Townball for the Twenty-First Century: A Summary

Townball for the Twenty-First Century: A Summary

Listen as Grant concludes the series by doing a read-aloud of essays from our website, 21ctownball.com! Chapters: 0:13-4:06, Mission & Vision 2:12-9:24, The Origins of the American Pastime 9:24-13:03, The Fibonacci Factor 13:05-19:51, The Massachusetts Game (TMG) 19:56-25:22, Twenty-First Century Townball 25:24-28:39, Swift Pitching in TMG 28:40-38:29, Baseball is Boring 38:30-41:47, TMG and the Zone: A Match Made in Heaven 41:50-43:39, Why the Name Townball? 43:42-48:11, Vintage Base Ball 48:12-53:02, Coda

Chapter 4, Ep 4: Aaron Gibbs

For the last interview not only of this chapter but of the whole series, we’re gonna hear from a brand new townball player from northern Washington state, Aaron Gibbs! Aaron has played a total of three townball games, so of all the guests we’ve had he is the most new to the game. Aaron is a good friend of Rylan Schubkegel who we had on in Chapter 2, if you’ll remember. Aaron is getting a master’s in history at Western Washington University and has really come to love playing townball so far! He even already has some characteristic townball stories that he shares with his friends, like getting pegged in the outfield by the catcher, breaking one of the stakes, as well as other good memories. Thanks for making it this far and we’ll see you on the next episode for a wrap-up of the series!

Chapter 4, Ep 3: The Inventors of Townball

Daniel Jones is back but this time he is joined by his wife Adina! Adina has been along for the ride from the beginning and was the principal seamstress in making jerseys for the Newberg Quakers last year as well as other townball jerseys. Adina could not have done this without the help of Veritas alumna Olivia Veeman. Olivia was an avid townball player at Veritas and has since joined the Newberg Quakers, being one of the few to play in both West Coast Townball Tournaments back to back in 2022 and 2023. The 2022 west coast tournament was, in many ways, the first time we played with updated zones made none other than by Grant's high school friend Christopher Poole. The second zone model Chris came up with is what we used in the tournament, and he’s developed another model since then. Both Daniel and Adina, Olivia, and Chris have done the most when it comes to the products, materials, and equipment that encompass our game. Like any other sport, everything feels way more real when you have the look down and you have quality equipment. We’ve only been able to achieve this in the last couple of years, and it’s because of these individuals.

Chapter 4, Ep 2: The Jimmy Josh Sandwich (Jimmy Sanborn & Josh "JT" Treisman)

Before there was townball at UHS, there was cricket. We get to hear about that at length for the first time in this series from repeat guest Jimmy Sanborn and newcomer to the podcast Josh "JT" Treisman. Jimmy and JT go way back as friends at UHS and were there to witness the transformation from the cricket season to the townball season at UHS, year in and year out in the early to mid 2010s. Today, they both play on the townball team called the Fresno Eagles. Jimmy and JT's perspective on the overlap between cricket and townball is something unique to the UHS years that wasn't quite covered in Chapter 1 so this is really where you'll get to hear that conversation.

Chapter 4, Ep 1: Roshan Thomas & Artashes Yeritsyan

Roshan and Artashes are the captains of the California Golden Bears. As of January 1, 2024, Roshan will be the new West Coast Townball League Commissioner and Artashes just took a position in the motherboard which is a group of 8 that oversees the sport in general. They are both finishing up their studies at Berkeley College this year and they’re on a mission to keep townball growing! Like others in chapter 1, they encountered townball as students at University High School, and have since returned with greater fervor for the game through the creation of the West Coast Townball League. Grant got to meet Roshan and Artashes last year in the first West Coast Townball Tournament. Roshan and Artashes are super kind, they’re passionate about the game, and they’re just good dudes. Listen to them exude their good dude-ness to you over the soundwaves . . .