1ST INNING:

I LOVE basEbaLL! I’m the mascot for my favorite team, the OakLand a’s.

Complete the next activity to learn some of my other favorite things.

Team

VehIcle

SUBJecT

Food

SPoRT

Match my favorites with the pictures below. I’ll get you started with my favorite vehicle, the smILIng ChEVrOn Car!

WOW! baseball players are so FasT! I love to watch #4, my

good friend COCO CrIsP speed around the bases.

have you ever wondered

how fast they are running? speed is a

factor of distance and time. here

is how we calculate it.

COCO’s up to bat! He hits the ball and runs to 1st base (90 ft) in 5 seconds. Let’s calculate his speed.

This means he is running 18 feet every second!

What would COCO’s speed be if he hits a double, running to 2nd base (180 ft) in10 seconds?

90 ft 5 sec 18 ft/sec

2Nd INNING:

That must take a lot of energy to run so fast.Can you SENSE what’s coming next?

3Rd INNING:

baseball is a game of sEnsEs. Our 5 senses

allow us to protect ourselves and enjoy the world around us. Let’s learn what they are.

between the players on the field, and the fans in the stands, we use all 5 sEnsEs. Fill in the sense

being used for each of the examples below.

A baseman, TaGGING the batter at 1st.

SIGhT: Everything we SEE with our eyes.

Smell: Scents we SMELL with our nose.

ToUch: Anything we fEEL with our body.

heaRING: LIStENINg for noises with our ears.

TaSTe: What we tAStE with our tongue.

A pitcher, lISTeNING for the call.

An A’s fan, eaTING a hotdog in the stands.

An outfielder, WaTchING the ball drop.

leFT WaS eaSIeR! this means you’d pitch

with your left, and wear your glove on your right.

Trace the bases

using your LEFT hand

Why does a.J. grIFFIn pitch with his right hand and sEan dOOLITTLE with his left? most pitchers have a stronger arm that they throw with. This is usually the hand that they write with too! Let’s find your strong side!

RIGhT WaS eaSIeR! this means you’d pitch

with your right, and wear your glove on your left.

Trace the bases

using your rIghT hand

4Th INNING:

did you know some people can throw with bOTh hands?It’s called being AMbIdExtrouS.

5Th INNING:

knowing when nOT to swing the bat is just as important as swinging it! It all comes down to whether the ball is in the sTrIkE ZOnE. Let’s let JOsh rEddICk show us what this is.

knEE CaPs

mIdPOInT

shOULdErs

hIPs

the sTrIkE ZOnE is an invisible box over home plate where the pitcher aims to throw the ball. the top of this box is the midpoint between the batter’s shoulders and hips, and the bottom is just below his kneecaps.

Any pitch in the strike zone that goes past the batter is a “sTrIkE”. If the pitcher misses this box, and the batter doesn’t swing, this is a “baLL”.

Which of the above pitches

would be a “Ball”?

sometimes we think those high pop flies are nEVEr going to come down, but...eventually they do. Why, do you ask? The answer is graVITY!

gravity keeps the air around us (and everything else) from drifting off into space. It’s what pulls us to the ground when we jump, and those fly balls back down to the field.

no matter how a batter hits the ball, gravity will always pull the ball back down to the ground. Let’s take a look at a few different kinds of hits.

lINe dRIVe: a batted ball that travels low, fast, and straight.

PoP FlY: a batted ball that flies really high, but doesn’t go that far.

GRoUNdeR: a batted ball that rolls or bounces along the ground.

Using the descriptions above, label the pictures with the different

types of hits.

6Th INNING:

good thing for gravity, otherwise we’d lose a lot of balls!I wonder what is inside of a baseball.

7Th INNING:One of the most important pieces of equipment in baseball is the baLL! Without it, the players wouldn’t have anything to throw, catch or bat! Can you fill in the different parts of the baseball using the picture below?

Every baseball has exactly108

sTITChEs.

the most balls used in a MLb game is 78.

If you unwound all the yarn, it would

go around the bases 2.7 TImEs.

the cork center is commonly known as “ThE PILL”.

COTTON STRINWINDINGS

WOOL YARN WINDINGS

RED RUBBER

BLACK RUBBER

CORK CENTER

STITCHING & SEAMS

COVER

CO T TOn

rEd rUbbEr

8Th INNING:

have you ever wondered what makes a ball so bOUnCY? as a ball falls it gains EnErgY. When it reaches the ground, the energy has nowhere to go but back up, causing it to bounce! The more energy the ball has left, the higher it will bounce. Infielders like JOsh dOnaLdsOn must be prepared for this energy

when trying to catch the ball.

List the bouncing balls in order of which had the mOsT energy left when it hit the ground to which had the LEasT.

The sCIEnCE OF ThE gamE sure is interesting.We’re comin’ up on the homestretch!

gO a’s! Hope to see you soon!

Oh bOY! that was fun! Let’s look for some of the words we learned in the puzzle below.

9Th INNING:

This workbook was developed by Think Creative Media Inc.. 261 King St. E., Unit 203, Toronto, ON, M5A4T9.

For inquiries, contact info@thinkcreativemedia.com or call 647-300-4093. Printed in Canada. © 2014. All rights

reserved. Think Creative Media Inc. retains ownership of all original content. This book cannot be reproduced or

printed unless express release is given in writing. www.thinkcreativemedia.com.

aNSWeR KeY1St INNINg:sTOmPEr’s Favorite Things:

2Nd INNINg:The nEEd for sPEEd!

3rd INNINg:making sEnsE of it all!

touCH

HEArINg

4tH INNINg:What’s Your sTrOng sIdE? ANSWErS WILL vAry

5tH INNINg: ThE sTrIkE ZOnE! bALL b

6tH INNINg: What goes UP, must Come dOWn

PoP fLygrouNdErLINE drIvE

7tH INNINg: having a baLL!

8tH INNINg: bOUnCIng around!1. bASKEtbALL2. SoCCEr bALL3. bASEbALL

9tH INNINg: LasT InnIng

180 ft10 sec18 ft/sec

Team

VehIcle

SUBJecT

Food

SPoRT

COTTON STRINWINDINGS

WOOL YARN WINDINGS

RED RUBBER

BLACK RUBBER

CORK CENTER

STITCHING & SEAMS

COVER

CottoN

SIgHt

tAStE

forms must be postmarked by friday, June 27, 2014. vouchers will be mailed to the address provided on the form. vouchers subject to availability.

2 COmPLImEnTarY PLAzA outfIELd vouCHErS @ frEE = FrEE!PLAzA outfIELd vouCHErS @ $15 each =

one time handling fee (only if purchasing extra vouchers) $4 =

Send in this completed form for

VOUChErs to a 2014 regular

season home game!

game restrictions may apply

Enclosed is my check or money order made payable to oakland A’s for OrdEr mUsT bE rEdEEmEd bY maIL

maIl To: OakLand a’s, 7000 CoLISEuM WAy, oAKLANd, CA 94621