Under the clear and blue end-of-summer skies, we at ELSI recently received an announcement from our director, encouraging members of our institute to form a softball team to compete in Tokyo Tech's annual intra-university tournament. Come to think of it, I have never spoken of baseball, (or sports for that matter) with my ELSI colleagues, possibly because I am a Hanshin Tigers fan in the enemy territory of Tokyo, the land of the rival team, Yomiuri Giants.

With our temporary building under renovation, with many of us scattered in different locations on campus, our weekly lunch talks are an important venue not only for scientific exchange but for the members to come together and share mundane chitchat.

"Hey, did you see the softball announcement?"

A small group of us began to imagine the possible athletic prowess that may lay hidden in our fellow ELSI members. Japanese tend to be more private at work with their personal information shared on a need-to-know basis while in other countries, one is often offered a wealth of sometimes superfluous information before one even learns a person's name. So who knows if there is an avid weekend ball player amongst us at ELSI, or even a dedicated little league coach who is committed to his/her team of children.

Knowing nothing of ELSI-ite's athletic background, my imagination assigns people to baseball/softball positions based on physical qualification required for that position. And then there is the temperament, as deciphered through the research styles and through the individual's character, of selecting an appropriate candidate most fit for those positions.

Who will be ELSI's starting pitcher? Shigeru Ida has the look of a pitcher and some unfounded instinct also tells me that Daisuke Kiga might have a good throwing arm. Piet Hut might make a good relief pitcher, coming in to close the deal and get the job done. The important role of first baseman might be left to the trusted gatekeeper of Shigenori Maruyama, who will make sure no one gets to 2nd. And the catcher, will this be Kei, the director, who has to know everything that is going on in the field, make key decisions, and take the repeated risks of being battered by the ball? Yuka Fujii, Jun Kimura, Takayuki Saitoh, Yuko Sasaki or any of our younger research scientists who are light on their feet would be good as 2nd baseman. For shortstop, perhaps Jim Cleaves or Ken Kurokawa, both of whom seem flexible and able to respond quickly. I think we would all feel reassured to have Hidenori Genda protecting the final frontier of 3rd base. I would scatter the outfield with the competent staff from the administrative office; they are phenomenal at passing things reliably to the next person and ensuring that tasks get done without fail. Jun Makino will be behind the scenes running the statistical analysis, the sabermetrics, though it will be a challenge with the newness of our team and no numbers of us or opponent teams to work with.

"I have a good idea who would make the best pinch runner, who could successfully steal bases."

We all nodded enthusiastically and shared in a moment of silent admiration for this person, though actually not quite sure if we were all thinking of the same person. If you as ELSI member were not mentioned above, perhaps it is you we are thinking of here.

Now that I have speculated on our team on paper, it might be worth making it a reality. Given our multi-disciplinarity, I actually think we have better odds, at least theoretically, in assembling a nimble and crafty team than the other more focused departments of Tokyo Tech. ELSI is a mixed bag of people, working hard to communicate through our various disciplinary dialects and dispositions. There has to be strength in this kind of heterogeneous team line-up.

One position is for certain: the ELSI mascot is Camilla, John Hernlund and Christine Houser's smiley 14-month old daughter. I assign myself as water boy. As much as I hate to admit to the stereotype, I unfortunately do "throw like a girl."