The Diamondbacks won the championship four games to three, marking their first Series victory, and bringing the Yankees' domination of the Series to an end. Apart from the exciting games, this year's competition had another interesting facet: the Yankees found themselves with more support from outside their hometown than ever before. The tragic events of September 11 brought the United States together, and in a sense, made all Americans New Yorkers for a time. But despite the fact that the Yankees had such an unusual amount of national support, Sunday night belonged to the Diamondbacks. The crowd at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix put on a dazzling visual display of celebration as they waved thousands of white pom poms in the air.

What does the great American pastime, baseball, have to teach us about math, science, and language?

• Find out all about this year's Series and Sunday night's Diamondbacks win on CNN and Sports Illustrated.

Of all sports, baseball perhaps dwells most on the statistical performances of its players — during the current season and over players' entire careers. In order to appreciate baseball fully, a fan needs to understand baseball statistics.

2. Science Students

Why does a curveball curve? And why do homeruns sometimes seem to arc effortlessly off a player's bat? The answers can be found in physics. For example, some scientists (many of whom are also baseball fans) have found that the stitches on a spinning baseball do in fact create differences in air pressure around the baseball that cause a curveball to curve as it approaches the plate.

Batting is all about physics — the transfer of energy and momentum from the batter's body, from the swung bat, and from the pitched baseball itself going one way to the hit baseball going the other way. Players talk of a "sweet spot" on the bat where hitting the ball doesn't seem as jarring, doesn't hurt their hands as much, and makes the ball soar. This phenomenon may be explainable by wave theory. A swung baseball bat vibrates along its length at low and high frequencies, somewhat like a large wooden violin string. Like any interacting waves, there are places where the waves interfere constructively and places where the waves interfere destructively. When the ball collides with the bat, those vibrations are increased through a process called resonance. (Ever wonder how a little baseball can break a bat?) Have students review the Logal Middle School Science Gateways activities, Amplitude, Wavelength, and Frequency of Waves and Wave Interference. Then they can read the Chicago Tribune article, "Science Has a Sweet Spot for Baseball," in which physicist Alan Nathan explains more about why physicists love baseball.

3. Language Arts Students

Sports announcing and writing have a language of their own. Have students read the Riverdeep archive article, "Sportswriting: Playing with Words."

Ask students to choose a player (other than a pitcher) from the Diamondbacks and one from the Yankees, both playing the same position. Have them calculate the player’s batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging average for each player. Students can find out how to do the calculations at Baseballscorecard.com.

2. Science Students

Ask students the following questions:

• How does the material of a baseball bat affect its resonant frequency?
• Where on the bat should a hitter try to strike the ball in order to reduce resonance in the bat?
• The more a bat vibrates, the more energy is wasted in the system. What would happen to that energy if the bat were not vibrating?

3. Language Arts Students

Ask students to choose three articles about the World Series from a newspaper or from one of the Web sites given in Extending the Problem #1. Have them make a list of the metaphorical adjectives and verbs used in each article.

1. Revisit the 2001 World Series:
   • Major League Baseball
   • CNNSI.com 2001 World Series
   • ESPN.com World Series 2001

2. Learn more about the science of baseball at Baseball: The Game and Beyond, a ThinkQuest site.
3. Beginning with the opening pitch of a baseball game, this Destination Math tutorial demonstrates how useful and flexible equations can be when you're looking for information. The tutorial deals with transforming linear equations in one variable using multiple operations.
4. Students can read about the Diamondbacks' Bank One Ballpark and the Yankees' Yankee Stadium.

   The Yankees' lease on Yankee Stadium in the Bronx expires in 2002. The team is interested in renovating the stadium or building a new one. Have students read the Riverdeep archive article, "The Home Field Advantage." Then ask them to prepare a proposal to the New York City council for a solution to the future of the Yankees' ball park. Students can read more about Yankee Stadium at Ballparks.com.

5. Help your physics students take a closer look at resonant frequency by reading the Riverdeep archive article, "London's Bridge Is Swaying." In the case of the bridge, the resonant frequency is based on a driven oscillation system, whereas the case of a baseball bat has a single input of energy into the system.