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Table of Contents

Geography……  Exercises  including  map  locations  and  team’s  league  information    

Midwest League page 4-5 Map of MLB Teams page 6-7 World Travelers page 8-10

Activities…......  Games and fun learning exercises

Homer’s  Word  Search page 11 Baseball Crossword page 12 America’s  Pastime page 13 Color Homer page 14

Mathematics….  Calculating distances and monetary applications

Mileage Chart page 15 Pie Chart page 16 Formulas & Concession Costs page 17 Baseball Field Dimensions page 18

English………..  Language arts, spelling, and writing

Baseball terms page 19 Chiefs Press Release page 20 Homer Fan Letter page 21 GAMEDay Sentences page 22 Baseball Scramble page 23 My Own Baseball Card page 24

GAMEDAY.... Exercises completed on Education GAMEday

Questions at the Peoria Chiefs game page 25 Long Distance page 26 Learning how to keep score page 27-28

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The Midwest League

The Chiefs are one of 16 teams in the Midwest League. The League is comprised of teams from the states of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. Below is a map of these 7 states. Test your geographical skills with the following questions.

Teams in the MWL

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Beloit Snappers, Clinton LumberKings, Cedar Rapids Kernels, Quad Cities River Bandits, Burlington Bees, Kane County Cougars, Peoria Chiefs, West Michigan Whitecaps, Great Lakes Loons, Lansing Lugnuts, Lake County Captains, Fort Wayne Tin Caps, Dayton Dragons, South Bend Silver Hawks, Bowling Green Hot Rods

1. Identify the capitols of each state.

2. 4 of the 7 states all border what large body of water? Name the other 4 lakes that make up The Great Lakes?

3. Use the internet to identify the population of each state’s  capitol city.

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Directions: Use the map of Midwest League Teams to answer the following true or false questions.

T or F 1) The state of Kentucky has 2 Midwest League teams.

T or F 2) The Lake County Captains are located in Michigan.

T or F 3) There are 2 teams in the state of Illinois.

T or F 4) The Beloit Snappers are west of the West Michigan Whitecaps.

T or F 5) The South Bend Silver Hawks are the only Midwest League Team in Indiana.

T or F 6) The western division has eight teams.

T or F 7) There are 7 states that have Midwest League Teams in them.

T or F 8) The state of Iowa has the most Midwest League teams.

T or F 9) The Peoria Chiefs are the southern most team in the Midwest League.

T or F 10) The Peoria Chiefs must travel East to play the Dayton Dragons.

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MLB Team Locations

Directions: Using the map on the following page, place the number of the Major League Baseball team next to the blue dot that marks the city in which that team plays. Remember, some  cities  have  more  than  one  Major  League  team  and  there  is  one  team  that  doesn’t  play  in the United States.

Major League Baseball Teams (alphabetical order)

1) Arizona Diamondbacks 16) Milwaukee Brewers 2) Atlanta Braves 17) Minnesota Twins

3) Baltimore Orioles 18) New York Mets 4) Boston Red Sox 19) New York Yankees 5) Chicago Cubs 20) Oakland Athletics

6) Chicago White Sox 21) Philadelphia Phillies 7) Cincinnati Reds 22) Pittsburgh Pirates 8) Cleveland Indians 23) San Diego Padres

9) Colorado Rockies 24) San Francisco Giants 10) Detroit Tigers 25) Seattle Mariners

11) Miami Marlins 26) St. Louis Cardinals 12) Houston Astros 27) Tampa Bay Rays 13) Kansas City Royals 28) Texas Rangers

14) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 29) Toronto Blue Jays 15) Los Angeles Dodgers 30) Washington Nationals

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World Travelers

Directions: Look up  the  player’s  hometown from the roster on Page 10. On the next page, place  a  star  near  the  player’s  hometown.  Answer  the  following  questions  about  the  Chiefs  2012 roster.

1) How many players live in the United States?

2) What state is home to the most Chiefs players?

3) How many players can travel by bus to Peoria Chiefs Stadium from their hometown?

4) Besides the United States, what country is home to the most Chiefs players?

5) Draw the flags from the countries that the Chiefs players call their home:

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10

Chiefs Roster

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Homer’s  Word Search

Q T M S E S T U N G U L

W C A P T A I N S N Q P

P O H Q S J N J G K I H

K U M B L O C K I I U O

E G E D E L A Y L E Z T

R A A U A E P I O L X R

N R T W R A S Y O I L O

E S C Y E A B H N P J D

L E D C H I E F S L P S

S N O G A R D Y A C M I

Find the following Midwest League TEAM NAMES in the word search above.

1) Fort Wayne TINCAPS 6) Bowling Green HOT RODS

2) Great Lakes LOONS 7) Burlington BEES

3) Lake County CAPTAINS 8) Lansing LUGNUTS

4) Peoria CHIEFS 9) Cedar Rapids KERNELS

5) Kane County Cougars 10) Dayton Dragons

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ACROSS DOWN 1: 2 base hit 2: The man behind the catcher 5: Mistake that allows a runner to reach base 3: The tool used by players in the field 6: Not a ball (pitch) 4: Round tripper (2 wds) 8: Person who coaches the team 6: One player bunts, the other steals home 9: Ball hit out of play 7: Where relief pitchers warm up 11: Run batted in (abbrev.) 10: Area over the plate between the knee and 12: Player who teams up with the pitcher on every play chest (2 wds) 14: Sticky substance used for better grip (2 wds) 13: A fly ball that is caught, but score a run (2 wds) 15: The best teams from each league playing for the 16: Getting two outs in succession (2 wds) championship (2wds) 17: 1base hit 18:    An  infield  hit  where  the  hitter  doesn’t  swing  the  bat 19:    Advancing  one  base  by  way  of  a  pitcher’s 20: 3 base hit mistake 21: Three white bags on field 22: Wooden stick 22: Not a strike, the other half of base____

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America’s  Pastime Baseball  in  the  United  States  began  in  the  1800’s  before  the  Civil  War.    Back  then,  the  game  was known as rounders and was played on sandlots. Baseball as we know it today took shape  in  the  late  1800’s  with  the  advent  of  the  first  professional  baseball  league.    In  the  1920’s  baseball  became  America’s  pastime.    Babe  Ruth  of  the  New  York  Yankees  became  the  first nationally recognized player. As years went on, new players put their stamp on America’s  game,  Roger  Maris,  Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron,  Ted  Williams,  and  more.    It’s  these  players  who  shaped  the  game  into  what  it  is  today. In 1927,  Roger  Maris  broke  Babe  Ruth’s  home  run  record  with  61.    In  1947,  Jackie  Robinson  broke the color barrier, becoming the first African American player to play in the major leagues. Roberto Clemente was the first Latin American player elected to the Hall of Fame, in 1973. The MLB Community Service Award is named in his honor. Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s  career  home  run  record  in  1974  and  the  current  MLB  “top  hitter”  award  is  named  in  his honor. Ted Williams is the last major league player to have a batting average above .400 in a single season (1941). Choose one of the following players and do a 1 page report on their impact on baseball on and off the field. - Jackie Robinson - Roberto Clemente - Lou Gehrig - Cal Ripken Jr.

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Color Homer

Use your creativity and artistic skills to color Homer.

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Mileage Chart

Directions: Answer the following questions using the mileage chart for the Midwest League.

MILEAGE CHART

BEL BG BUR CR CLI DAY FTW GL KC LC LAN PEO QC SB WM WIS

BELOIT X 505 220 180 120 395 280 425 80 460 325 160 160 200 280 160 BOWLING GREEN 505 X 500 570 560 265 350 560 445 465 475 415 535 370 520 605 BURLINGTON 220 500 X 110 110 430 380 545 200 580 450 100 80 300 400 360 CEDAR RAPIDS 180 570 110 X 90 510 380 560 220 600 430 180 80 300 400 275 CLINTON 120 560 110 90 X 440 300 470 130 505 350 110 40 220 300 235 DAYTON 395 265 430 510 440 X 130 310 330 220 260 335 435 210 330 495 FORT WAYNE 280 350 380 380 300 130 X 250 200 240 130 280 310 90 150 350 GREAT LAKES 425 560 545 560 470 310 250 X 370 300 90 470 485 270 110 525 KANE COUNTY 80 445 200 220 130 330 200 370 X 405 250 140 170 130 220 200 LAKE COUNTY 460 465 580 600 505 220 240 300 405 X 255 505 515 275 320 560 LANSING 325 475 450 430 350 260 130 90 250 255 X 350 370 160 70 400 PEORIA 160 415 100 180 110 335 280 470 140 505 350 X 100 220 300 280 QUAD CITIES 160 535 80 80 40 435 310 485 170 515 370 100 X 240 320 270 SOUTH BEND 200 370 300 300 220 210 90 270 130 275 160 220 240 X 120 275 WEST MICHIGAN 280 520 400 400 300 330 150 110 220 320 70 300 320 120 X 370 WISCONSIN 160 605 360 275 235 495 350 525 200 560 400 280 270 275 370 X

6) How many miles do the Peoria Chiefs have to travel to play the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers? What is the total mileage of the round trip?

7) If Clinton travels to play South Bend on Friday through Sunday and then travels to Fort Wayne on Monday for games Monday through Wednesday then returns home after their game. How many total miles will Clinton travel?

8) How many hours will it take the Peoria Chiefs to get to the Great Lakes Loons if the bus is traveling 60 Miles per hour?

9) What team is the furthest from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in miles?

10) What is the shortest trip in the entire league by miles?

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Pie Chart

Directions: By using the Chiefs Roster on the page 10 answer the following questions.

1) Who is the tallest player on the team? How tall in inches is he?

2) What is the combined age of all of the Infielders?

3) How many players do the Chiefs have on their active roster?

4) How many pitchers do the Chiefs have on their active roster?

5) How many catchers do the Chiefs have on their active roster?

6) How many infielders do the Chiefs have on their active roster?

7) How many outfielders do the Chiefs have on their active roster?

6) Color the Pie Chart to show what percentage of the players are pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders.

______% of the Chiefs are pitchers

______% of the Chiefs are catchers

______% of the Chiefs are infielders

______% of the Chiefs are outfielders

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Batting Average & $$$

Swinging for the Fences Statistics are very important to batters. People want to know about home  runs,  RBI’s,  runs  scored,  and  walks. One of the most important statistics to a batter is his batting average. Ted Williams of the 1941 Boston Red Sox was the last MLB player to hit over .400 in a single season, with a batting average of.406. The formula for determining a batter’s  batting average is:

AVG = (# of Hits / # of At Bats) *Walks are not considered “At  Bats” and therefore do not affect a batter’s  batting  average A batting average is represented by a decimal carried out to three places, such as .300. Figure out the AVG for these Peoria Chiefs batters for the 2012 season. BATTER HITS AB’s              AVG. Jorge Soler 27 80 ____

Javier Baez 71 213 ____

Dustin Geiger 76 303 ____

Zeke DeVoss 116 465 ____

“Buy  me  some  peanuts  and  Cracker  Jack” At a Chiefs game, you can buy a souvenir, something to eat and something to drink. Figure out how much the person owes and the change each person gets from a $20 bill. CUSTOMER ITEMS TO BUY COST CHANGE FROM $20

Mike hat, hot dog, soda ____ ____

Jenna hamburger, fries ____ ____

Ryan baseball, peanuts, soda ____ ____

Brian t-shirt, popcorn, ice cream ____ ____

Christy 2 hot dogs, soda, t-shirt ____ ____

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Baseball Field Dimensions

Directions: Use the above diagrams to help answer the following questions.

1) What shape is home plate?

2) Using the dimensions of home plate, what is the perimeter of home plate?

3) What is the distance in feet, a batter will run if he hits a triple?

4) If a player hits 1 home run, a double and strikes out in his other at bat, how many total

feet will he run around the bases?

5) If you walked from home plate, down the foul line, to the right field fence, approximately how many yards would you walk?

6) BONUS: What is the area of home plate? (hint: you have to use the 3 shapes that make

up the plate)

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Baseball Terms Directions: The following terms are important for any baseball fan to know in order to

understand what is going on around them. Use the list as a spelling quiz, definitions or have the students write an essay using 8 of these terms.

TERMS-

Around the horn: throwing the ball around the infield after an out Ball: a pitch that is thrown outside of the strike zone Blooper: a soft, shallow outfield hit Bunt: to bat a pitched ball lightly so that is does not go beyond the infield Clean up Batter: the 4th hitter in the batting line-up Closer: a relief pitcher gets the final outs for a win Double: a hit in which the batter reaches second base Double play: a play by which two players are out on the same play Error: a misplay by a fielder that should have been made Grand slam: a home run that is hit with the bases loaded Manager: the leader of the team who makes decisions and enforces the rules Pinch hit: to bat in place of a regular player RBI: Run Batted In Relief pitcher: the pitcher who replaces the starting pitcher when he is taken out of the game Rookie: a first- year player Sacrifice bunt: a play in which the batter bunts to move his teammate from one base to the next Single: a hit in which the batter reaches first base Steal: an attempt to advance to the next base without the ball being hit Strike: a pitch that is thrown in the strike zone Triple: a hit in which the batter reaches third base Triple play: a play in which three players are put out on the same play Umpire: the official who administers all of the rules of the game Walk: when a batter goes to first base because of four balls thrown by the pitcher

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Chiefs Press Release

Directions: Write your own press release announcing the Chiefs latest roster move: you! Write an press release about your imaginary baseball career.  Don’t  forget  to  mention  where  you  go  to  school, what position you play, and your highlights as a baseball player.

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Write a Story About Homer!

Homer  is  the  Chiefs’  biggest  fan!    He  loves  kids  of  all  ages.    He  would  love  to  hear  from  you.    Use a piece of paper to write a letter to Homer telling him about your favorite parts of a Chiefs

game.

Send your fan letter to Homer at this address:

Homer c/o Peoria Chiefs GAMEday Education 730 SW Jefferson St. Peoria, IL 61605

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GAMEDay Sentences!

1. Circle the nouns in the following sentence:

The player wearing the red jersey hit the ball over the fence.

2. Underline the verbs in the following sentence:

The runner stole second base after the catcher dropped the ball.

3. Insert the proper punctuation in the following sentence: The batter swung and the umpire yelled STRIKE THREE

4. Identify the contractions in the following sentence: Tomorrow’s  starting  pitcher  isn’t  going  to  play  today,  even  though  he’s  rested  and  ready to play.

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Baseball Scrambler

Directions: Unscramble the following letters to reveal a baseball related term!

tbnu BIR uoldeb kwla eimupr afn letas eirkst geslin eataemtm pirlet regmnaa

cthpier reuomhn atbret rorer inw oplobre

My Own

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Baseball Card Use  a  5”x  8”  index  card  to  create  your  own  baseball  card  as  a  member  of  the  Peoria  Chiefs. Decorate the front of the card to represent yourself or attach a photo. The back of the card should be completed as follows: Your Full Name: ___________________________________________________________________ Date of Birth: ____________ Birth Place: _________________________________ Age: ___________ Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals Others describe me as... ______________________________________________________________________________ When  I  grow  up  I  want  to  be… ___________________________________________________________________ My  favorite  school  subject  is… __________________________________________ because…

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GAMEDAY QUESTIONS Directions: The following questions can be answered by attending the Peoria Chiefs baseball game on Friday, May 3rd or Monday, May 20th. The answers to these questions will only be available if you are at the game on one of these dates.

1. How many palm trees are there in left field?

a) 7 b) 8 c) 9

2. What is the distance from home plate to centerfield? How many yards is that?

3. What is the name of the kid on the Pete Vonachen statue located on the concourse?

4. How many seats are there in Row 21 of Section 106? 5. Which dugout is the Chiefs dugout?

a) 1st base b) 3rd base

6. List all the former Chiefs and the years they were in Peoria that are honored on the back wall behind home plate.

7. Did the Peoria Chiefs bat first or play the field first?

8. What is the name of the Chiefs team store?

9. What college team also plays their games at the ballpark?

10. What  was  the  attendance  for  today’s  game  (you  may  need  to  use  the  internet)?

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LONG DISTANCE Directions: Calculate the distance of the following:

1. In the first half inning of the game, how many total feet do all of the base runners safely advance? (The distance between each base is 90 feet. For every base a player reaches, add 90 to your total)

Example: First batter gets a double and reaches second base (Batter 1: 90 feet + 90 feet) Second batter grounds out to second base, runner is out at first but runner on second advances to third (Batter 1: +90 feet, Batter 2: +0) Third batter singles to right field, scoring the leadoff hitter (Batter 1: +90 feet, Batter 3: +90 feet) Fourth batter grounds into a double play, ending the inning (Batter 3: +0, Batter 4: +0). TOTAL: 450 Feet

2. In the bottom of the second inning, calculate the average number of pitches that each ball is used.

Number of pitches ________ ÷ number of balls used ________ = ________ pitcher per ball Example: The pitcher throws 18 pitches and two foul balls are hit into the stands. A total of three balls are used. Average number of pitches per ball is 18 ÷ 3 = 6 pitches per ball

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