St. Louis Cardinals

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St. Louis Cardinals

Name: ______

You are an aspiring sports journalist for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. For your first piece, you want to write an opinion column about a hotly debated issue among Cardinals fans. You need data to back up your opinions.

Your Challenge: Who is the Cardinals greatest hitter of all time?

LEVEL 1

This data table shows some of the top Cardinals players.

Years Games Home Strike Player At-Bats Hits RBIs with STL Played Runs Outs Stan Musial 22 3,026 10,972 3,630 475 1,951 696 Lou Brock 16 2,289 9,135 2,713 129 814 1469 Ozzie Smith 15 1,990 7,160 1,944 27 664 423 Willie McGee 13 1,661 5,734 1,683 63 678 926 Yadier Molina 11 1,291 4,437 1,261 96 574 444

One of the most commonly used statistics in baseball is a player’s batting average. It is calculated by taking the ratio of hits to at-bats, and expressing the ratio as a decimal rounded to the nearest thousandth.

1. a) Calculate the career batting average for each Cardinals player below. b) Then, rank the players from highest batting average to lowest. The first one is done for you. Ratio Batting Player Hits At-Bats Rank (as fraction) Average 3630 Stan Musial 3,630 10,972 0.331 10972

Lou Brock

Ozzie Smith

Willie McGee

Yadier Molina

1 Updated July 2014 © NextLesson2014

St. Louis Cardinals

LEVEL 2

It’s important to get hits, but it’s just as important to NOT strike out at the plate.

2. a) Find each player’s hit to strikeout ratio below.

b) Then express the ratio as a unit rate (round to the nearest whole number).

c) Compare the unit rates to rank each player from highest hit to strikeout rate to lowest.

Player Hits Strikeouts Ratio Unit Rate Rank 3630 5 Stan Musial 3,630 696 696 1

Lou Brock

Ozzie Smith

Willie McGee

Yadier Molina

3. Which Cardinals player had the best hits to strikeout ratio? Explain what the ratio means. (start your answer with: “For every…”)

Baseball managers also want players who are consistent hitters. 4. Calculate the average number of hits per year for each player, rounded to the nearest whole number.

Average Hits Player Hits Years Played Rank per Year Stan Musial 3,630 22 165 Lou Brock Ozzie Smith Willie McGee Yadier Molina

Answer the questions below using the data you found.

5. Which Cardinals player was the most consistent hitter over the years? How do you know?

2 Updated July 2014 © NextLesson2014 St. Louis Cardinals

Challenge

Stan Musial has the most home runs and RBIs in Cardinals history, but he also played in the most games.

1. Complete the tables below to find out how many home runs and RBIs each player would get if they played as many games as Stan the Man.

Adjusted Home Player Home Runs Games Played Rank Runs Stan Musial 475 3026 475

Lou Brock

Ozzie Smith

Willie McGee

Yadier Molina

2. Based on the data above, which Cardinals player is the best homerun hitter? Explain how you know.

Finale

You could give students one of the following ideas or have them choose themselves.

1. Use the data and rankings to write the opinion piece for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch answering the question, “Who is the greatest offensive Cardinals player of all time?” Back up your choice with the numbers, and use a persuasive voice.

2. Baseball isn’t just about offense – defense is just as important. Research and determine the greatest defensive player in Cardinals history. Use statistics to back up your choice.

3. Research the salary of each of the players you ranked. Create an infographic showing which players were the best value for the team economically.

4. During World War II, many professional baseball players enlisted in the armed forces, which led to the creation of the All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League. Use a digital storytelling tool to present the career of one of the AAGPBL’s notable players.

5. Investigate the physics behind home runs to decide: is it harder to hit a home run today than it was in baseball’s early days?

6. Research promising players in AAA baseball. Create a presentation showing which player has the most promise in the major leagues. Use offensive and defensive statistics to support your choice.

At-bats – a player’s turn at batting. RBI – (runs batted in) a statistic used to credit a batter when the outcome of his at- Batting average – this is a statistics that bat results in a run being scored. measures the performance of a baseball hitter, calculated by the number of runs Run – a point being scored by making it divided by the number of at-bats. round the bases and back to the plate after batting. Hits – a hit is given to a batter who successfully reaches first base after hitting Sports journalist - someone who writes the ball. about sports for newspapers or magazines or prepares sports news for broadcast (see Homerun - a fair hit that allows the batter to also Job Background). make a complete circuit of the bases without stopping and score a run. Strike - a pitch that is counted against the batter, in particular one that the batter Pitch – a ball thrown to a batter. swings at and misses, or that passes through the strike zone without the batter swinging, Plate - a flat often five-sided piece of hard or that the batter hits foul rubber or other material that serves to define the area over which the pitcher must Strike out – an out called when a batter throw the ball for a strike and that a base accumulates three strikes. runner must safely reach on his way from third base to score a run.