Saturday Telegraph Room

... The P-I's Ted Miller has a particularly strong and amusing account of Jim Bouton's visit to Seattle and his contribution to baseball as author of the legendary Ball Four. Larry Stone of the Times reports that Bouton (pictured), the most famous member of the 1969 Seattle Pilots, held court at the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) convention in Seattle. The "greenies" they took then, Bouton says, are nothing compared to the 'roids they take now:

We used greenies to overcome hangovers. They were performance enablers. They allowed you to play up to your ability, but not beyond your ability.

These are must-reads for baseball fans. So is the book. ...

... The Times has an informative overview of the state estate tax, which funds education, and the effort to repeal it through Intiative 920, which is bankrolled largely by developer Martin Selig. ... We're 35th among states in the percentage of 18-to-24-year-olds earning bachelor's degrees. What if the first year of college were free? ... The Everett schools superintendent wouldn't let a high school band play "Ave Maria" at graduation because of its religious nature, so a student is suing in federal court. ...

... Republican Larry Ishmael, an Issaquah School Board member who is challenging U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, doesn't even live in the 1st Congressional District. What's up with that? ...

... The battle over a still-just-proposed Queen Anne Hill water tower has taken 13 years and $1.3 million, including $700,000 in PR. But by god that's the Seattle way. ... Baby Riley Rogers had his surgery and is in satisfactory condition. ... The Navy lawyer who took down Gitmo at SCOTUS fancies maybe returning to Seattle. ...

... The annual Rainbow Gathering is under way in rainbow-free, super-dry Colorado, and a Seattle man who calls himself Circus Maximus has become the resident fire-safety nag. ...