"Doc" Halladay pitches a no-hitter

FORMER JAYS PITCHER MAKES HISTORY

Baseball pitcher Roy Halladay has done something no other pitcher has done since 1956. The pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter in the playoffs.

A no-hitter means that Halladay, whose nickname is “Doc,” pitched to 28 batters, and not one of them was able to hit their way to first base. It may not sound that hard, but it is -- and it doesn’t happen very often. Most pitchers go their whole careers without ever pitching a no-hitter.

And to do it in the playoffs is even rarer.

And here’s something even more incredible. This is Halladay’s second no-hitter this season. There haven’t been two no-hitters in one season since 1973. In fact, there have only been five pitchers ever in the history of the game to do that.

No wonder Phillies fans are calling this month, “Doc-tober.”

To get his no-hitter, Halladay threw 104 pitches. The main pitches he used were a fastball, a changeup and a curve ball.

Halladay used to be a Toronto Blue Jay. He pitched for the Jays from 1998 until 2009, when he was traded to the Phillies.

He got the nickname “Doc” from a Blue Jays announcer, who borrowed it from famous wild west gunslinger Doc Holliday.

Curriculum Connection
Today’s article states: “Most pitchers go their whole careers without ever pitching a no-hitter. And to do it in the playoffs is even rarer.”

Why do you think it would be more difficult to pitch a no-hitter during the playoffs?

Primary and Junior
make inferences about texts using stated and implied ideas from the texts as evidence (OME, Reading: 1.5).

Grammar Feature
In school, students are often taught that they need to write in paragraphs, which should be about five sentences long. This article (and most articles in newpapers, magazines and journals) doesn’t follow that rule. For example, in this article, some paragraphs are one or two sentences long.

Why do you think journalists write in this style? Do you think it is effective?

Extensions
Roy Halladay played for the Toronto Blue Jays between 1998 and 2009. Even though he was an excellent pitcher, many Americans had never even heard of him until he left Toronto and played for the Phillies.

If you were a professional athlete, would you choose to stay in Canada and play for a Canadian team, or would you choose to play in the United States?

Monkeys protect Commonwealth Games

Langur monkeys will help to keep other
wild animals at bay at the Games.
Photo: Julie Langford, Wikimedia Commons.

MONKEYS GUARDING THE GAMES

Langur monkeys have been put in front of some of the main venues at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India. They're there to scare off wild dogs, snakes and other wild monkeys that might endanger the athletes.

Langur monkeys are extremely intelligent, but very aggressive and territorial. That makes them perfect for fending off wild animals.

Eight of the monkeys, and their handlers, will be posted outside the boxing and the hockey complexes. Two more are on call in the event of an emergency.

The South African team found a King
Cobra like this one in their residence.
Image: Dawson, Wikimedia Commons



Snake charmers are also being used at the games, especially after a king cobra was found in the South African team's residence. Another snake was discovered in the tennis complex.

True to form, our Canadian athletes have nothing bad to say about the living conditions at the Games. Field hockey player Ken Pereira called the accommodations "fine."

Canada is sending 400 athletes, coaches and support staff to the Delhi Games, which begin on Sunday and run through Oct. 14.

Related Links
Canadian athletes to arrive at Commonwealth Games tomorrow

Curriculum Connection
1. What is this story about? Can you identify the different parts of the story (introduction, body, conclusion)?

Primary and Junior
Identify the main idea and some additional elements of texts (OME, Reading: 2.3).

2. How do the specific elements of the article (introduction, body, conclusion) work to develop the story?

Primary and Junior
Identify specific elements of texts and explain how they contribute to the meaning of the texts (OME, Reading: 1.7)

Grammatical Feature
Comma: Highlight the very different uses of a comma throughout the article.

“Langur monkeys have been put in front of some of the main venues at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.” (After each part of an address.)

“Eight of the monkeys, and their handlers, will be posted outside the boximg and the hockey complexes.” (To mark an interruption in thought.)

“True to form, our Canadian athletes have nothing bad to say about the living conditions at the Games.” (After introductory material.)

Discussion Topics
Do you think the monkeys will protect the athletes? If not, how would you solve the problem if you were put in charge? If yes, what solution would you have if the monkeys, themselves, became a problem?

Commonwealth Games

CANADIAN ATHLETES TO ARRIVE AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES TOMORROW

Shera is the mascot
for the 2010
Commonwealth
Games

Athletes around the world are gearing up for the Commonwealth Games, which begin in New Delhi, India on Oct. 3.

A team of 35 Canadians arrived last week at the event’s “athletes’ village” to get things ready for our 40 athletes and coaches, who are flying in today. The first Canadian athletes to arrive will be those in women’s gymnastics, shooting, table tennis and men’s field hockey.

There has been some controversy surrounding these Games. Some countries have been complained about health and safety concerns. For instance, the athletes’ village was dirty and dilapidated in some areas, and there were pools of water near the athletes’ residence where disease-carrying mosquitoes could potentially breed.

If enough countries had become concerned about the problems, the Games could have been in jeopardy. No country wants to send its elite athletes to a country where they could become injured or get a disease. If many countries had pulled out of the Games, they could have been cancelled.

The president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Mike Fennell, rushed to India to look over the situation and ensure that improvements were made. Many of the problems, including the pools of water, have now been cleaned up, and the first athletes – the English hockey and lawn bowling teams – arrived in New Delhi last week.

Their arrival helped to ease concerns and New Zealand and Australia, the countries that have been the city’s harshest critics, have now confirmed that they will attend the Games.

The Commonwealth Games are held every four years and feature many Olympic sports as well as sports (for instance, netball, lawn bowls and rugby sevens) that are played in Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth of Nations, previously known as the British Commonwealth, includes 54 member states, all but two of which were previously part of the British Empire.

Related links
The website for the Commonwealth Games.

Listen to the awesome theme song for the Commonwealth Games, Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto (Live, Rise, Ascend, Win) by A. R. Rahman.

Wikipedia pages for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth of Nations.

Curriculum Connection
Primary
Identify some simple elements of style, including voice and word choice, and explain, initially with support and direction, how they help readers understand texts (OME, Reading: 2.4).

Junior
Identify various elements of style – including alliteration, descriptive adjectives and adverbs, and sentences of different types, lengths, and structures – and explain how they help communicate meaning (OME, Reading: 2.4).

Grammatical Feature
The apostrophe:
Highlight the different uses of the apostrophe throughout the article.

"A team of 35 Canadians arrived last week at the event’s “athletes’ village" to get things ready for our 40 athletes and coaches, who are flying in today."

Discussion Topics
If you were a professional athlete, invited to participate at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, would you go? What would your reasoning be?

Almost-perfect game

PITCHER ALMOST GETS A RARE "PERFECT GAME"

If you've ever suffered a "bad call" in a sport, just think how Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga feels.

Last Wednesday, he pitched a "perfect game." That's a game in which the pitcher gets every one of the 27 batters out from the other team.

Perfect games are very rare. There have only been 20 of them in history, so if a pitcher gets a perfect game, it's a very big deal.

On Wednesday, Galarraga had retired 26 batters from the other team, the Cleveland Indians. The last batter hit the ball, but it was thrown to the first baseman, who touched the base first. The batter should have been out and the pitcher would have thrown a perfect game.

Right? Wrong.

Unfortunately, the umpire made a mistake. Umpire Jim Joyce thought the runner got to first base in time, and he called the runner "safe." That would mean that one person was on base - so no perfect game.

But the umpire was wrong. In the heat of the action, he thought he saw the runner get to first in time, but that wasn't what happened. Even though he realized his mistake, it was too late. In baseball, once an umpire makes a call, it stands. The runner was declared safe at first and the pitcher didn't get his "perfect game."

Galarraga was disappointed but he isn't holding it against the umpire. He understands that Joyce is a good umpire who just made a mistake. Yesterday, the two shook hands. It was an emotional moment for both of them - especially the umpire, who feels terrible about the incident.

Related links:
Here is an article from The Globe and Mail.
Here's The Star article.