Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2013 September 16

= September 16 =

Who goes first in an informal baseball game?
When playing an informal game of baseball/softball, teams sometimes decide precedence by having one player from each team place hands on a baseball bat: one starts at the bottom, the other places his hand immediately above the first one, the first one places his other hand atop the second guy's first hand, etc. until they reach the top, at which time the winner is the one whose hand is at the top. Is there any common name for this way of deciding precedence? I found "playing thumbs" here, but except for some mirrors, I didn't see anything else online that used this specific phrase. 2001:18E8:2:1020:9CDC:817F:6050:F040 (talk) 20:27, 16 September 2013 (UTC)
 * We used to call it simply "choosing up sides". Here's a lengthy (and somewhat preachy) discussion of the process. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:09, 16 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Choosing sides using a bat as you described isn't the only method used. Sometimes it is done by odds-and-evens or rock-paper-scissors.  → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 21:16, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
 * That sounds almost sacrilegious. d:( ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:49, 19 September 2013 (UTC)