Educational Curriculum Materials Combining Baseball with Education and Character Development for Capital Region Students ValleyCats School Day June 12, 2019 Page 1 2019 Education Day TABLE OF CONTENTS MATHEMATICS "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" - Baseball Math Problems …………………………………………………… Page 3 "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round" - Mileage Chart……………………………………………. Page 4 "Take the Field" - Baseball Field Dimensions……………………………………………………………………..Page 5 "Hey Batter, Batter" - Player Statistics……………………………………………………………………………. Page 6 ENGLISH "Keep Your Head in the Game" - Baseball Terms………………………………………………………………. Page 7 Baseball Scramble & Game Day Grammar…………………………………………………………………..... Page 8 "Great Game" - Write to the ValleyCats…………………………………………………………………………....Page 9 SCIENCE "Rain, Rain, Go Away" - Baseball & Weather …………………………………………………………………… Page 10 "Keep Your Eye on the Ball" - How Does a Baseball Curve? ………………………………………………….Page 11 GEOGRAPHY "On the Road Again" - New York-Penn League Geography…………………………………………………... Page 12 "Born in the USA (and Beyond)" - Where are the ValleyCats from? ………………………………………….Page 13-14 "From Sea to Shining Sea" - Plotting Minor League Baseball Teams……………………………………….... Page 15-16 HISTORY "Put Me in Coach" - Baseball in the Capital Region……………………………………………………………. Page 17 "Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack" – America’s Pastime……………………………………………. Page 18 ACTIVITIES "Who’s on First?" - Keeping Score…………………………………………………………………………………… Page 19 ValleyCats Word Search………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 20 Baseball Crossword Puzzle…………………………………………………………………………………….. Page 21 "Let’s Go Cats" - Color SouthPaw …………………………………………………………………………………. Page 22 Page 2 2019 Education Day BASEBALL MATH PROBLEMS "TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME" Directions: At a ValleyCats game, you can buy a souvenir, something to eat and something to drink. Based on the scenario below calculate how much money you would have left after the game. On your way to "The Joe", you stopped at your local bank to withdraw money from your savings account. You withdraw $100.00 for the ValleyCats game. During the 1st inning, you stop by the Concession Stand to purchase a hot dog and a bottle of soda. On your way back to your seat you stop into SouthPaw’s Den to purchase a hat. After the 3rd inning you buy a bag of peanuts and a baseball. During the 7th inning stretch you buy an ice cream sundae. After the ValleyCats victory you stop back into SouthPaw‟s Den to purchase a new ValleyCats t-shirt. ITEMS TO BUY COST Money Left Hot Dog, Bottled Soda, Hat _____ __________ Peanuts, Baseball _____ __________ Ice Cream Sundae _____ __________ T-Shirt _____ __________ What did you spend at the ValleyCats game? $________ Now you want to deposit the money you have left back into your savings account. How much money do you have left after the game to deposit? $________ ValleyCats Prices Hot Dog $2.50 Bottled Soda $2.50 T-Shirt $18.00 Ice Cream $3.50 French Fries $3.50 Hat $16.00 Peanuts $4.00 Popcorn $3.00 Baseball $6.00 Page 3 2019 Education Day MILEAGE CHART "THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND" Directions: The ValleyCats travel all over the northeast each summer. Answer the following questions using the mileage chart for the New York-Penn League. MILEAGE CHART ABD AUB BAT BRK CT HV WV LOW MV SC SI TC VT WIL Aberdeen x 315 330 160 295 220 243 370 350 165 155 305 450 165 Auburn 315 x 90 270 320 220 403 345 300 215 265 175 265 150 Batavia 330 90 x 365 400 310 320 425 215 225 230 255 345 165 Brooklyn 160 270 365 x 150 85 387 230 355 255 10 170 360 210 Connecticut 295 320 400 150 x 360 523 175 375 280 75 150 300 325 Hudson Valley 220 220 310 85 360 x 423 200 350 245 90 100 245 200 West Virginia 243 403 320 387 523 423 x 603 150 181 383 506 650 243 Lowell 370 345 425 230 175 200 603 x 495 440 235 175 200 400 Mahoning Valley 350 300 215 355 375 350 150 495 x 180 415 375 560 225 State College 165 215 225 255 280 245 181 440 180 x 250 330 475 60 Staten Island 155 265 230 10 75 90 383 235 415 250 x 170 315 205 Tri-City ValleyCats 305 175 255 170 150 100 506 175 375 330 170 x 150 265 Vermont 450 265 345 360 300 245 650 200 560 475 315 150 x 400 Williamsport 165 150 165 210 325 200 243 400 225 60 205 265 400 x 1. How many miles do the Tri-City ValleyCats have to travel to play the Vermont Lake Monsters? What is the total mileage roundtrip? 2. If Tri-City travels to play Hudson Valley on Friday through Sunday and then travels to Staten Island on Monday for games Monday - Wednesday, returning home after their game, how many total miles will the ValleyCats travel? 3. How many hours will it take to get to the Auburn Doubledays if the bus is traveling 60 miles an hour? 4. What team is the furthest from the Tri-City ValleyCats in miles? 5. What is the shortest trip in the entire league by miles? 6. What is the longest trip in the entire league by miles? Page 4 2019 Education Day BASEBALL FIELD DIMENSIONS "TAKE THE FIELD" Directions: Use the diagrams to help answer the following questions. 1. What shape is home plate? 2. Using the dimensions of home plate, what is the perimeter of home plate? 3. What is the distance in feet, a batter will run if he hits a double? 4. If a player hits 1 home run, a triple and strikes out in his other at bat, how many total feet will he run around the bases? 5. If you walked from home plate, down the foul line, to the left field fence, approximately how many yards would you walk? (Hint: 3 feet = 1 yard) 6. How much further, in feet, would a batter have to hit a home run to make it over the centerfield wall instead of in left or right field near the foul poles? Page 5 2019 Education Day BASEBALL TERMS "KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME" Directions: The following terms are important for any baseball fan to know in order to under- stand what is going on around them. Use the list as a spelling quiz, vocabulary, or have the students write an essay using 8 of the terms. TERMS Around the horn: Throwing the ball around the infield after an out. Ball: A pitch that is thrown outside the strike zone. Blooper: A soft, shallow outfield hit. Bunt: To hit a pitched ball lightly so that it does not go beyond the infield. Clean-up batter: The 4th hitter in the batting line-up. Closer: A relief pitcher who gets the final outs for a win. Double: A hit in which the batter reaches second base. Double play: A play by which two players are out on the same play. Error: A misplay by a fielder that should have been made. Grand slam: A home run that is hit with the bases loaded. Manager: The leader of the team who makes decisions and enforces rules. Pinch hit: To bat in place of a regular player. RBI: Run Batted In Relief Pitcher: The pitcher who replaces the starting pitcher when he is taken out of the game. Rookie: A first-year player. Sacrifice bunt: A play in which the batter bunts to move his teammates from one base to the next. Single: A hit in which the batter reaches first base. Steal: An attempt to advance to the next base without the ball being hit. Strike: A pitch that is thrown in the strike zone. Triple: A hit in which the batter reaches third base. Triple play: A play in which three players are put out on the same play. Umpire: The official who administers all the rules of the game. Walk: When a batter goes to first base because of four balls thrown by the pitcher. Page 7 2019 Education Day BASEBALL SCRAMBLE Directions: Part of the fun of going to ValleyCats baseball games is learning the words used during the game. See if you can figure out what the mixed-up baseball terms are below! untb lbudoe kalw albl rrero negsli tba moeh BIR eksrit emhourn ogvel lesablab levcalyast seab thapith drngamlas egma pirlet cthpier eataemtm inw oplobre atbret GAME DAY GRAMMAR Directions: Read the following sentences. Correct any mistakes you find or identify the parts of the sentence. 1. Circle the nouns in the following sentence: The player wearing the white jersey hit the ball over the fence. 2. Underline the verbs in the following sentence: The runner stole second base after the catcher dropped the ball. 3. Insert the proper punctuation in the following sentence: The batter swung and the umpire yelled STRIKE THREE 4. Correct any mistakes that you find in spelling, punctuation, or capitalization: SouthPaw iz over 6 feat tall and is the ValleyCats‟ biggest fan! You’ll see him dance on the dugout at every valleycats gam Make sure to give him a big hihg five when you sea him SouthPaw luvs base ball Page 8 2019 Education Day WRITE TO THE VALLEYCATS "GREAT GAME!" Directions: SouthPaw and the ValleyCats players love to hear from our biggest fans! Use a piece of paper to write a letter to your favorite ValleyCats player or mascot. Tell them about your favorite part of the ValleyCats game, why you like baseball, or why it is important to be a team player. Bring your letter to the stadium or mail it to the team at this address: SouthPaw (or Player) c/o Tri-City ValleyCats School Day 80 Vandenburg Ave Troy, NY 12180 Page 9 2019 Education Day BASEBALL & WEATHER "RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY" Directions: The ValleyCats rely on more than talent.