You'll be pleased to know that the Riverfront Times softball team enjoyed a markedly improved season in 2008, hovering around .500 for much of the summer. While armchair analysts have attributed this uptick in performance to human growth hormone, carbo-loading with Busch beer and questionable calls from the ump, we know that a little practice in the cages goes a long way toward victory (or, in our case, toward something approaching competence). The nine batting cages at the Fenton location of Swing-A-Round Fun Town (there's another location in St. Charles) are arranged in a semicircle, creating a kind of fenced-in Thunderdome for sluggers to let loose on both baseballs and softballs. The wide-open design of the pit allows the batter to place the ball down a baseline or to simply swing for the fences. The price is sixteen swings for a buck; you can also rent cage time for $24 per hour. For added ambiance, take your cuts adjacent to the miniature golf course and the tinkling sounds of the bluer-than-blue waterfall — just like they do in the majors.