The Philadelphia Zoo softball team plays in the Center City Softball League (CCSL) : an eight-team, co-ed, slow-pitch league where every team must have at least two female players. Teams can field up to 10 players (4 in the OF) total while 11 can bat - a team does not need to forfeit at game time if it has at least 8 players (the opposing team would field a catcher as the 9th player whom cannot make plays on the ball) with one of them being female (when the second woman would be up, there is then an automatic out). Our games have seven innings, no walks, no stolen bases (or leading off) and no umpires. The batting team fields 1st and 3rd base coaches who call foul lines and outs. There are no called strikes, but you can strike out swinging. We play a fourteen-game season in which every team plays each other twice, with one game each being home and away. The top four teams advance to a single game playoff round where the winners meet in a best-of-three World Series. We play in lovely Fairmount Park in northwest Philadelphia. The teams in the CCSL are as follows: The Franklin Institute, The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Commerce Department, Philadelphia Business Journal, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, Philadelphia Zoo - and new to the league this year is Philadelphia Board of Education. 2001 was the zoo's first year in this league while PCVB was the rookie last year. We proved we can be competitive in the league last year and this year we hope to make a run for the playoffs. Prior to joining the CCSL, the zoo had regularly played the Academy and Institute, as well as the Daily News in our annual "Vet Stadium" game (which the zoo's President hob-nobs us into). To be honest, most teams in this league play with the bare minimum of female players; the zoo, on the other hand, has always had a ratio of about 1:1 with males and females - however, more guys have come out for the team this year, so that may change. But we're an equal opportunity recreational softball team.