Runs Produced Index (RPI) indicative of a players value to a winning team

[HistoricNewspapers]

Hi, the first thing that popped into my head while reading this was, how many guys did you have on your team? Usually men's leagues have just enough players to field a team, or maybe one extra guy. Weren't all the guys going to be playing regardless?

[tedzan]

Hi Brian

The Bell Labs facility we worked at had 2000+ employees. There were 4 Softball fields on the property. Our team roster consisted of 20 guys.
Twenty was the League limit. And, once we became a winning team, every one wanted to join the DingBats.

Furthermore, 20 was a good number, because at any given week, as many as 5 guys could be away on business trips.

Our Softball League had 3 divisions.....

"A" division (4 teams) was the super-fast pitch guys

"B" division (8 teams) was a mix of medium-fast to fast pitch guys (our division)

"C" division (6 teams) was the slow pitch guys


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hi Brian

The Bell Labs facility we worked at had 2000+ employees. There were 4 Softball fields on the property. Our team roster consisted of 20 guys.
Twenty was the League limit. And, once we became a winning team, every one wanted to join the DingBats.

Furthermore, 20 was a good number, because at any given week, as many as 5 guys could be away on business trips.

Our Softball League had 3 divisions.....

"A" division (4 teams) was the super-fast pitch guys

"B" division (8 teams) was a mix of medium-fast to fast pitch guys (our division)

"C" division (6 teams) was the slow pitch guys


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

That's got me curious.

Was it fast pitch just with pitchers who weren't all that fast? Or What I played that was called "modified pitch" - No windmill deliveries like fast pitch, and also nothing above I think 6 feet of arc where slow pitch starts.

It's a fun game, more like baseball than the others. We had a fairly quick pitcher who could get into probably the 50's when he was trying. But we also had old guys in the infield and younger quick guys in the outfield so our "strategy" was to sort of lob it in and let the fast kids chase it down.

[HistoricNewspapers]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hi Brian

The Bell Labs facility we worked at had 2000+ employees. There were 4 Softball fields on the property. Our team roster consisted of 20 guys.
Twenty was the League limit. And, once we became a winning team, every one wanted to join the DingBats.

Furthermore, 20 was a good number, because at any given week, as many as 5 guys could be away on business trips.

Our Softball League had 3 divisions.....

"A" division (4 teams) was the super-fast pitch guys

"B" division (8 teams) was a mix of medium-fast to fast pitch guys (our division)

"C" division (6 teams) was the slow pitch guys


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Sounds like a nice venture....and by the way you talk about it, it left a lasting impression on you. Thats pretty cool.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by HistoricNewspapers

Sounds like a nice venture....and by the way you talk about it, it left a lasting impression on you. Thats pretty cool.

Hi Brian

Our Laboratory was developing new Hi-speed series of Modems. We put in many overtime hours. So, once a week going out to the ball field
and playing some serious Softball was great relief....and, a lot of fun.
When we Won 13 games (Lost only 1) in 1977, our Softball League voted to upgrade us into the "A" division. The guys were all excited over
this move. I was NOT ! I asked my team members if...… "they enjoyed being 1st place winners and getting trophies each year ?"
I insisted that we stay where we are. After some thought, and a beer (or two) at the Red Roof, the majority of guys agreed with me.

The 2nd place team in 1977 (the Yannigans) were switched to the "A" division (super-fast pitch). In 1978, the Yannigans had a 0-12 record.
And, we continued to lead the "B" division.

Check-out my "GOLDEN GLOVE" award (from my team) in this photo (on the shelf next to my left shoulder)





TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hi Brian

Our Laboratory was developing new Hi-speed series of Modems. We put in many overtime hours. So, once a week going out to the ball field
and playing some serious Softball was great relief....and, a lot of fun.
When we Won 13 games (Lost only 1) in 1977, our Softball League voted to upgrade us into the "A" division. The guys were all excited over
this move. I was NOT ! I asked my team members if...… "they enjoyed being 1st place winners and getting trophies each year ?"
I insisted that we stay where we are. After some thought, and a beer (or two) at the Red Roof, the majority of guys agreed with me.

The 2nd place team in 1977 (the Yannigans) were switched to the "A" division (super-fast pitch). In 1978, the Yannigans had a 0-12 record.
And, we continued to lead the "B" division.

Check-out my "GOLDEN GLOVE" award (from my team) in this photo (on the shelf next to my left shoulder)





TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Ted,

I have to ask - how fast were those modems back then?

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Fred

Ted,

I have to ask - how fast were those modems back then?

Hi Fred

How fast you ask ?

Data transmission over the DDD (regular analog voiceband) two-wire lines was 9.6 Kilobits/sec.

Data transmission over Private lines 64 Kilobits/sec (and on specially conditioned lines, 128 Kilobits/sec.).


TED Z

T206 Reference
.