Literacy course to use America’s game as springboard
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Hillsborough High School students will have the chance to study Abner Doubleday, Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson next fall.
Not the long home run or the steal of home, perhaps, but a lot of reading and thinking about the game and its meaning in society.
The school board has approved a literacy course, called “Baseball: The Soul of America,” to be taught by 15-year teacher Shawn Layton. Now, all it needs are at least 15 sophomores to seniors to choose it as an elective.
The proposal promises to mix in a little history, sociology, math — perhaps even a little physics and economics — in exploring the great American pastime.
”Baseball has been and forever will be linked with America,” says the course description. “From racial integration, to the development of its player union and the “colonization” of Asian and Latino markets, to the increasing reliance on statistical data in the workplace, the history of baseball is interwoven with the history of America itself.”
”Students will learn how the game spread from America’s cities to the rural outposts of America thanks to the outbreak of the Civil War which will lead up to the game’s first great star in Babe Ruth and what Ruth meant for America and the idea of American celebrity in the early years of the 20th Century.”
”It’s going to be a fun course,” said Sheila Cooper, K-12 language arts supervisor.
Mr. Layton modeled the proposal after a “teacher as scholar” course he took at The College of New Jersey four or five years ago.
The course description says course will explore some of the myths of sport, and why they are important.
Mr. Layton said he may explore things like why “The Natural” motion picture script deviated from the novel in making the central figure into a hero. In the movie, Roy Hobbs hobbles to the plate to hit the dramatic home run; in the book, the hero never makes it out of the hospital. Why the change, Mr. Layton may ask his students, and what does it say about how people feel about baseball?
He probably will explore literature about culture and sociology in exploring the Negro Leagues and into Jackie Robinson’s breaking through the color barrier. He may turn to the “Moneyball” book to examine how Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s found a way to use statistics to build a winning team while financially constrained, and use it bring in math teacher colleague Chris Guzy to explain and challenge about WHIPs, WARs and BABIPs.
Or physics, as in why a curved bat works to hit a round ball. Or guest speakers from the game.
Baseball gives opportunities to study the labor movement and free agency, “as a window on the development of our country,” he said.
Mr. Layton, who co-sponsors an extracurricular club that uses drafts, strategy and sabermetrics in a fantasy baseball alternative called Diamond Mind, says, “There is so much to choose from, it’s hard to pick.”
Ms. Cooper will insist on informational texts with the fiction, perhaps with titles like “Baseball a Literary Anthology” Baseball a History of America’s Game.”
’“”One consideration for students will be the prospect of a lot of reading, on top of other required English assignments.
”Some kids may want to join because they love baseball and they’ll be reading books not read in a typical class,” said Mr. Layton.
Whatever is decided as course material, Ms. Cooper has the job of reviewing it first.
”Apparently I’ll be reading a lot about baseball this spring,” she said, hinting she may look for some books on tape.
”We try to find something that will pique their interest,” said Ms. Cooper. “I think this baseball course is definitely going to do the trick.”