Baseball Questions

Topic: Baseball Questions (Read 486 times) previous topic - next topic

Baseball Questions

January 28, 2024, 06:09:56 PM

As many of you know (and might have guessed from my screen name here), I'm a college professor. Normally, I teach statistics and economics classes, but for the past year, I've taught a freshman seminar class on baseball, its history, and its impacts on the American experience. It has been something that I have thought about teaching since my freshman experience at Eckerd as an undergraduate. While the past year has been crazy in putting it together (since I've never taught a seminar class before or a class that involves the amount of writing this class involves), it has been so enjoyable.

To help me understand my students' knowledge of baseball (some of them have been huge baseball fans, while other students need to take the class, and my time slot works for them), I'm asking them to take a quick survey of what they know and think about the game. In that vein, it would be interesting to hear some of your opinions so I can share them with my students.

Here are some of the questions that I have asked them (I also ask about how many teams there are in MLB and who the current World Series champ is).

1. Who are the three most influential people in the history of the game?
2. Who are two important figures in baseball today?
3. When and where was baseball founded/created?
4. What are two issues that MLB faces that impact the game's health?
5. What is a baseball stadium where your grandparents could have seen a baseball game before your parents were born?

If you want, I'm also happy to share my syllabus, all of my assignments (however, I won't grade them), and the bibliography that I've created for the class. Thanks for listening and playing along at home.

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #1 – January 29, 2024, 08:32:49 AM

Thanks Prof! Very interesting...and now you've got me thinking about these issues, as you surely intended! I'll have to think about #1 and #2 - I suspect you're going to get a wide variety of answers from your students. #3 interests me in particular - I do not believe baseball was ever "founded" or "created", but rather it evolved, mostly from cricket. It was in the great camps of the Union Army in 1864 and 1865 that the rules of "base ball" first began to be nationally codified. #4, I dunno - I'd guess the ridiculous money involved - salaries, infrastructure, TV (and now, streaming) all impact how we watch, and who can afford to watch, especially live - in the 70s, I would stroll down to Fenway, pay my $1.25, and pick my seat in the bleachers. Now - not possible. I'd go broke trying to go to as many games now as I did back then. (And don't get me started about $8.50 beers!). Next, I guess its the time it takes to play a game - I personally do not mind a 4-hour ballgame, especially if I'm AT the ballpark. But a lot of people feel thats too long...? #5, well, I know my paternal g'father once told me he attended a game at Braves Field in about 1920. Now? Just BU soccer and lacrosse...
bob h (still thinking)...

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #2 – January 29, 2024, 10:51:04 AM

1. Babe Ruth - 182.6 lifetime WAR. Curt Flood - Flood v Kuhn. My favorite quote here is Louis Hoynes saying that if Flood won his case, that baseball "would be a shambles." Some shambles. Satchel Paige - Jackie Robinson is too obvious, I'll take the guy who laid a lot of groundwork for Robinson.
2. Bill James because of, well, Moneyball and the reinvention of baseball statistics. Conversely Rob Manfred is incredibly important and yet a total moron. How can a commissioner not care about the sport he commissions?
3. Cooperstown, NY. Which is an absolutely wonderful place to visit.
4. Fan disinterest - while I think the recent timing changes may help solve this problem, baseball now competes against so many other entertainment options. #2 is a personal pet peeve, but half of the umpires in MLB are awful and it is painful to watch. They are worse lightning rods than just about anyone playing today.
5. The original Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds.

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #3 – January 29, 2024, 10:56:43 AM

Are you asking us to play along? If so, I enjoy games:
#1 - Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Marvin Miller
#2 - Rob Manfred and Shohei Ohtani
#3 - Who knows. The NY Knickerbocker's were formed before 1850. But I agree with Bob that the playing of the game in Civil War camps caused its popularity to spread.
#4 - The changing landscape on TV rights is a big uncertainty at this time. It's impacting SD and TEX now and probably other teams like SEA and MIN. I expect more teams will feel the impact of these changes in the near future. Related, I think the spread between big market and small market teams is going to get larger and needs to be addressed. Related to that, I think a salary floor will need to be set for small market teams.
#5 - Navin Field/Briggs Stadium/Tiger Stadium

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #4 – January 29, 2024, 12:24:03 PM

Jason, how cool that you get to teach this!! I’m on my phone between classes right now, but just wanted to say I’m looking forward to thinking through your questions and responding ASAP. 👍🏻

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #5 – January 29, 2024, 01:54:18 PM

1. Who are the three most influential people in the history of the game? Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Harwell
2. Who are two important figures in baseball today? Othani, and Manfred..
3. When and where was baseball founded/created? No idea
4. What are two issues that MLB faces that impact the game's health? Pace of play, Contracts
5. What is a baseball stadium where your grandparents could have seen a baseball game before your parents were born? Tiger Stadium

I answered before looking at any others and I am shocked to see another person answer Manfred. I hate the guy but he is has the power.

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #6 – January 29, 2024, 04:55:55 PM

1. Who are the three most influential people in the history of the game?
Jackie Robinson/Pee Wee Reese/Branch Rickey - Integration
Babe Ruth
Vin Scully - the voice of baseball
(Ask me in 10-20 years and Shohei Ohtani may warrant mention)

2. Who are two important figures in baseball today?
Shohei Ohtani (for the good)
Rob Manfred (for the bad)

3. When and where was baseball founded/created?
I bristle somewhat at the 'myth' that Abner Doubleday invented the game. Baseball evolved more than it was founded/created. Like most games/sports, it grew out of other 'ball' type games.

4. What are two issues that MLB faces that impact the game's health?
The ineptness of umpires is the #1 issue in my mind by a long shot. The second . . . I guess 'pace of play' in a fast food world. It is a traditional game played at a slower pace than that preferred by the vast majority of the population of the world.

5. What is a baseball stadium where your grandparents could have seen a baseball game before your parents were born?
Ebbets Field

And I would love to see your syllabus, assignments and bibliography for the class.

Where was THIS class when I was in college!

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #7 – January 29, 2024, 05:33:05 PM

1. Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Branch Rickey. I might be a bit to Dodger centric, but not only was Rickey involved in the breaking of the color barrier, but he's also hugely influential and the modern minor league system.
2. I'm going to borrow, but I would say James for leading the way in looking at the game differently so much so that what we value and how the game is played is different today. Manfred's a shill for the owners, so I'll just say Ohtani who is the most revered player in a long time.
3. As a kid it was much simpler with the Abner Doubleday story, but I believe that has been discredited. I know Cooperstown has a role. The mention of cricket fires the synapsis and I believe I heard that the game of Rounders may have had some influence as well.
4. Billionaires holding the game hostage has impacted how we see the game (TV deals and streaming), where we seem the game (threatening to leave or leaving for publicly subsidized stadium/development complexes. and who participates in the game (retraction of minors). I guess that's one with 3 impacts but I'm happy with that answer.
5. This one is fun. My mom's side is more of a mystery though at that point they could have been in LA, but I know my grandparents on my dad's side definitely were. My parents were both born by the time the Dodgers moved to town, so it had to be before that. It turns out there was a lot of baseball going on in the city. They could have watched a game at the first Wrigley Field which was in South Central LA where the Pacific Coast League Angels Played. Apparently, it was the first Wrigley, as the Wrigley in Chicago was known as Cubs Park until much later. Or they could have watched the Hollywood Stars, in I assume Hollywood? Or they could have watched the White Sox play the Pasadena City College team and get their first glimpse of Answer #1, Jackie Robinson at Brookside Park near the Rose Bowl. Or they could have watched Baldomero “Mel” Almada, the first Mexican player to play in the big leagues, play the Los Chorizeros in Boyle Heights in the Mexican-American Baseball League. The options go on and on, but I'd like to think they ended up sailing out to see the Cubbies play and intrasquad game on beautiful Catalina Island, where they held spring training until 1951.

That last questions answers what baseball is all about to me. Try to find a place where Baseball hasn't created an interesting anecdote? I'd wager, that doesn't exist.

Baseball is woven into everything and spans cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences. It's a special thing and completely worthy of a class led by Professor Jason. Have fun and I hope you share a few of their answers down the road.

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #8 – January 30, 2024, 12:21:35 AM

I won't answer all of those questions, but the one concerning the influential people in the game's history intrigues me. Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson lead the way in my opinion. They defied a cultural taboo that was just as firmly entrenched in the North as it was in the South. The year was 1947, the year I was born. Boston, in supposedly liberal Massachusetts, was the last team to roster an African American- Pumpsie Green in 1959. Curt Flood would be another influencer that I would recognize. Flood vs Kuhn in the Supreme Court broke ground for modern free agency. Most Major League players in the 50's had winter jobs. None of that today.

A disturbing thing about baseball today is the cozy relationship that has developed between Baseball and the gambling industry. Pete Rose remains banned from the game despite the fact that MLB has climbed into bed with online gambling concerns such as FanDuel and Draft Kings. They advertise during televised games. Computers can instantly tell us how much a company as well as a bettor will win or lose if some guy strikes out on the next pitch. You can't tell a hitter to get a hit on the next pitch and assume that he will, but you can tell him not to. A guy with a cell phone in the second row could send a signal to a pitcher or batter. It will happen.

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #9 – January 30, 2024, 11:18:27 AM

1. Who are the three most influential people in the history of the game?

- Babe Ruth. Enough said.
- Jackie Robinson. Ditto.
- I’ll probably be on an island to myself on this one. And for the record I haven’t seen anyone else’s answers as I didn’t want to be influenced. So maybe he’s been brought up? But in my opinion Barry Bonds edges Curt Flood for the last spot. Bonds started an awakening that the game is changing, generally in my opinion for the worse. Especially when you have the knowledge that the classic records don’t really matter anymore. In my opinion, you cannot deny that Bonds/McGwire/Sosa changed the game more than anyone since the Babe.

2. Who are two important figures in baseball today?

- Ohtani.
- Steve Chohen. More on him later.

3. When and where was baseball founded/created?

- oh man. 1880’s? Abner Doubleday? I think his involvement has been debunked, but I don’t have another answer.

4. What are two issues that MLB faces that impact the game's health?

- Steve Cohen. And as most of you know I’m a Mets fan, but even I’m not sure that he’s good for the game. When you have one owner that is so rich that the existing mechanisms in the CBA don’t really matter, well, I think that’s a problem. I’m not sure how you fix it though.
- is baseball an old (maybe white?) man’s sport? It’s already barely covered on ESPN and such, my fear is that it’s becoming a regional sport. Especially in regards to tv networks and tv contracts. Which leads to the question is if my son/daughter going to care about baseball the same way I do? Some of the recent rule changes have helped, but it’s still a sport with a lot of dead time. Which gives people time to change the channel, look at their phone, etc.

5. What is a baseball stadium where your grandparents could have seen a baseball game before your parents were born?

- Sioux Falls Birdcage. Probably not the answer you were looking for. But hey, SoDak rules. If you haven’t been here, you just don’t know!

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #10 – January 30, 2024, 11:21:12 AM

Quote from: David Johnson – on January 29, 2024, 10:51:04 AM

1. Babe Ruth - 182.6 lifetime WAR. Curt Flood - Flood v Kuhn. My favorite quote here is Louis Hoynes saying that if Flood won his case, that baseball "would be a shambles." Some shambles. Satchel Paige - Jackie Robinson is too obvious, I'll take the guy who laid a lot of groundwork for Robinson.
2. Bill James because of, well, Moneyball and the reinvention of baseball statistics. Conversely Rob Manfred is incredibly important and yet a total moron. How can a commissioner not care about the sport he commissions?
3. Cooperstown, NY. Which is an absolutely wonderful place to visit.
4. Fan disinterest - while I think the recent timing changes may help solve this problem, baseball now competes against so many other entertainment options. #2 is a personal pet peeve, but half of the umpires in MLB are awful and it is painful to watch. They are worse lightning rods than just about anyone playing today.
5. The original Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds.

OMG
David - yes. Umpires are awful. Good call.

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #11 – January 30, 2024, 11:46:33 AM

I'm going to answer before I see other answers, then go back...

1. Who are the three most influential people in the history of the game?
Man, I wonder what you'd get if you prefaced this question with "Besides the Babe and Jackie..." cuz I imagine those two are mentioned by nearly everyone. I'm curious as to people's 3rd pick. Mine, sadly, would be Victor Conte. While he may not have been the first to introduce PED's to the game, he was certainly the most widely known.

2. Who are two important figures in baseball today?
Tony Clark and Rob Manfred.

3. When and where was baseball founded/created?
I think in Boston? Brooklyn? I'm gonna look it up now... OH! Cooperstown. Of course.

4. What are two issues that MLB faces that impact the game's health?
I think baseball got soft with the Posey rule and the Utley rule. If by "health," one means survival and growth, baseball needs to - at the very least - allow contact between players in the game. Couple those rule changes with replay, and now we never see managers get into it with umps, either. I get the "why" of it all - for player safety and getting calls correct. But I don't think any of those 3 rules have helped increase interest in the game. And therefore, they're not healthy to the sport in that regard.

5. What is a baseball stadium where your grandparents could have seen a baseball game before your parents were born?
Warren Ballpark: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/warren-ballpark-arizona

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #12 – January 30, 2024, 08:40:31 PM

You've given a lot of interesting and thoughtful answers here. In the future, I might change the question about influential people in baseball's history to exclude the obvious choices of Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson. However, what is interesting to me is that if I were asked that question, I most likely would not include Robinson in my top 3 (he would be in my top 10, and most likely in my top 6).

I'll give feedback to your comments later, along with my thoughts on the questions. I'll also share my student responses (one gave me at least five different nicknames for Babe Ruth).

However, before I do that, I'll include my syllabus and the bibliography I give my class. If there are any of your favorite baseball books that you think should be added, let me know since I'm also looking for resources for the class.

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #13 – January 31, 2024, 05:29:55 AM

I would like to add Charley Finley to my list of influential people in baseball history. He brought color to a gray and white game.

Re: Baseball Questions

Reply #14 – January 31, 2024, 05:15:23 PM

I'll take an incomplete/partial credit bc I don't have complete thoughts, so only partial responses:

1. Who are the three most influential people in the history of the game?
I did think Branch Rickey over Jackie as well--he'd have found another player. Not sure the other two.

2. Who are two important figures in baseball today?
the commissioner + not sure whether I would say the super-est agent or the oligarch class buying teams (like petrodollars buying EPL)

3. When and where was baseball founded/created?
England?

4. What are two issues that MLB faces that impact the game's health?
always thought fantasy destroyed team loyalty, and gambling+data centers only accelerate the breakdown of MLB into granular bits (no pun intended). Yes, this is hypocritical of me. Umpire egos (see commish).

5. What is a baseball stadium where your grandparents could have seen a baseball game before your parents were born?
I don't know where the US military bases were in Asia back then, but maybe wherever US pilots fighting for China were based.