(FORTUNE Magazine) – As baseball season kicks into gear, so does another rite of spring: the urge to use baseball-business metaphors. For you, that means a lot of funny talk around the office. ("That presentation sure was a home run, Brad. By the way, we need someone to pinch-hit this weekend.") For us at FORTUNE, it means a fresh wave of consultant's reports like "Playing to Win: Lessons From the Best Businesses and Baseball Teams," from Marakon Associates.

But there are signs, thank God, that this year could be different. The excellent 2003 bestseller Moneyball, by Michael Lewis, suggested that baseball should be talked about more like a business, rather than the other way around. (He argued that GMs like the Oakland A's Billy Beane were changing the game by exploiting market inefficiencies.)

Three cheers for that! In hopes that sports talk in the office is out and that biz-speak on the baseball diamond is in, we offer a metaphoric alternative: Next time your team picks up an overvalued asset whose value depreciates after the acquisition, speak up! Let the GM know that you're onto his faulty decision tree. Sure, it won't score you a sweaty slap on the back at first, but it could be a big win for both business and baseball--in other words, a real home run. --Grainger David