Researching the National Pastime 
by Ted D. Smith & Mark R. Watson 
 
Introduction 
The academic library holds a central place in the life of the university due to its 
role as the locus of the written record of our civilization. Academic libraries have long 
regarded instruction in how to access and use that written record as an activity central to 
its mission. A variety of methods have been employed to accomplish this goal, including 
the offering of library credit courses that provides students who enroll in such classes an 
opportunity to receive in-depth instruction in library resources and research methods. 
This article details an innovative approach to teaching library research skills by using 
baseball as a topic to introduce important research concepts and techniques. 
One of the difficulties libraries encounter in establishing a strong instructional 
program is getting students interested in library credit courses. Unless the university 
requires a library methods course (which is rare), most undergraduate students have 
difficulty seeing the relevance of such a course to their education. As a result, these 
courses are often lightly enrolled and relatively few students are reached for the amount 
of time and effort it takes to prepare and teach them. 
Using Baseball to Teach Library Research Skills 
While discussing the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) research 
handbook, How to Do Baseball Research, (Tomlinson, 2000) in the spring of 2002, the 
authors discerned a solution to the vexing problem of student indifference toward library 
courses. The book, published in 2000, seemed ideally suited as a textbook for a library 
research course. Written by SABR members with expertise in different areas of baseball 
research, the ten chapters ?cover the basics of collecting, evaluating, illustrating, and 
publishing information??a close correlation to the type and range of topics often 
covered in introductory library research courses. (Tomlinson, p. 1) To the authors it 
seemed clear that a focus on baseball could be an effective ?hook? to engage students 
who might not otherwise be interested in or willing to sign up for a research methods 
course. 
Baseball is particularly well suited to this kind of course. There is an extensive 
corpus of information on the topic of baseball to be found both in print and online. 
Secondly, baseball is not only a popular sport with which many students are familiar, but 
also lends itself to a wide variety of research opportunities, including investigations into 
historical, biographical, cultural, economic, and statistical topics. Additionally, baseball 
is relevant to several disciplines (e.g. Journalism and Sports Marketing) that are 
important areas of teaching and research at the University of Oregon. 
Course Background 
The authors taught LIBRARY 199: How to Do Baseball Research for the first 
time in the spring of 2003. For obvious reasons, this is the best time of year to offer a 
baseball-oriented course. The new Major League Baseball (MLB) season begins as the 
 1 
term starts; the course continues through nearly the first half of the MLB season, and, by 
the end of the term, the class is able to submit a group ballot for the All-Star game. 
Conceived as a class to provide first and second year students with basic research skills, 
the course in 2003 filled up quickly with juniors and seniors, who were the first students 
able to register through the online enrollment system. Although the overall response to 
the course was positive, these demographics proved to be challenging as many of the 
students were already familiar with basic research concepts (some had already taken an 
advanced research course through the School of Journalism), and ultimately found the 
?library stuff? rudimentary and repetitive. 
Clearly, baseball was a draw but finding a way to focus on the target audience 
arose as an important consideration for the future. Eventually, the solution presented 
itself through the auspices of First Year Programs at the University of Oregon in the form 
of a Freshman Seminar. Each year, faculty may apply to teach a three-credit course to a 
limited number of first year students. Designed as an alternative to the large lecture 
courses that freshman tend to encounter, the Freshman Seminar provides a small group 
experience that facilitates teacher/student interaction and class discussion.   
In the spring of 2005, the authors offered the course a second time, this time as a 
Freshman Seminar. Response to the offering was overwhelming, as the enrollment cap of 
twenty-three was triggered several weeks before the beginning of the term. As a result, a 
second section of the course was opened. This section also filled, and the new season 
opened with forty-five students eager to hone their research skills while indulging their 
interest in baseball. 
Overview of Course Structure & Content 
The intervening year between the two courses gave us time to re-work the course 
content and approach. The first time LIB 199 was taught, instruction in library research 
concepts was spread throughout the ten-week term. For 2005, the course was organized 
into three principle phases: Spring Training, the Regular Season, and the Post-Season. 
Spring Training concentrated instruction in and practice of basic library skills in the first 
several weeks in order to quickly introduce students to the basic principles of conducting 
research. They were able to begin applying the concepts immediately to researching a 
baseball topic of their own choosing for their term project. The class started out in 
familiar territory by showing these millennial students, already conversant with the 
Internet, how to locate and evaluate online sources of baseball information.  
From there, the students moved into instruction on locating books on baseball 
subjects via online library catalogs and journal articles via periodical databases. Finally, 
the students were introduced to the concept and use of primary sources (e.g. newspapers, 
manuscripts, oral interviews, box scores and scorecards) that could bring them into 
contact with baseball history as it unfolded. 
The ?Regular Season? was the middle (and longest) section of the class, in which 
the focus turned to the various areas of baseball research. The students were introduced in 
turn to conducting research into historical, biographical, statistical, cultural and economic 
aspects of baseball.  Along the way, the skills learned in Spring Training were put to 
good use, particularly as the students began to delve into research topics of their choosing. 
The following examples illustrate how the students applied the skills learned: 
 2 
Student Topic: The Demise of the University of Oregon Baseball Program 
Type of project: Historical Research 
Research Skills Needed: Use of primary sources 
Application of Skills: One student selected for his research topic an exploration into the 
reasons why the University of Oregon cut its baseball program in the early 1980s. 
Dependent almost completely on primary sources, the student combed through student 
yearbooks and newspaper accounts of the time to glean information about the demise of 
the program. However, he hit the real research jackpot when the University Archivist and 
Historian directed his attention to the Presidential Papers during the period of time under 
investigation. Going through these records, the student unearthed a number of relevant 
internal memos that not only shed light on the decision-making process but lay bare the 
reality of events behind the sanitized public statements that appeared in the media. In this 
way, working with primary sources proved to be a powerful experience for the student, 
who encountered, perhaps for the first time, history in the making?unexpurgated and 
unfiltered history that lay within his grasp through the actual documents. 
 
Student Topic:  The Boones: History of a Baseball Family 
Type of project:  Biographical 
Research Skills Needed:  Use of books and periodicals 
Application of Skills:  Another student selected for her topic an investigation into one of 
baseball?s iconic families.  One of three families to have three generations of Major 
League players, the Boones have been in the news for a long time.   There was no 
shortage of information to be found, and the student needed to select the best sources 
from a myriad of journal articles, selections from books and newspaper accounts.   Along 
the way, the student was able to gain insight into Boone family dynamics and 
relationships in addition to learning about the on field accomplishments of this talented 
baseball family. 
 
Student Topic: The Relation Between Wins and Stolen Bases 
Type of project: Statistical 
Research Skills Needed: Internet searching; evaluation of online information; use of 
periodicals; use of primary sources 
Application of Skills: This student selected a topic that required the use of a wide variety 
of materials, including extensive searching on the Internet.  This project also required the 
student to confront large quantities of data as compiled in Sean Lahman?s baseball 
database [http://www.baseball1.com/statistics/] and Lee Sinin?s Sabermetric Baseball 
Encyclopedia [http://www.baseball-encyclopedia.com/]. Other sabermetric analysis by 
the likes of Baseball Prospectus? Joe Sheehan [http://www.baseballprospectus.com/] and 
author Cyril Morong [http://www.geocities.com/cyrilmorong@sbcglobal.net/] added to 
his findings. Finally, this student took the initiative to comb through the statistics of the 
now defunct University of Oregon baseball team in order to test assumptions about the 
correlations between stolen bases and wins. 
The final three sessions of the class were the ?Post-Season? portion of the course, 
in which the students made in-class oral presentations on their research. Specifically, they 
 3 
were asked to summarize their research process and give a brief explanation of their 
findings. Additionally, each student was given a copy of the evaluation rubric that was 
used to grade the presentations, and asked to assist in the assessment of their peers.  
Methods Used to Ensure Course Objectives 
Several different techniques were used to engage the students? interest, convey 
course content, and ensure the desired acquisition of research skills: 
The Annotated Bibliography: As part of their final project, the students were assigned an 
annotated bibliography that required them to create an organized list of baseball 
information sources comprised of a citation and annotation.  The bibliography was to 
consist of a minimum of 15 authoritative sources, at least two-thirds of which had been 
subjected to either editorial or peer review. The annotations were to be brief (2-3 
sentence) paragraphs in which the students described the source and explained how it was 
useful in researching their topic. 
Assigning a bibliography instead of a paper allowed the students to spend more 
time conducting research instead of racing ahead into a frenzied writing process. For 
purposes of this course, it was much more important to emphasize the research process as 
opposed to creating a more advanced product like a polished research paper. Even so, the 
oral presentations allowed time for the students to present any conclusions they were able 
to reach. 
Guest Speakers: The effective use of guest speakers can add variety and interest to any 
course. In LIB 199, four different individuals were invited to present on topics related to 
their expertise. To start the course out, baseball researcher Blake Scott presented his 
research into the background of a baseball in his possession that was autographed by a 
barnstorming team of Major League players on October 6, 1932 at Devil's Lake, North 
Dakota. Starting with a relatively simple set of questions (e.g. where did the ball come 
from and who signed it), the speaker?s research has turned into a multi-year quest that has 
involved obtaining microfilm from libraries across the USA and Canada as well as a trip 
to Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame and has evolved into a much broader study of 
baseball barnstorming. [http://libweb.uoregon.edu/exhibits/archive/baseball/blake.html] 
The University Archivist & Historian spoke on primary sources and brought photographs, 
yearbooks and a 1927 uniform to share with the class. Author Richard Leutzinger spoke 
on the research process that culminated in a biography of baseball great Lefty O?Doul. 
(Leutzinger, 1997) Maury Brown, the co-chair of SABR?s Business of Baseball 
Committee, spoke with the class about researching the economics and business 
operations of MLB. He also gave the students tips on conducting autobiographical 
interviews. 
   One of the best outcomes that carefully selected guest speakers can achieve is 
conveying a sense of enthusiasm about their research and area of interest. Undergraduates 
often regard research as merely assigned homework, an uninvited and unwelcome task 
imposed by someone else. A dynamic guest speaker can help liberate their conception of 
research by showing the students that this activity, at its core, is simply the process of 
learning something new about a topic of interest like baseball. Far from being an exercise 
in drudgery, research that arises from a passion to answer an interesting question can be a 
 4 
truly rewarding enterprise. Watching students make this discovery as they engage in 
baseball research is one of the most satisfying aspects of teaching this course. 
Classroom Setting: The first time the course was taught, in 2003, the venue was a 
traditional classroom located in the Library. Multimedia capabilities were limited, and the 
physical arrangement of the room was not conducive to student interaction. Computer 
equipment and video projectors brought in to enhance the class fit awkwardly in the 
space. While the arrangement sufficed to accomplish the goal of bringing an online 
presence into the presentation of course material, the authors found the conditions 
somewhat claustrophobic and labor intensive. A more suitable setting became a high 
priority for the future.  
Over the next two years, the Library renovated a number of video viewing rooms 
into several classrooms with built in multi-media capabilities. One of these modern 
classrooms was used for the Freshman Seminar in the spring of 2005. The classroom 
came equipped with 20 wireless laptop computers running Windows XP; two 
computer/video projectors; a VCR, a DVD player, an interactive STAR panel; and 
lightweight, portable furniture to accommodate 24 people. 
[http://libweb.uoregon.edu/instruct/lib42/description.html] The possibilities for 
presenting course material expanded dramatically, and the authors started to envision 
ways to engage the students in collaborative learning utilizing the available technological 
resources. 
One concern was how to make effective use of the wireless laptops. Would 
problems with the machines take up valuable class time? Would access to the Internet be 
a distraction for the students? What benefit could the students derive from having 
computer access during class? Fortunately, a senior professor from outside the library 
who has pioneered the use of technology in his physics courses provided insight and 
advice. He challenged the authors to consider that learning can only occur if the students 
get involved in the learning process. To do less?to simply lecture in that technologically 
rich environment?was to waste precious resources and to miss a great teaching 
opportunity. With this food for thought, the authors set out to teach baseball research with 
a minimal amount of ?sage on a stage? pedagogy. As it turned out, initial fears about the 
laptops proved to be unfounded. Access to the campus wireless network worked 
seamlessly, and the ability to close the laptop cover in order to initiate immediate 
hibernation conserved battery life and prevented the computers from becoming a 
distraction.  
The flexible furniture also enhanced the overall learning environment. Instead of 
the traditional forward facing desks and chairs, the lightweight tables and chairs enabled 
the authors to construct a U-shaped arrangement that positioned the students across from 
one another. Because the students could see each other and the instructors could easily 
move about the space, discussion occurred more often and more naturally. The focus 
shifted from passive listening and note taking to more active involvement through 
teacher/student and student/student interactions. 
Active Learning Exercises: It was clear from the outset that maximizing the benefits of 
the classroom for learning required a re-thinking of the way in which materials were 
presented. Several class sessions were designed to create opportunities for the students to 
 5 
become active participants in the learning process. These ?hands on? opportunities turned 
out to be the best class sessions of the term. 
One of these assignments was entitled, ?Biography in Action.? The purpose of 
this assignment was to get the students to apply the concepts and tools discussed in 
Spring Training to biographical research. To complete the assignment, students worked 
in teams of three and made use of books, periodical articles, Internet sources and primary 
sources, if necessary, to research a Hall of Fame pitcher (eligible HOF pitchers were pre-
screened to ensure that the students would be able to locate a variety of biographical 
materials).  Using the laptops and dividing up the various tasks between themselves in 
order to accomplish the assignment within the allotted time, the students were asked to 
find vital statistics; locate a book-length biography and check it out if available in the 
library; find citations to several journal articles and photocopy or print out the first page 
of at least one of the articles; find a picture; locate the box score of a game in which their 
pitcher played a significant role and finally write out a brief biography, including some 
information about the pitcher?s background, significant accomplishments and 
characteristics as a player. Students started by searching online, using both library-
licensed databases and the public Internet and then fanned out across the library to locate 
materials and make photocopies or printouts.  Although chaotic at times, the exercise 
afforded great opportunities to demonstrate searching techniques, provide concrete advice 
on research methods and interact one on one with the students. 
Another session designed around active learning occurred during baseball 
statistics week. This in-class exercise was designed to give the students practical 
experience in performing statistical research.  Taking advantage of the Microsoft Excel 
program installed on the laptops, the students were instructed to find relevant data on the 
web site baseballreference.com and then input values into a spreadsheet designed to help 
them first measure how a team?s run production and prevention translates into wins, and 
then to evaluate how offensive players on their chosen team contributed to the team?s run 
scoring. Although the exercise proved rather challenging for some of the students given 
the variety of tasks involved in the process, it generated much more interaction and 
discussion than a straightforward lecture on the sabermetric concept of Runs Created 
would have engendered. (James, p. 9-19; p. 397-398) 
Talkin? Baseball: One enjoyable aspect of the course, facilitated by the outstanding 
technology in the classroom, was a segment called ?Talkin? Baseball.? Each session of 
the class began with a warm-up segment designed to stimulate student enthusiasm for the 
topic. On Mondays class began with an audio or video clip. The students might enter the 
room to sounds of ?Van Lingle Mungo?, a classic radio call of a famous play, one of 
many renditions of ?Take Me Out to Ballgame?, or Abbott & Costello's classic comedy 
routine, ?Who?s on First?? (Baseball?s Greatest Hits, 1989; Play Ball, 1998) Wednesday 
classes began with a discussion of recent news about the Washington Nationals. Adopted 
as the class team, the Nationals presented an interesting story in 2005 as MLB brought 
baseball back to the nation?s capital. Students signed up to serve as spokespersons for 
individual players, and the classroom equipment allowed for accessing the MLB web site 
in order to play highlight reels from the past week. 
Talkin? Baseball was a tangible means of keeping baseball front and center 
throughout the course.  It also served as an icebreaker for each class period, adding flavor 
 6 
and depth to the class as well as creating an enjoyable, comfortable atmosphere. A course 
such as this could not be successful unless the instructor is also a fan.  An important 
benefit of teaching the course is the opportunity to enjoy learning about the national 
pastime along with the students. 
Lessons Learned 
The enthusiastic reception that LIB 199, How to Do Baseball Research, has 
received is gratifying, but there are still many improvements that can be made to the 
course based on the lessons that have been learned. 
At the end of each term, students at the University fill out a standard form 
evaluating the course and instructors. The response to the class from students has been 
overwhelmingly positive, but one comment that echoed repeatedly in the course 
evaluations was ?MORE BASEBALL!?  This theme is not really surprising, and brings 
to mind the quote, "Only librarians like to search, everyone else likes to find." (Tennant, 
p. 29) Most people are not enamored of the research process itself except as a means to 
an end. What librarians really need to do is come up with ways to teach research skills in 
such a way that the students do not realize they are being taught. Using an enjoyable 
topic such as baseball to introduce research methodology is a good way to do that, but it 
is important to respond to students? desire for ?more baseball?. 
Another lesson borne out by the ratio of males to females that registered for the 
most recent offering of the course is the fact that women are interested in baseball and 
will sign up for a course with a baseball focus. In 2003, only one woman (out of 27 
students) enrolled in the course. In 2005, 13 of the 41 students were female.  Lingering 
fears that the course lacked a broad-based appeal were largely laid to rest as the topic of 
baseball clearly generated interest across both genders. 
The course utilized the Blackboard course management system administered by 
the library for the campus. Among its many features, the system offers instructors the 
capability of setting up online discussion boards to supplement in-class activities. This 
resource was underutilized throughout the term, perhaps because contributions to online 
discussions were neither required nor included in the grading criteria. Given the many 
activities that students are involved in, an incentive to participate must be provided in 
order to make this aspect of the course more meaningful. 
Finally, one of the lessons driven home again and again was that it is impossible 
to over emphasize communication. The instructors simply cannot be pesky enough in 
providing reminders or offering opportunities for interaction and questions. 
Announcements on the course management system, e-mail alerts, reminders in class, 
handouts summarizing activities in the week ahead and office hours held in the Student 
Union at the center of campus are some of the ways to get the message out. It is best not 
to assume that the students will read instructions, consult the syllabus or show up at 
office hours?even for the love of baseball. 
The Future 
Having been taught successfully two times, the course has proven itself an 
effective way to interest students in taking a library course to learn research methods that 
can help them in the rest of their academic careers. There is always room for 
 7 
improvement, and future enhancements to the course could include finding ways to 
respond to students? request for more baseball content, developing a more complete suite 
of active learning exercises, devising better ways to demonstrate the print and online 
tools available to the students, and incorporating online tutorials into the course 
management system in order to supplement in-class instruction.  
There is always more that can be done in the never-ending quest to improve the 
learning experience. We are certain, however, that the topic of baseball has proven to be a 
great way to engage the students in thinking about the research process and in honing 
their research skills?skills that they will be able to use throughout their academic careers 
and on into the rest of their lives. 
Works Cited 
Baseball?s Greatest Hits. Various artists. Rhino, 1989. 
James, Bill. The Bill James Handbook. 2005 edition. Chicago, ACTA Publications, 2005. 
Leutzinger, Richard. Lefty O'Doul : The Legend that Baseball Nearly Forgot. Carmel, CA : Carmel Bay 
Publishing Group, 1997. 
Play Ball. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Rec. 1996. Telarc, 1998. 
Tomlinson, Gerald, ed. How to Do Baseball Research. Cleveland, OH, Society for American Baseball 
Research, 2000. 
Tennant, Roy ?Digital Libraries- Cross-Database Search: One Stop Shopping.? Library Journal 126:17 
(2001): 29-30. 
 8 
Authors? note: This essay was accepted by the editor for inclusion in the book, Baseball in the 
Classroom: Teaching America?s National Pastime, edited by Edward J. Rielly. However, we could 
not agree to the terms of the publisher?s author release form, which would not allow us to retain 
the right to post our work on our institutional repository. The publisher was unwilling to 
compromise, so in the interest of supporting open access to scholarly communication we withheld 
our essay from the planned publication in favor of publishing it on the University of Oregon?s 
Scholar?s Bank. We hope that persons interested in the use of baseball as a pedagogical tool will 
find the article useful. 
 
For more information on the Open Access Movement and its importance, see the Association of 
Research Libraries? information on the topic at http://www.arl.org/osc/models/oa.html. 
 
Ted Smith and Mark Watson 
January 23, 2006 
 
 
 9