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Creative Switch Hitters

By Peter Lloyd

When a right-handed batter faces a right-handed pitcher, it’s more difficult for the batter to see the approaching ball. This gives switch hitters—those who can bat both right-handed and left-handed—a definite advantage. Unless, of course, they face a switch-pitcher.

So rare are switch hitters that only one modern major league pitcher stands out—Greg A. Harris. The Montreal Expos hurler pitched right-handed while developing his left-handed ability, which he finally displayed in the ninth inning of a game he won by switching from right to left to and back to right.

Switch-hitting also refers to a person’s romantic interest in members of both sexes. A flexibility Woody Allen observed, “immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night.”

Creative Switch Hitting
Think of a profession considered stereotypically left-brained. How about a civil servant in 19th-century Russia? Switch-hitter Peter Illych Tchaikovsky left just such a post to become one of history’s most celebrated classical music composers.

photoWhat about accountants? Mocked as bean-counters by some right-brainers, accountants have been unfairly disparaged as uncreative. For this reason, I’ve looked around for accountants who have risen to creative heights.

Before listing them, though, I have to give special mention to The Accountants, a Louisville, Kentucky, rock band of professional accountants. Here’s how they describe themselves.
The Accountants are four guys in their mid-30s who live and work in the corporate world. And they are fed up: with their jobs, their bosses, and all the corporate BS. They’re tired of getting pushed around, tired of being the punchline in all the geek jokes. And they refuse to pass quietly into middle age.

And so they rock. The company may own them from 9 to 5, but once they strap on their guitars, no one can tell them what to do.
Now to a list of left-brain to right-brain converts:

Left BrainRight Brain
accounting studentEddie Izzardcomedian
CPAD-Lo BrownWWF wrestler
accountantTim DuBoishit country songwriter
accounting innovatorJosiah Wedgewoodpotter
accountantBob Newhartcomedian
business and accounting degreesChuck "The Iceman" LiddellUltimate Fighting champion
accounting degreeJohn Grishambest-selling mystery novelist
accountantKenny G.jazz saxophonist
accountantWalter Diemerinventor of bubble gum
accounting studentMick Jaggerrock star

On a more serious note, there are the The Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts. They offer volunteer legal and accounting services, educational programs and publications to artists, nonprofit arts organizations and other art constituents.

Songwriter, author, ghostwriter, copywriter, and content provider Peter Lloyd syndicates Right Brain Workouts and blogs for businesses including CoachQuest.

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