(2009)  William Schmidt, Ph.D. www.tigersoft.com 


            Baseball dates back to 1845, when New Yorker Alexander Cartright published a set of
rules for the game.  The game was played during the civil war by teams on both sides of
the Mason-Dixon Line.   The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first professional baseball team
in 1989.  Several generations, I was chosen in the fourth grade to be the catcher for the
College Hill Red in Cincinnati, because I was the only one of us that could usually catch
the ball.  Since I still remember losing by a score of 50-0 in three innings, it is a wonder
that I took to the game.  But I did.  I played regularly as catcher in high school and some in college.
I played against Pete Rose in high school.  We never got him out.  He was very aggressive.
He was the only player I ever played against who pulled his bat back in a deliberately menacing
way to force me to set up as catcher an extra 18 inches back from home plate.  I have
several fond memories of hitting home runs, getting a clean line-drive hit against a fast-baller,
who evetually pitched in the major league and won as many games as he lost; and playing
for a team that came from a 6-1 deficit in the last inning and won 7-6.  Baseball taught
perseverence, patience and practice.  Those are good habits to develop.

           Baseball taught me math and made me like statistics.  My grandfather ran "numbers" in the
favtory he worked at.  The pay off would go to the person who guess most closely the number
of runs scored in a given week.  He spent hours teach me arithmetic before I was taught in
school.  He gave me an edge in school.  Kids benefit enormously from actions like this
I came to realize.  I never bet on a baseball game.  But I would if I lived in Las Vegas.
Statistics help those who would see the future in lots of realms. including the stock market.

           My secret in getting a hit against the fast-baller who went on to the major leagues was
to start swinging as soon as he released the ball as though the ball was going to be a strike.
Hey, it worked!  He had a number of no-hitters and one-hitters the season we layed him.
I think his name was FAHL or FEHL.  Anyone know for sure?




  Here are some Blogs I have written about baseball. 
   There will be more.  I hope you enjoy them.

July 19, 2009           MAJOR LEAGUE BEAN-BALLERS:
                                  ROLE MODELS FOR "ATTEMPTED MURDER"

                                  EDGAR GONZALEZ OF THE PADRES IS THE LATEST VICTIM OF
                                  OF BASEBALL'S NOT-SO-SECRET TERRORISM.

August 27, 2008       Baseball's Huge Home Field Advantage:  Are Catcher's Signs Being Stolen?


July 31, 2007             Media Taboos: Baseball Spitting and Bush's Sado-Mascochistic Personality Disorder