Bleeding Yankee Blue: WHICH NUMBER DOESN'T BELONG HERE?

Monday, February 20, 2017

WHICH NUMBER DOESN'T BELONG HERE?

Photo: Getty Images

Educators have an interesting way of demonstrating, showcasing and defending their passions for baseball. I spend my days with the best educators in the nation and from time to time we get to talking about the sport that's deep within our hearts.

Twice within this week I had the opportunity to chat with administrators and teachers informally about baseball and in particular the Yankees. Now let me preface that all three educators are Met fans but their passion and commitment to their team did not leave them uneducated about the Yankees and even respectful of them.

Our first administrator and I were talking about Bleeding Yankee Blue, our very own fan blog, which he appears to read despite being a Met fan. When I asked him why he was a Met fan and not a Yankee fan, he had a very good answer, which I could not debate. "I'm a Met fan because the Yankees fired Yogi Berra in 1964." Educators are passionate people and this fan was no different.

Then there was the principal who is a Met fan because he was a Brooklyn Dodger fan. And we know what happened there. Again, I accepted his argument because of his convincing evidence.

Source: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America

Finally, an assistant principal and I took part in a workshop on Friday where the question posed was "Which number does not belong here?" The numbers were 8, 9 and 12. I was thinking solely from a mathematics perspective since this was a math professional development session and I figured out proudly that 9 is an odd number whereas both 8 and 12 are even, so 9 didn't belong. But I was shamed by this assistant principal who said simply, "12 doesn't belong because it's the only number of the group that has not been retired by the Yankees." After my awe of his answer, I confirmed that Chase Headley currently wears 12 and told him how much I loved his answer. I think he is going to be a fan of our site despite being a Met fan.

Educators are passionate about the sport of baseball and often are able to make connections to baseball and their roles in schools. Whether using players' batting averages as engagement incentives for kids or adorning their offices with baseball pictures, educators communicate about baseball. With all of the distasteful conversations happening in the public eye across the country, it is nice to have conversations about America's favorite past time and hear the strong convictions educators have about the sport they love.