Browsing articles in "Other Features"

Why Does Support for Gay Marriage Continue to Rise?

Feb 29, 2012   //   by admin   //   Other Features  //  Comments Off on Why Does Support for Gay Marriage Continue to Rise?

Support for gay marriage has increased considerably over the last 15 years and even more rapidly over the last three years as a result of a combination of the following three things: passage of anti-gay marriage legislation, increasingly accurate media portrayals of gay Americans and by virtue of more people intimately knowing someone who is gay.

A national Pew Research poll released on Feb. 7 found that the American public was evenly divided regarding same-sex marriage for the first time in the 15 years of polling on the issue.The study, which aggregated multiple 2011 polls, found 46 percent of Americans in support of gay marriage, whereas 45 percent opposed the institution.

Just two years prior, in 2009, an average of multiple polls found a clear majority (54 percent) opposed to gay marriage, with just 37 percent in support. When the polling began in 1996, 65 percent opposed gay marriage, while just 27 percent said they supported it.

An analysis of the polls revealed that support for gay marriage increased 10 percent over the 14 years from 1995 to 2009, but managed to increase nearly the same amount (9 percent) from 2009 to 2011. Read more >>

Inside Look: Albert Pujols’ Plate Appearances

Nov 3, 2011   //   by admin   //   Multimedia, Other Features  //  Comments Off on Inside Look: Albert Pujols’ Plate Appearances

When the time comes, first baseman Albert Pujols will undoubtedly be enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The 31-year-old Dominican native won his second World Series title on Oct. 28, 2011 after his St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in seven thrilling games. Although the series MVP was awarded to Pujols’ teammate, David Freese, Pujols also contributed to the team, most notably blasting three home runs in Game 3 of the Fall Classic. With Pujols set to become a free agent this offseason, many teams have to decide whether or not they want to try to sign Pujols, a player who will surely be demanding a great deal of money. Let’s look at the pie chart below that depicts the likelihood of possible scenarios when the slugger steps to the plate. Here’s the graph, followed by a more detailed explanation below:

 

The entire pie (all 100 percent) represents the 7,433 plate appearances Albert Pujols has had throughout his career. The slices of the pie depict the distributions of various scenarios when he bats.

Non-baseball fans may wonder how Albert Pujols could be a definite Hall of Famer, given that he gets out 58 percent (23.5+25+9.5 or fly outs+ground outs+strike outs) of the time he comes to the plate. For one, hitting a baseball that is thrown up to 100 miles per hour (sometimes faster) can be extremely difficult. In addition, pitchers strive to confuse opposing batters with slower pitchers that move rapidly, such as curveballs and sliders. For those reasons, hitters that can reach base 35 percent of the time are lauded for their abilities; Pujols boasts an impressive career on-base percentage of .420 (100 minus the 58 percent of the time he gets out). Pujols’ .420 on-base percentage places him tied with Mickey Mantle for 18th all-time in that category.

Interestingly enough, Pujols hits a home run six percent of the time he comes to the plate. Again, that may not seem like a robust number, but Pujols is widely regarded as one of the best home run hitters in the MLB. Throughout his career, the first baseman has been one of the most efficient home run hitters to ever play the game. In fact, Pujols’ 14.18 at bats per home run clip ranks seventh all-time behind such celebrated home run hitters as Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, among others.

World Series MVP David Freese Leads Comeback Cardinals to 11th Title

Oct 28, 2011   //   by admin   //   Other Features  //  Comments Off on World Series MVP David Freese Leads Comeback Cardinals to 11th Title

The St. Louis Cardinals are resilient, but I didn’t have to tell you that.

This team was disregarded by virtually everyone after falling to 10.5 games out of the Wild Card as late as August 26.

The Cardinals were counted out once again Thursday night on two different occasions, each time being a strike away (while two runs down) from elimination. Read more >>

2011 World Series Preview

Oct 18, 2011   //   by admin   //   Other Features  //  Comments Off on 2011 World Series Preview

Mighty Offenses Will Collide as Cardinals and Rangers Meet

The Texas Rangers will battle the St. Louis Cardinals for baseball’s biggest prize in a best of seven series beginning Wednesday night.

Quite honestly, not many analysts saw this coming.

Before the season, the Phillies-Red Sox and Phillies-Yankees were the most common World Series predictions. Those teams were widely regarded as being loaded with top talent.

The Texas Rangers were, last year’s American League champions, but in the offseason they lost talented southpaw pitcher Cliff Lee and 115-RBI man Vladimir Guerrero, among others. There was little question whether or not the deep Ranger line-up would shine, but their starting rotation (minus Lee) was seen as a major concern.

Even as recently as August 25, the St. Louis Cardinals found themselves third in the NL wild card race, 10.5 games behind the leading Atlanta Braves. At that point, even the Giants were a game in front of the Cardinals. Many gave up on the Cards. Read more >>

Race for the NL Cy Young

Sep 16, 2011   //   by admin   //   Other Features  //  Comments Off on Race for the NL Cy Young

Who Should Win?

In the American League, Jered Weaver, Josh Beckett, and a few others have turned in stellar seasons, but it’s looking like Justin Verlander has his league’s Cy Young award on lock.

In the senior circuit, however, all kinds of craziness is occurring.

To help you sort out all the chaos surrounding the National League Cy Young award, Trevor Kuss of Baseball Nerds and I will debate each other.

We’re both well aware that many pitchers turned in phenomenal seasons, but in this segment, we go all out for one pitcher, each.

I believe Clayton Kershaw should go home with the hardware; Mr. Kuss says it should be Roy Halladay. Read more >>

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BIO

Aaron Fischman is a sports writer, editor and multimedia journalist, who currently hosts the On the NBA Beat podcast, a weekly interview show he co-founded with fellow USC alums Loren Lee Chen and brother Joshua Fischman in advance of the 2015-16 NBA season. On the podcast, he and the crew interview some of the league’s best reporters on their particular beat. Fischman is also currently hard at work on his first book, a nonfiction baseball story. Read more.