Baseball Cards + Math = Fun

[jbhofmann]

Kids really enjoyed using them to solve...

Mean
Median
Mode
Maximum
Minimum
Range

...of their player. We talked yesterday about how Babe Ruth himself was an outlier of sorts (his HR totals compare to contemporaries) while Roger Maris' 1961 HR total was an outlier compared to his data.

Fun times.

[begsu1013]

learning is so much easier when associated w/ a relatable subject matter.

very cool!

[jmb]

My daughter was learning about Black History month yesterday and she told the teacher that Jackie Robinson was the first black MLB player. The teacher asked her how she knew that. Her reply was "looking at baseball cards with my daddy."

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by jmb

My daughter was learning about Black History month yesterday and she told the teacher that Jackie Robinson was the first black MLB player. The teacher asked her how she knew that. Her reply was "looking at baseball cards with my daddy."

Too bad there aren't any vintage cards of Moses Fleetwood Walker, then that would have really impressed the teacher if she knew about him.

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

Too bad there aren't any vintage cards of Moses Fleetwood Walker, then that would have really impressed the teacher if she knew about him.

Another University of Michigan connection...

Z

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Andy

Too bad there aren't any vintage cards of Moses Fleetwood Walker, then that would have really impressed the teacher if she knew about him.

Andy, I'd be impressed if the teacher even heard of Moses Fleetwood.

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by Fred

Andy, I'd be impressed if the teacher even heard of Moses Fleetwood.

Right! That is because "Black History" seems to skip from the 1860's to the 1940's.

[jmb]

The majority of the population aren't baseball historians like the folks here, let alone my 7 year old. I should have known that somebody would have something to say. There was a reason I put MLB and not organized. Flame away.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by jmb

The majority of the population aren't baseball historians like the folks here, let alone my 7 year old. I should have known that somebody would have something to say. There was a reason I put MLB and not organized. Flame away.

It's a chat board. People have things to say.

I didn't see any flames whatsoever only a few regular ole comments.

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by jmb

The majority of the population aren't baseball historians like the folks here, let alone my 7 year old. I should have known that somebody would have something to say. There was a reason I put MLB and not organized. Flame away.

I think that's fantastic about your daughter, and I don't think anybody here is saying otherwise, let alone flaming you. Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday Walker both played in 1884 for Toledo in the American Association, which was a major league at the time, thus part of MLB. It was considered a major league by contemporaries, and it was officially classified as one retroactively by MLB in 1969. The Pirates, Dodgers, Reds, and Cardinals were all originally part of the American Association before moving to the National League during a period when the two leagues were at war for the best players and teams.

If anybody doesn't want to consider the 1884 American Association a major league, William Edward White, who was the son of a white plantation owner and his black slave, played in one game for the Providence Grays of the National League in 1879, and thus was (arguably) the real first black player in MLB, predating even the Walker brothers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Edward_White

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by jmb

The majority of the population aren't baseball historians like the folks here, let alone my 7 year old. I should have known that somebody would have something to say. There was a reason I put MLB and not organized. Flame away.

I didn't mean to dismiss your comment, or degrade your daughter's moment.

I was just stating that it may have been more plausible that she mention Walker if he had a vintage card (not just modern tribute cards) and how impressed a teach would be to learn something from a 7 year old.

My follow up comment about the teacher not even knowing is that teacher's only know what is taught to them. I had grown up believing that no African Americans had played in the MLB prior to Jackie Robinson because that is what is taught in the school system.

Again nothing against your daughter or her moment as school. I apologize if it came off as my correcting her. Just random thoughts typed out between doing actual work.

[bn2cardz]

Since I lead this on a slight tangent I will get back on topic:


When I learned averages and percentages in school I was excited to finally know what a batting average actually meant. I remember trying to figure out how often someone got a hit out of how often he had an AB and being surprised that it matched up with the BA.

Had I had a teacher that used the backs of cards to teach me math, maybe I wouldn't have been so surprised that BA wasn't just a made up number. Now if only someone could explain the math behind WAR. haha

[pokerplyr80]

I think this was a great post, and a great idea. I would have loved a math lesson as a kid that used baseball cards. And I'm sure I would have paid a lot more attention and perhaps even learn something along the way.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

I don't think I knew that there were African American ball players before JR. Very cool. What happened to our country that it was ok in the late 1800's but not after until Jackie broke the color barrier again? So unfortunate not to have all the great black players play alongside Cobb, Ruth, Mathewson etc.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

I don't think I knew that there were African American ball players before JR. Very cool. What happened to our country that it was ok in the late 1800's but not after until Jackie broke the color barrier again? So unfortunate not to have all the great black players play alongside Cobb, Ruth, Mathewson etc.

Actually they did.

Research into the barnstorming trips to Cuba in which the Mlb (including cobb and Ruth) played Cuban Black Stars games. The best black players of the time including Pop Lloyd would travel down for these as well. It's fun info.

Actually Cobb played them and had an average game in a Tigers win. Ruth went down with John McGraws Giants in 1920 ( He was paid 20k to join for the trip) and went hitless. However Cristobal Torriente hit 3 homers and showed up the kid.

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

I don't think I knew that there were African American ball players before JR. Very cool. What happened to our country that it was ok in the late 1800's but not after until Jackie broke the color barrier again? So unfortunate not to have all the great black players play alongside Cobb, Ruth, Mathewson etc.

The subject is very complicated. The short answer: the 1896 Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson, institutionalized "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and whites which extended onto the baseball diamond. This decision was not reversed until the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. The Board of Education, which ushered in the Civil Rights Movement.

Surprisingly many black ballplayers played alongside whites in minor league and semi-professional baseball from 1890-1946. Some more successful than others; the stories of William Clarence Matthews, "Big Chief" Dick Brookins, Charlie Grant, and Jimmy Claxton are hard to believe. During this period, attempts to "pass" as Native American were the most common methods used to integrate.

Back to the OP, this is a fantastic idea for students. Kudos!

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

I don't think I knew that there were African American ball players before JR. Very cool. What happened to our country that it was ok in the late 1800's but not after until Jackie broke the color barrier again? So unfortunate not to have all the great black players play alongside Cobb, Ruth, Mathewson etc.

I think it should be called the African-American barrier because a lot of dark-skinned Cuban players were in the majors before Robinson. Look at a picture of Tommy de la Cruz from the 1944 Reds. He had African heritage and looked the part, but he was from Cuba, so he was allowed to play.

Even before him, the original Bobby Estallela(grandfather of the Giants/Phillies catcher) was part African and he put in eight seasons of baseball before Robinson supposedly broke the color barrier. Robinson broke the African-American barrier.

Color barrier makes it sound like only white players were playing before 1946 and we know that plenty of Latino and Native American players were also in the league during that time. I don't think they would have classified themselves as white.