A Stitch In Time
 

Presentation A.  Opening  1)   Engage students in conversation about uniforms.  Who wears a uniform and why.  What types of uniforms do the students wear?  2)   Engage students in conversation about emblems.  Why are they worn?  What is their purpose?  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Instructor will wear a post September 11th uniform jersey showing the American flag emblem on the neck.  Note that this was not the first time that the American flag was worn in response to world events.  Involve students by taking a poll about who is wearing a particular type of emblem.  3)   Show the 1917 Chicago White Sox uniform with the American flag patch on the sleeve. Explain that we will explore the past century and how uniforms often reflect changes occurring in society. INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show the 1917 uniform and ask students why the flag patch was worn at that time.  The flag appeared the year that the United States became involved in WWI. 4)   Discuss the 1917 wool uniform in contrast with the present day uniforms with which the students are familiar.  What are present day uniforms made of?  Why weren’t they available at the beginning of the century?  What would it be like to wear a wool uniform?  What changes have occurred in the past century, which enabled us to produce polyester uniforms?  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Make sure you can reference both types of uniforms.  Involve the students by having them raise their hands, or stand up to indicate which fabric they have on.  B.  Lesson* 1)     Brief Explanation of the Game.  Students will create a timeline of events from 1900 to present which coincide with the development of the baseball uniform.  1900-1910 Ball 1: Elementary - “The Wright Brothers first flew in the same decade that the baby Bear appeared on the Chicago Cubs Uniform.” Secondary - “Who first flew in the same decade that the baby bear appeared on the Chicago Cubs Uniform.”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show 1910 dark blue wool Chicago Cubs Uniform, Photos:  Wright Brothers, player of the decade.  Questions/Discussion (Dependent on age of students) Were the Wright Brother trapeze artists? Birds? (Invented and built the first successful power engine airplane.) When and where did the flight take place? (1903, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina) How long did the first airplane flight stay in the air? (12 seconds) How far did it go? (120 ft.) How did baseball teams travel? (Train)  Ball 2: Elementary - “In the same city where Ty Cobb was playing for the Tigers, Henry Ford’s Company produced the first Model T.” Secondary - “In the same city where Ty Cobb was playing for the Tigers, a new technological advancement helped bring these to the masses.”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  Assembly Line or Player with MVP award of new car/ Ty Cobb.  Questions/Discussion: Model T’s original price was $850, too high for many customers, so Ford started the assembly line to reduce production costs. This reduced assembly time from 12.5 hrs. to 1.5 hrs. Model T prices dropped to $500 in 1913, and then to $260 by 1925, so most families could afford a car. How much do cars cost today? How have they changed?  1910-1920  Ball 1:  “This ocean liner sank when the Highlanders played baseball in New York City.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show 1917 Chicago White Sox jersey.  Photos:  Titanic/New York Highlander’s cap.  Questions/Discussion: · What other type of transportation could the passengers on the Titanic have used to travel to America? (none) How did the Titanic call for help? (Morse code/no radio) 1,517 people died; 705 were saved. The New York Highlanders later became the New York Yankees.  Ball 2: Elementary - “World War I took place during a decade when both the Dodgers and the Giants played in New York.” Secondary -  “This war took place during a decade when both the Dodgers and the Giants played in New York.”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  Trench warfare/ Giants or Dodgers.  Questions/Discussion: When was WWI? (1914-1918; U. S. entered in 1917). Was our country involved? Where was it fought? How did we get there? Did we use airplanes in WWI? (Yes.  The last time we heard about airplanes they could barely get off of the ground; now used for surveillance/bombs dropped from cockpit door). 1920-1930 Ball 1: Elementary - “Women won the right to vote the same year that the Philadelphia Athletics wore a white elephant on their uniforms.” Secondary - “What right did women win during the same year that the     Philadelphia Athletics wore a white elephant on their uniforms?”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show Philadelphia Athletics uniform with white elephant.  Photos:  Women’s suffrage, Philadelphia Athletics player.  (The white elephant was worn in response to a comment by Giants manager John McGraw that the Athletics were nothing but a bunch of white elephants). Questions/Discussion: Black men had the right to vote before women.  (15th Amendment @1869, 19th Amendment @1920).  People opposing women’s suffrage thought that women’s participation in politics would lead to the end of family life. During WWI many women contributed to the war effort, and this increased support for women’s voting.  Ball 2: Elementary – “Charles Lindbergh was preparing for his historic flight when the Philadelphia Bobbies played against men’s teams.”    Secondary -  “Who was preparing for his historic flight when the Philadelphia Bobbies played against men’s teams.”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  Spirit of St. Louis, Philadelphia Bobbies.  Questions/Discussion: Where did Charles Lindbergh fly?  (France, near Paris) From?  (Long Island, New York)  What year did his flight take place?  (1927) How long did it take him? (33.5 hrs/ 3600 miles) How long does the average flight take today? (About 7 hrs.)  What was the name of Lindbergh’s plane?  (“The Spirit of Saint Louis”)  The plane can be seen in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Ball 3: Elementary - “The New York Yankees first wore numbers on their uniforms the same year the stock market crashed.”  Secondary - “The New York Yankees first wore numbers on their uniforms the same year this devastating economic event occurred.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show uniform with a number on back.  Photos:  Newspaper Headline about Stock Market/Yankee player in numbered uniform. Questions/Discussion: When did the stock market crash occur? What does radio broadcasting have to do with a number on a uniform? Yankee Stadium was a large stadium; easier to recognize players with numbers on their uniforms. First numbers were assigned according to batting order. 1930-1940 Ball 1:  “Two favorite pastimes of the American public during the Great Depression were listening to baseball and this president on the radio.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show 1930’s uniform.  Photos: FDR Radio Fireside Chat/Player of the decade. Questions/Discussion: What was the Great Depression?  (A worldwide business slump with the worst and longest period of high unemployment in modern times). What caused the Great Depression?  (The stock market crashed and many people lost money and their jobs. Rural Electrification began this year.  1933 REA first official action (Tennessee Valley Authority) Ball 2: “Jesse Owens won 4 Olympic Gold medals the same year the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum had its first induction ceremony.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  Jesse Owens/First 5 Inductee Questions/Discussion: Who was Jesse Owens? (African-American track and field star) Where were the Olympics played in 1936? (The Olympic games were played in Berlin, Germany.  They were awarded to Berlin before Hitler came to power). Who was the leader in Germany at this time? (Hitler) What did Hitler think of black people? What did he think of people of Jewish descent? (He hated Negroes and Jewish people.  Hitler and the Nazi regime actively promoted the Aryan race – white people of non-Jewish descent). Jesse Owens fouled on his first two qualifying long jumps.  If he did so on his third jump, he would not qualify for the final round. Hitler and Nazi officials were in the stands throughout the stadium.  In a daring move, German long jumper Luz Long told Jesse Owens to start his long jump earlier so he would qualify.  Owens took Long’s advice and qualified for the finals. Owens went on to win his second gold medal making a new Olympic record.  Luz Long, who received the bronze medal, was the first to congratulate Jesse Owens after the jump.  1940-1950 Ball 1: “Around the same time some baseball teams were wearing silk uniforms, Pearl Harbor was bombed.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show Brooklyn Dodgers silk uniform.  Photos:  USS Arizona.  Questions/Discussion: Where is Pearl Harbor?  Who bombed us there? (Hawaii/Japanese) The bombing of Pearl Harbor was the event that got the U.S. involved in WWII, which had started in Europe in 1939. Lights in the stadiums were dim compared to today’s stadiums.  Why didn’t we use Halogen lights then?  (Didn’t have the technology). Players wore silk uniforms because the silk reflected light, and made it easier to see the players during night games. Ball 2: “American women were working in factories and playing professional baseball while American men were fighting overseas.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos: Woman working in factory/Rockford Peaches. Questions/Discussion: Which war was being fought? (WWII) Who fought whom?  (The “Allies” chiefly: the United States, England, and USSR fought the “Axis” powers chiefly:  Germany, Italy, and Japan). Did we use airplanes in WWII? (Bombers, especially B-17’s “Flying Fortresses”, with heavy armor and guns). While airplanes improved so did radar, guided missiles, and aircraft carriers.  Ball 3:  “Major leagues wore the Health Patch on their uniforms to honor the men and women serving in WWII.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  Iwo Jima/Player with Health Patch on sleeve.  Questions/Discussion:  Showed support for men and women serving in the Red Cross. Now 10 million volunteers. During WWII the Red Cross collected more than 13 million pints of blood. 1950-1960 Ball 1:  “The last year the Giants were a New York team, Sputnik was launched.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Show Giants uniform.  Photos:  Sputnik/Willie Mays. Questions/Discussion: What was Sputnik? (A series of unmanned Soviet satellites). It was launched in October 1957.  The US launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, in January 1958. This is an appropriate time to mention that we were in the “Cold War” with the Soviet Union during this decade, leading to the “Space Age.” Where did the Giants go? (California) How did they get there? (Last planes we discussed were WWII bombers;commercial airliners were developed right after WWII). Ball 2:  “This medium revolutionized the way Americans viewed the game.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  Baseball card with TV motif/ uniform with name on back. Questions/Discussion: Why would uniforms soon need names on them if we already had numbers?  (So fans watching this new technology TV could identify players). What were the first TV’s like? (black and white) 1960-1970 Ball 1:  “Man goes into space in the same decade that the Astros first appear.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show Colt 45 Jersey.  Photos: 1960’s Astronauts/Houston Astros on Astroturf. Questions/Discussion: What is a person called that goes into space? (Astronaut) What team sounds like the Astronauts? (Astros) The Houston Astros were formerly the Colt 45’s, but changed their name to show support for the space program based in Houston. What country did we race to get into space? (Soviet Union) Who won the race? (Soviet Union) Why did we want to be the first in space? (Surveillance) Ball 2:  “Apollo 11 landed on the moon the same year this miracle team won the World Series.”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  Neil Armstrong/Miracle Mets. Questions/Discussion: Who won the race to walk on the moon? (United States) Who was the first person to walk on the moon? (Neil Armstrong) Computers, materials, and foods all changed dramatically to keep pace with the space technology. 1970-1980 Ball 1:  “The Pirates wore the first knit uniform while American troops were fighting in Vietnam.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Photos: Vietnam War soldier or anti-war demonstration/Roberto Clemente. Questions/Discussion: Vietnam War started in 1957, ended 1975.  American troops were there from 1965-1973. Controversy about our involvement in the war sparked protests all over America in the late 60’s to early 70’s. Approximately 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam. Technological advancements in machines that produced clothing, led to first knit uniforms in 1970. Ball 2:  “While the Houston Astros wore bright orange and yellow striped uniforms, Americans were experiencing an energy crisis.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Show a double-knit uniform. Photos: Lines at gasoline stations/Houston Astro in uniform with orange/yellow wide stripes. Questions/Discussion: How did uniforms change after we had color TV? (Added color to uniforms). Why were we waiting in long lines (Energy Crisis) How did the gasoline shortage change automobiles? (Became smaller/more efficient). Are we having an energy crisis now? Will we see changes in technology? What part of the world controls most of the oil supplies? (Middle East) What country uses the most oil? (U.S.) 1980-1990 Ball 1:  “Roger Clemens won his first Cy Young award, and the MVP award the same year this disaster occurred.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Show Polyester Uniform. Photos: Challenger Explosion/Roger Clemens. Questions/Discussion: What is the Cy Young Award?  (Prestigious award given to best pitcher in the National and American Leagues). What is the MVP Award?  (Prestigious award given to most valuable player in the National and American Leagues). Improvements in medical technology have extended the number of years that players like Roger Clemens (in his 20th season that year) could play the game.  He went on to win a total of six Cy Young Awards in his career. Who was aboard the Challenger Space Shuttle?  (7 people, including a school teacher). Are we still going up into space? (Yes, for much longer periods of time). 100th space shuttle was recently launched. Ball 2:  “The year the cold war ended, the San Francisco Giants experienced an earthquake during the World Series.”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:   Berlin Wall/1989 World Series Headlines.  Questions/Discussion: Germany was divided in two in 1949. The Berlin Wall symbolically divided East and West Germany for 28 years. Berlin Wall came down November 9-11, 1989, contributing to the demise of Soviet control of Eastern Europe Live broadcasting of the World Series game brought the events of the earthquake into the homes of millions of Americans as it was happening. 1990-2000  Ball 1:  “In the same decade that Desert Storm was fought, baseball expanded by adding four new teams.”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Show Expansion Team Jersey.  Photos: Desert Storm /Wade Boggs in Tampa Bay uniform.  Questions/Discussion: ·        When and where was Desert Storm fought? (1991, Middle East:  Iraq and Kuwait) ·        Why are we concerned about conflicts in the Mid East? (oil interests) ·        “The Persian Gulf War” is the official name of the conflict. ·        Four new expansion teams are: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Ball 2:  Elementary - “In the same decade that women returned to professional baseball the Soviet Union dissolved into many small countries.”  Secondary - “In the same decade that women returned to professional baseball this country dissolved into many small countries.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE: Photos: Map of USSR/Silver Bullet Uniform.  Questions/Discussion: How many years between women playing professional baseball?  (40 years) Which team was playing?  (Colorado Silver Bullets) Are they still playing?  (No, they lost sponsorship). USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, ending the USSR, as it existed.  Leaders of eleven former Soviet republics signed a declaration forming the Commonwealth of Independent States. Boris Yeltsin becomes President of Russia. Ball 3:  “Improvements in information technology and the internet changed the way we experience the game.” INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  Screen capture of website such as <mlb.com>.  Questions/Discussion: Baseball more global (both players and where the game is played). ·Satellites made this possible (refer to 1957 Sputnik, Explorer 1). ·People all over the world can now watch baseball on television.  2000–2010  Ball 1:  “Baseball and the world grieve events of September 11, 2001.”  INSTRUCTOR NOTE:  Photos:  First post 9/11 Dodgers game.  Questions/Discussion: ·          Baseball play suspended for one week. ·      Baseball continues to honor our American heritage.  C.  Conclusion 1)     Walk through the century asking students to identify one key event from each decade.  Recap the highlights of the century by decade. Review how changes in the baseball uniform over the past century reflect events that have happened in history.

     Examine historical data from v