Introduction
Students are applying for a job as a Major League Baseball manager. They will have access to a list of Major League Baseball players and choose a starting lineup of nine players, from that list. Students will then create an argument for each player. They will argue in three to four sentences for each player. The student who creates the best argument will receive the job!
Task
You will create a nine player lineup of the strongest players, by position, from a list of Major League Baseball players. Each player requires an argument for why he is in the lineup and why he would be successful in this spot. Students will be required to print out a lineup sheet listed one through nine and have the first and last name of a player for each position. Along with this lineup sheet, students will write three to four sentences for each position explaining why they chose that player opposed to the other options. The student will turn in their arguments, along with, their organizer to show their thought process for their decisions.
*organizer will be explained under "process"
Process
Students will look at the list of provided Major League Baseball players by position, research them, and compare their performance to each other. They will have access to their statistics from the 2016 season, as well as, sources that describe what type of hitter belongs in each spot of the lineup. Students will have to compare batting averages, number of steals, runs batted in, slugging percentage, strikeouts and fielding percentage. They will then decide which player they want in their lineup, by position.
Organizer: Students will print out a mock lineup sheet and write the role of each spot in the lineup. For example, the lead-off batter should have a high batting average, as well as, a high number of steals. Students should just write a few key words to help them remember what type of player they are looking for in each spot of the lineup.
Below is the link to a mock lineup sheet:
INFORMATION SOURCES
This is the first source that students, especially those not well acquainted with baseball, should read. Here, students will be able to read in-depth definitions of all the necessary terms for this assignment. http://m.mlb.com/glossary/standard-stats
Students will thoroughly read at least the two of the following sources. Students will be able to grasp an understanding of the ideal player for each position. For example, the fourth hitter in the lineup will ideally have a high number of runs batted in. After reading these sources, students will complete their organizer of what the ideal player for each place in the lineup is. Following these readings, students will have a general understanding of who belongs in each lineup position and, thus, should be able to complete their organizer. http://www.baseballexaminer.com/faqs/scouting_faq.htm http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/3/17/795946/optimizing-your-lineup-by http://www.coachandplaybaseball.com/baseball-lineup.html
Using the following source, students will chose a player at each position based on their statistics. The statistics that students should pay particular attention to are: at bats runs, hits, doubles, triples, homeruns, stolen bases, batting average and fielding percentage. http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/batting