuff.

Second, my game of choice is Scrabble (tm). In fact, in my immediate family where I am scorned because I only have two Master's degrees and not a doctorate, Scrabble is sometimes quite literally a full contact sport.

Love the new logo; props to Tony and Stephen.
Love to wear a jersey on the Left Coast!

Second, my game of choice is Scrabble (tm).

Yeah, like Mike was saying...