The Major League Baseball playoffs continue to deliver excitement.
The New York Yankees are playing the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Division Series (ALDS).
In game three of the best-of-five series, the Yankees pulled off a very dramatic win on Wednesday.
It started with a bold move by the Yankees manager, Joe Girardi. The manager is responsible for team strategy on the field and team leadership.
In the ninth inning of game three, Girardi had to make a tough decision. He chose to pinch hit for Alex Rodriguez. Pinch hitting is when you swap out one player for another one–one that you think is more likely to hit a run.
Rodriguez is currently ranked fifth on the all-time home run list. He is also the highest paid player in baseball, with an annual salary of $30-million. He makes about $6-million more than any other player.
Girardi called on pinch hitter Raul Ibanez to replace Rodriguez in the batting line-up.
Until that point, Rodriquez had only been able to get one hit in twelve at-bats. The Yankees were trailing 2-1 and needed a spark. The left-handed hitting Ibanez delivered.
He hit a lightning bolt, blasting a homerun to tie the game up, 2-2.
The game then went into extra innings.
In the twelfth inning Ibanez came up again. And he delivered again.
This time he hit a rocket into the right field bleachers to win the game for the Yankees, 3-2.
Rodriguez put on a brave face and was among the first Yankees to congratulate Ibanez as he reached his jubilant teammates.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, made a risky decision to replace Rodriguez with Ibanez. His gamble definitely paid off. Is taking risks part of being successful?
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
Although the Yankees won, not all of their fans agreed with Joe Girardi’s desicion. Basketball superstar and Yankee fan, Kobe Bryant, reportedly said, “I don’t like that. That’s not good for the chemistry of the team.” What do you think Bryant means by that?
Primary
Extend understanding of texts by con- necting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other famil- iar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by con- necting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Grammar Feature: Metaphors
A metaphor is one way writers make a comparison between two things. For example, in today’s article, the author uses the following metaphor,
“He hit a lightning bolt, blasting a homerun to tie the game up, 2-2.”
In other words, he hit the baseball very hard, like a lightning bolt.
But what you can see in the example above, is that a metaphor is unlike other ways of showing a comparison because it doesn’t use the words “like,” “as,” or “than.”
Write four metaphors of your own to describe the powerful home run.
1. He hit a _____________________________ , blasting a homerun to tie the game up, 2-2.
2. He hit a _____________________________ , blasting a homerun to tie the game up, 2-2.
3. He hit a _____________________________ , blasting a homerun to tie the game up, 2-2.
4. He hit a _____________________________ , blasting a homerun to tie the game up, 2-2.
