a game of numbers

More than any other sports numbers are intimately linked with the sport of baseball. Very few sports fans know how many points the all time leader in points has in the NBA, how many goals the all time leader has in the NHL, or how many yards the all time passing leader has in the NFL, but ask even a casual fan what the all time record for HR in a year, or a career is, and they can usually spit out that number. When you watch a game you are bombarded with stats. So why can't baseball in general get it right when they are talking about portions of an inning pitched? Look at the back of a baseball card, or the stats that they give you when a relief pitcher comes into a ballgame and you will see numbers like 145.1 innings pitched or 4.2 inning in his last start. It isn't possible to have .1 nor .2 of an inning pitched. You either get no outs (#.0) one out (#.3333) or two outs (#.6666). I would even be able to deal with .3 and .7 respectively if you only want to use one decimal. Heck, I would even bite my tongue if you used .6 instead of .7 and rounded improperly, but this .1 and .2 garbage is stupid.

It is just another example of the acceptance of innumeracy. If you hear that someone is illiterate, you gasp and wonder how the educational system could have allowed this to happen. How could someone get through any reasonable grade level and not know how to read. Yet, when I was a high school math teacher I heard every day comments like, "I can't do math". I heard it from fellow teachers. I heard it from parents on conference nights. I heard it from administrators. It was said without shame, and sometimes even with a hint of pride. How many of these people would blurt out "I can't read" with that same indignity?

We need to start setting an example for our future generations that innumeracy isn't something that is acceptible. A basic understanding of numbers is as important an asset in the world as basic literacy. It should be treated as such. When you hear someone say something along the lines of "I was never good with numbers" call them on it. As children hear adults say stuff like this, they internalize it and place a lesser importance on this. Look at the theories of Vygotsky and the impact the social reactions to math can have on future learning.