Friday 5

BASEBALL: Keep score, get smart

I've always felt a bit intimidated by the people you see at the ballpark with scorebooks. They're the ones who can tell you, at a glance, how many pitches have been thrown in the current at-bat (just because the count is 3-2 doesn't mean there have been five pitches thrown, you know). And you just know they can recite the infield fly rule, too.

The fundamentals of baseball scorekeeping aren't that intricate, although it certainly helps if you start with a basic understanding of the rules of the game.  You can find good explanations online (this one is my favorite), but basically scorekeeping boils down to three things:

1. Memorizing the universal (more or less) shorthand codes that describe what happens on the field;
2. Picking a system for recording those events;
3. Practice until it becomes second nature.

So how hard is it?

A good trick: Cat, Hat, thing, do...

From our friends over at Boing Boing comes this sweet little idea: Write a poem, or a story, or whatever, using only the words that appear in the Dr. Seuss classic “The Cat in the Hat.” Ready, set... GO!

But what are those words? And how many are there (articles cited either/or/and 223 or 236 words). And though I did (eventually) find an online list, I needed something better.

My solution? Type every word of the book into a spreadsheet, run a couple of filters and functions on the prose and ... voila! I got an alphabetized, numbered list of every word Dr. Seuss used to write his easy-reader. And yes, I eventually came up with 236.

You can find that list on Charleston.net, or as a numbered list right here, or as a single-page, printable PDF. And if you do bother to try this little challenge, please send me the results  (if snail-mail suits your results better, try: Dan Conover, The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC, 29403).

USA: Codes & capitals

In our continuing quest to avoid ever-encroaching stupidity, we've built this quickie quiz: Match the US Postal Code to the state capital.

For extra credit, mark these on the map (click here for a printable color map, and here for one in glorious black-and-white.)

From my Fun & Games blog: pick the winner

Click on your favorite finalist. Voting stops at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Results at The Fun & Games blog on Friday as well as the dead-tree edition of The Post and Courier.

Opinion Polls & Market Research