3/31/2021 Practice

Discover the history of the baseball glove! Learn about its invention and evolution.

Instructions You will be working on this practice WizerMe today.-Pace yourself.-Double-check your answers.-Get into the habit of re-reading and annotating the passages.-Jot down any unknown words and use context clues to determine the meaning of the words.-Use process of elimination.I will post the responses tomorrow. Baseball Smarts by Bill Wise 1. Put yourself in Charlie Waitt’s shoes for a moment.2. It’s 1875 and you play big-league baseball for the St. Louis Brown Stockings. You’re a 21-yearold outfielder who’ll be filling in at first base for your team’s next game.3. The thought of playing first base makes you wince. You’ve played there twice before, and it’s nothing like playing the outfield. At first base, you’ll be catching sharply hit ground balls, whistling line drives, and stinging throws, all from close range. The last time you played first base, your hands ached for days.4. In 1875, baseball is played bare-handed!5. Charlie knows that stopping a baseball without a glove is tricky. Players hold their hands in the shape of a box to keep the ball from hitting their palms. This works well for outfielders; by the time the ball has traveled that far, it usually has slowed down quite a bit.6. Infielders and catchers, however, aren’t so lucky. They often get cuts, bruises, and even broken bones from the hard-hit balls.7. Players think the banged-up fingers and hands are just a part of the game. But Charlie Waitt decides to do something about it.8. Waitt takes an ordinary leather glove and cuts off the fingers. He hopes that the leather will reduce the sting of the ball.9. Other players and the fans watching the game don’t like Waitt’s idea. They think wearing a glove is a sign of weakness. But Waitt finds that the glove does make a difference, and he continues to wear it in other games.10. Eventually, other players begin to wear gloves, too. Albert Spalding, a star pitcher for the Boston Red Stockings, asked Waitt about his glove.11. “Waitt confessed that he was ashamed to wear it, but he said he had it on to save his hand,” Spalding later wrote. “He also admitted that he had chosen a color as inconspicuous as possible because he didn’t care to attract attention.”12. Waitt’s invention made a lasting impression on Spalding. Later, after becoming a first baseman, Spalding began wearing a glove. But he went one step further and added a thin layer of padding inside the glove for more protection.13. Spalding was highly respected, and his use of the glove convinced others that it was all right to wear one. Some players even began to wear gloves on both hands.14. This new Spalding-style glove worked fine for everyone except the catchers. They needed more protection. Recognizing this need, former player Harry Decker designed a heavily padded mitt in 1890. It wasn’t nearly as big as today’s catcher’s mitts, but it was a big improvement over the thin gloves worn by the rest of the fielders.15. By 1896, every big-league player was using a glove. There were far fewer injuries and errors as a result.16. Albert Spalding went on to found the Spalding Sporting Goods Company. But what about Charlie Waitt?17. Charlie played in 113 professional games from 1875 to 1883, never spending more than one season with any team. He was what baseball folks call a journeyman ballplayer.18. A newspaper article in 1882 declared that “a more honest and harder-working player than Charles Waitt would be hard to find.”19. It would also be hard to find a player who did more to change the way a baseball is caught.“Baseball Smarts” by Bill Wise, from Highlights for Children, April 2004, copyright © 2004 by Highlights for Children, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Highlights for Children, Inc. Two different types of baseball mitts are compared in Paragraph 14 Paragraph 15 Paragraph 16 Paragraph 17 What method does the author use to show the reader how Charlie Waitt developed his idea? He recreates Waitt’s thoughts. He interviews Waitt’s teammates. He describes Waitt’s glove. He discusses Waitt’s baseball-playing techniques. Read the sentences from the passage.Charlie played in 113 professional games from 1875 to 1883, never spending more than one season with any team. He was what baseball folks call a journeyman ballplayer. What does the word journeyman MOST LIKELY mean in Paragraph 17? brilliant and colorful creative and artistic experienced and reliable young and untrained Which sentence from the passage BEST expresses the author’s opinion about Charlie Waitt’s contribution to baseball? Waitt takes an ordinary leather glove and cuts off the fingers. Other players and fans watching the game don't like Waitt's idea. He was what baseball folks call a journeyman ballplayer It would also be hard to find a player who did more to change the way a baseball is caught. Based on the passage, the reader can conclude that wearing leather gloves on both hands is still a common practice in baseball today. many popular baseball players wore leather gloves in 1874. outfielders are more likely to wear leather gloves than infielders while playing baseball. wearing leather gloves has made the game of baseball safer. What is MOST LIKELY the author’s main purpose for writing the passage? to give readers a better understanding of life in the 1900s to tell the interesting life story of a famous baseball player to describe baseball from its beginnings up until the present day to offer information about a mostly forgotten time in sports history Read this sentence from Paragraph 11. He also admitted that he had chosen a color as inconspicuous as possible because he didn’t care to attract attention. What does the word inconspicuous mean in that sentence? bright simple not easily seen fitting a pattern In Paragraphs 1 through 7, how does the author MOST often appeal to the readers’ emotions? by describing intense physical sensations by offering key details about Charlie’s past by giving the historical information about baseball by listing the different positions of baseball players Which statement shows how Charlie Waitt feels about wearing a glove when playing baseball? He will use it when playing the outfield. Wearing a glove is a sign of weakness. He doesn’t want to attract attention. The thought of it makes him wince. The MAIN contrast made in Paragraphs 9 and 13 is between playing catcher and playing first base. wearing gloves and not wearing gloves. the glove invented by Albert Spalding and the glove invented by Harry Decker. playing for the St. Louis Brown Stockings and playing for the Boston Red Stockings. The information in “Baseball Smarts” could best be used for a student research project on the rules of baseball. great baseball players the history of baseball. great baseball teams. Based on the passage, which of Waitt’s qualities does the author MOST admire? his popularity his athleticism his problem-solving ability his self-confidence As described in Paragraph 14, how was Harry Decker’s glove different from Charlie Waitt’s glove? It fit the left hand. It had thick padding. It protected the fingers. It was made of leather. What type of writing is this passage? narrative expository business writing critique Which statement BEST summarizes Paragraph 14? In 1890, everyone but catchers used the Spalding style glove. The catchers needed gloves that were not as thin as the gloves worn by the other fielders. The heavily padded mitt that was invented was not as big as catchers’ mitts are today. In 1890, Harry Decker designed a padded catcher’s glove that offered more protection than other gloves. What structure of organization does the author use in the passage? compare and contrast chronological order opinion and support order of importance What would a baseball player from 1875 be unfamiliar with in this article? Boston Red Stockings First base St. Louis Brown Stockings Baseball glove