Posts Tagged ‘baseball history’
“I have no trouble with the twelve inches between my elbow and my palm. It’s the seven inches between my ears that’s bent.”*…
Humans are the only species that can throw well enough to kill rivals and prey. Because throwing requires the highly coordinated and extraordinarily rapid movements of multiple body parts, there was likely a long history of selection favoring the evolution of expert throwing in our ancestors.
Most people probably don’t think throwing is important outside of sports because they’ve forgotten its usefulness. Part of that has to do with the fact that people have been using weapons like bows and firearms for centuries.
But before the invention of these weapons, our hunter-gatherer ancestors threw darts, knives, spears, sticks and stones at rivals and prey. Even today, stones remain effective weapons; you’ll see protesters heave stones at police and stoning used as a form of punishment in some places.
Darwin considered the evolution of throwing to be critical to the success of our ancestors. As he wrote in “The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex,” it allowed “the progenitors of man” to better “defend themselves with stones or clubs, to attack their prey, or otherwise to obtain food.”
The development of the skill begins with the evolution of bipedal locomotion, or walking on two feet. This happened about 4 million years ago, and it freed the arms and hands to learn new abilities like making tools, carrying goods and throwing…
Why humans are the only species that can throw fast enough to kill: “How humans became the best throwers on the planet.”
Read the underlying research in The Quarterly Review of Biology here and here.
See also: “The Long, Sweaty History of Working Out.”
* Tug McGraw (pictured above; source)
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As we wind up, we might recall that it was on this date in 1931 that then-17 year old Jackie Mitchell, of the Chattanooga Lookouts (AA), pitched in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees. One of the first female pitchers in professional baseball history, she became legendary when she struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession.
Let the games begin…
click here for larger interactive version
If every state in the union had to choose an official sport, what would they pick? Football, football, lacrosse, football, skiing, football, football … and Alaska gets the one with sled dogs. But what if you had to assign one sport to each state, and could use each of those sports just once? How would you disperse our favorite pastimes among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.?
Now that’s a more interesting parlor game. Only 12 states have bothered to name any kind of “official sport,” which leaves a lot of room to impose one’s sporting will on the American people…
And that’s exactly what Josh Levin, executive editor at Slate, has done. Read the rules he followed and explore the results in detail at “The United Sports of America- If each state could have only one sport, what would it be?”
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As we oil our wheels, we might recall that it was on this date in 1845 that the first known baseball box score appeared in the New York Morning News, a month after the first set of rules were written by Alexander Cartwright and some his fellow Knickerbockers.
“Altering life by holding it still”*…
The first of a series of multimedia essays on photography and photojournalism; quoth Leica…
Building on their shared history, Magnum and Leica agreed to collaborate on a series of projects that continue their longstanding dedication to independent documentary photography. Beginning in the spring of 2011, Leica will sponsor the creation of a series of independently-produced multimedia essays that will highlight the personal journeys and insatiable curiosity of Magnum photographers. The stories will be published at the homepages of Magnum Photos, LFI Magazine, and Leica.
And for readers who are inspired, some riveting advice from the extraordinary Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee, the photo-documentarian of the underside of New York life in the 30s, 40s, and 50s…
* “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still”- Dorothea Lange
As we adjust our f-stops, we might recall that it was on this date in 1947 that player-manager Mel Ott of the (then New York) Giants hit his 511th and final career home run. Ott, the first National League player to hit 500 home runs, managed the Giants from 1942-48, during which stretch the Giant’s best finish was 3rd place. It was in refeence to Ott’s easy-going stewardship of the Giants that then-Dodgers manager Leo Durocher made his oft-quoted (albeit somewhat out-of-context) remark, “Nice guys finish last!”
Baseball card on which Ott struck an uncharacteristically-fierce pose (source)
Matchbox History…
A retired farmer has spent more than 30 years building an enormous scale model of a Biblical temple. Alec Garrard, 78, has dedicated a massive 33,000 hours to constructing the ancient Herod’s Temple, which measures a whopping 20ft by 12ft. The pensioner has hand-baked and painted every clay brick and tile and even sculpted 4,000 tiny human figures to populate the courtyards…
Mr Garrard, from Norfolk England, spent more than three years researching the Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans 2000 years ago and deemed to be one of the most remarkable buildings of ancient times. He then started to construct the amazing 1:100 scale model, which is now housed in a huge building in his back garden. “Everything is made by hand. I cut plywood frames for the walls and buildings and all the clay bricks and tiles were baked in the oven then stuck together,” he said. Mr Garrard sculpted and painted 4,000 figures, measuring just half an inch and all wearing their correct costumes including 32 versions of Jesus… “I have been working on it for decades but it will never be finished as I’m always finding something new to add.”
More photos and background at Life to the Full Church. [TotH to Presurfer]
For similarly amazing miniatures, see “This one makes you smaller…” and “Pencil it in…”
As we clean our magnifying glasses, we might recall that it was on this date in 1989 that Orel Hershiser’s streak of consecutive scoreless innings pitched ended at 60, a record that still stands. The streak began on August 30, 1988 and spanned mostly the end of the 88 season– in which Hershiser turned in one of the best single seasons in pitching history. He was unanimously selected as the Cy Young Award winner, with a record of 23–8 and a 2.26 ERA; he won (his first) Golden Glove; and he became the only player to receive the Cy Young award, the Championship Series MVP award, and the World Series MVP award in the same season.
Hershiser on the mound (source)
Meditations on First Philosophy/The Love Below…
So, it turns out that Rene Descartes and Andre Benjamin of Outkast have in common rather unconvincing proofs…
From (medical student and nice guy) Sanjay Kulkarni’s wonderful web comic Cowbirds in Love.
As we ponder the the depths of demonstrability, we might recall that it was on this date in 1962 that Izvestia informed its Russian readership that baseball had actually been invented by Russians (and transmitted to the U.S. by emigres who’d brought a 14th century game, lapta, with them).
A game of lapta, c. 1900 (source)
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