Many people enjoy the Fall because of the beautiful colours of the leaves, but to baseball fans, the Fall is especially wonderful because it also means the beginning of the World Series.
This year, the two teams competing in the World Series are The St. Louis Cardinals and The Texas Rangers. And while both teams are capable of winning the championship–the series is tied at 2-2–the Cardinals have shown they can score a ton of runs, thanks in large part to their first baseman, Albert Pujols.
On Saturday, Pujols played one of the finest games of baseball ever played in the World Series. Not only did he hit three home runs, he also collected six RBI (Runs Batted In), and hit two singles.
Pujols’ terrific day at the plate put him among baseball’s elite. The only other players to ever hit three homers in a World Series game are none other than hall of famers Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson.
In addition, by raising his total number of career play-off homeruns to 18, he tied all-time great, Mickey Mantle for fourth most play-off homers.
Perhaps most impressively, Pujols’ performance came just one day after a game in which he was without a hit, committed an error, and which the Cardinals lost.
After the game Pujols explained how one of his worst games was followed by one of his best.
He said, “I was hitting the ball hard, but I wasn’t getting any hits. But all it takes is one good game.”
More like one unbelievable game.
Updated Monday, October 24, 8:51 a.m. EST.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Pujols was able to persevere and succeed even though he had struggled in his previous at-bats. Have you ever been able to “bounce back” from failure? What did you say to yourself to help you succeed? What would you say to help a teammate who was having difficulty?
Reading Prompt
As with any sport, baseball has terms and words that is unique to it. How might having a conversation about baseball prior to reading this article help you understand it?
Primary
Identify, initially with some support and direction, what strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading and how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers (OME, Reading: 4.1).
Junior and Intermediate
Identify the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading and explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers or in a reader’s notebook, how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers (OME, Reading: 4.1).
Grammar Feature: Possessive Apostrophe
To show ownership, writers place an apostrophe followed by the letter ‘s’ to the end of a noun (a person, place, or thing). For example, Sebastian’s hat, Calgary’s mayor, and the car’s front door. But when a noun ends with the letter ‘s’ which makes a sound like a zed (z), many writers choose to add just an apostrophe (they do not add an ‘s.’) For example, Pujols’ performance or New Orleans’ mayor.
Write the possessive form of 10 nouns.
