Math in Baseball In 1858 a man named Henry Chadwick wrote the rule book for baseball The rules Chadwick recorded have changed slightly over the years but the game of baseball is still very much the same as it was in the 19th century Let’s take a look at how a baseball game works 6 Cooperstown New York is the location of Doubleday Field and the National Baseball Hall of Fame
in Action STEM It is believed that the first game of modern baseball was played in 1845 in Hoboken New Jersey Using that date as a starting point can you figure out how old baseball is Let’s assume that the year you are reading this book is 2014 Now all you have to do to find the answer is to subtract the smaller number from the larger number 2014 1845 169 Baseball is about 169 years old 7
In a baseball game there are two teams These teams take turns playing offense and defense The team playing defense has 9 players on the field in the following postitions pitcher catcher first baseman second baseman third baseman shortstop right fielder center fielder left fielder Meanwhile the team playing offense sends batters to home plate The batters attempt to hit the balls thrown by the pitcher to the catcher The distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is 60 5 feet 18 44 meters Professional pitchers are capable of throwing a baseball at incredible speeds Much of the time these pitches reach velocities of over 90 miles per hour 145 kilometers per hour Center Fielder Second Baseman Right Fielder Left Fielder Shortstop Third Baseman Pitcher First Baseman Batter Catcher 8
If this boy delivers a pitch that travels at 60 miles per hour 97 kilometers per hour how quickly will it reach the batter STEM in Action If a baseball is traveling at 90 mph how long does it take to travel 60 5 feet It is important to understand that we are comparing a very large value the speed of the ball to a much smaller value the distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate In order to calculate a sensible answer you’re going to have to convert some numbers In one mile there are 5,280 feet How many feet are there in 90 miles 90 x 5,280 475,200 So a baseball traveling at 90 mph is traveling at 475,200 feet per hour As you can imagine a baseball traveling at that speed won’t take very long to reach the catcher’s mitt In fact it’s pointless to talk about it in terms of a measurement per hour Rather a baseball traveling at that speed will reach home plate in a matter of seconds 9
