The work was influenced by Mr.Sfirri's son who requested a home-made baseball bat.
VOA: special.2011.01.14
Baseballs are woven throughout the plans, embedded in ironwork along the side of the facade, through terra-cotta balls adorning the top of the stadium, in stitches visible in the tile inlay on the rotunda floor and in its dangling baseball-and-bat chandelier.
In that recess yard, the boys used to play a kind of baseball -- but with no bat: you'd just whack the ball with your hand and run like hell to first base, which was a basement doorway.
The keypad is surprisingly pleasant and not cramped (provided you aren't equipped with baseball bat-sized fingers) as it looks and the key feedback is really great.