[FRC Blog] 2014 Game Hint

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Fielding S.

Ok, let me throw in my 2 cents.

I really like this Iron Man idea. The number 3 is prominent, yes? Baseball is a prominent theory, right? How many bases are there besides home base in baseball? 3.

I'm thinking of a baseball themed game that has a starting point and three "bases" where tasks are to be performed, such as climbing stairs. The goal is to pass all three bases and reach the starting point under a time limit. As for the objectives of each base, I don't know for sure.

There have been multiple people talking about the sphere, rectangle, and triangle. What shape is a baseball? A sphere.

As for the rectangle and triangle, have you seen the home plate of a baseball field? The shape of the home plate is comprised of two different shapes: a triangle and a rectangle. Also, the infield of a baseball field is called a "diamond". A diamond has four sides and is somewhat rectangular, so it could work as a field shape.

Just my thoughts.

Hmm. While some might find it odd that some people think about baseball in all of this, it's not actually that far fetched. Let's consider the facts.

This game hint was posted by FRC Director Frank Merrick. Now if I asked someone in FRC what they think when they hear the name "Frank", they will likely think of our noble director. However if I were to poll the average passersby at a mall or on the street, the first "Frank" they think of is probably Frank Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra, as most know, had unprecedented, decades-long success as a solo artist and movie star beginning from the "swing era" after World War 2 until his death at the end of the 20th century. He was so talented and loved that calling him simply one of the best selling solo artists of all time only begins to describe him. That descriptor doesn't include his critically-acclaimed role in The Manchurian Candidate, or his founding of The Rat Pack, or being part of the lead cast in one of the most successful musical films of the era, Guys and Dolls. Simply put, Frank Sinatra is a New Jersey native who accomplished more in any given year of his life than in anyone else's entire lifetime, earning such accolades like being one of the earliest recipients of the Kennedy Center Honor in 1983, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom 2 years after that, and earning the Congressional Gold Medal after going over the hump of being eighty years old!

"But what does Frank Sinatra have to do with baseball?"

Well, Frank Sinatra shares the state of his birth with current Cincinnati Reds third baseman and all around totally awesome guy Todd Frazier. Todd Frazier is very proud of his New Jersey heritage, being a major contributor to cleanup after Hurricane Sandy and having exclusively Frank Sinatra songs play as his "walk up" music (my personal favorite he uses is "My Way, one of Sinatra's later hits). He is also a bit of a local legend, having once saved a fan of an opposing team choking in a restaurant with the Heimlich maneuver, hit a home run without having contact with the bat, and being the best friend of occasional bat boy and Cincinnati native Teddy Kremer (who also has Down Syndrome). There's even a fun story where Teddy asked Todd Frazier to go "hit a home run" for him before he went up to the on deck circle in a game last season, and Todd proceeded to scorch the ball into the moon Deck in right field of Great American Ballpark, which was a total babe Ruth moment everyone deserves to know about. He won the NL Rookie of The Year in 2012, awarded by the MLB Player's Association (but not from those wretched media scum who voted for the insidious Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals).

Before being a MLB slugger, Todd Frazier was the winning pitcher for his hometown of Toms River, New Jersey in the 1998 Little League World Series, in a game where he also scored a home run as the first hit of the game. He later won Big East Player of the Year while playing for Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Suffice to say, he is a great baseball player and my favorite baseball player on my favorite baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds.

What does this have to do with the speculation of baseball being related to the 2014 game? Not a darn thing. But, I figured if you are sifting through hundreds of posts chock full of rampant, unchecked, possibly logic-free speculation, you might as well read up on two really cool people.

Happy Holidays!

Also, I need bout tree fiddy.