A Complete Look at America’s Pastime: Baseball
Activity 5
History
Women in Baseball
Women have been playing baseball since its start. In the 1860’s, some women secretly organized baseball games at Vassar College. By the late 1800’s women were traveling the country as “Bloomer Girls” (named for the baggy pants-like outfits they wore) baseball teams. Variations of baseball, like softball, were also being played by women in the early 20th century. People lost interest in women’s baseball during The Great Depression, but it would make a huge comeback during World War II. During World War II millions of men were joining the military, and some thought major league baseball may have to close. Phillip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley chewing gum, founded the All-American Girls Professional Ball League in 1943. Each team had a manager, a chaperon and all the women were required to attend charm school. Most of the teams in the women’s league were in the small towns of the Midwest like South Bend, IN or Rockford, IL. Some of the best players in the league included Jean Faut, a star pitcher, and Dottie Kamenshek, a great hitter. After the war men returned to the Major Leagues and people lost interest in women’s baseball. The league survived until 1954. The 1992 movie “A League of Their Own” starring Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, Madonna, and Tom Hanks chronicled the life of women in this short lived league.
Math
its + WHIP stands for Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched. Walk Inning s This stat is used to determine how many base runners s Pitc hed o a pitcher allows in an average inning pitched. This r IP = WH stat is very simple to calculate. It is the number of IP hits a pitcher gives up plus the number of walks given up divided by the number of innings pitched. Any WHIP under one is excellent. Why do you think that is?
If Josh Brey of the Jackals gives up 13 hits and 3 walks in 13 innings pitched, what is his WHIP?
7 .94 er: sw An
H
(
13 Hits + 3 Walks 13 IP
)
=
1.23 WHIP
Now you try. What would the WHIP be for Isaac Pavlik if he gave up 3 walks and 15 hits in 19 innings?
Rules of the Game
Force out – Two runners cannot safely occupy the same base; therefore, if a batter hits the ball and runs to 1st, a runner on 1st must go to 2nd and a runner on 2nd must go to 3rd, etc. With a force out, the fielder can just touch 2nd base with the ball and not tag the runner. If the batter is not “forced” to run, then he must be tagged with the ball between bases. Next week: What is a Sacrifice Fly?
Baseball & the Newspaper Position Spotlight: Third Base
The player who plays next to third base is called the third baseman. A third baseman must be able to move quickly from side to side and catch ground balls. He makes many long throws to 1st, so he must have a strong arm. Because the 3rd baseman Center Field Left Field throws the ball Right Field to his left most of the time, he Shortstop Second Base First Base must throw with Pitcher Third Base his right arm.
Catcher
Look in the sports section for articles on women in sports. How many articles can you find? What kinds of sports are women playing today? Are they playing professional sports? For more in formation on Women’s baseball, try reading: Sue Macy’s A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of Women in Baseball Dan Gutman’s Mickey & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure
The New Jersey Jackals sponsor a “Hit the Books” reading program for young readers. For more information call (973) 655-8025 or go to http://www.jackals.com/readingprogram.asp
Complimentary classroom copies provided by:
Teachers! If you would like to receive complimentary classroom copies
of the newspaper during the Baseball series, please contact us at 201-646-4384/4713 or email your order request to NIE@northjersey.com.
History section photos and content were provided by Baseball Hall of Fame and Yogi Berra Museum.
and