Welcome to U.S. Cellular Field!
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Home Plate - This is where our visit to U.S. Cellular Field, home to your Chicago White Sox, begins and ends (just like a homerun in baseball). At the bottom of this page is a "Mini-baseball glossary" that will familiarize you with terms you'll need to know for this site. Read the glossary and complete the matching and multiple choice questions at the bottom of the page. Then read each of the bases below and go to the matching tabs on the menu above taking part in the activities at each "base." When you have "run the bases" come back here to "homeplate" and access the Wikispace site via the "Access to callsoxproject.wikispaces" at the top of this page to share your experiences. The tutorial at the bottom of this page will show you how to sign up for the Wikispace site:
First Base - Examine the googlemap that shows how to get to Cellular Field from UIC. You will choose a method to arrive, by car, by bicycle, on foot or by public transportation and write a set of directions explaining to one of your friends how to meet you at Cellular.
Second Base - A Visit to "The Cell" is incomplete without enjoying the many types of food and drink available. On this site you will choose two of the venues pictured and make a recording of yourself discussing the food you've chosen for your day at the park.
Third Base - At third base you'll find a task that introduces you to some interesting White Sox characters from the past who are memorialized in various ways all around Cellular Field. Read about these people and answer some thought-provoking questions about what you have learned.
Traditions - You'll find two videos about Cellular Field traditions here. Watch the videos and take the quiz. Then go back to "Home Plate" for your final task of the trip.
Gloss
Mini-baseball glossary:
ball – 1) noun -the spherical object thrown by the pitcher to be hit by the batter; 2) noun -when a pitcher delivers the ball to the batter but misses the ‘strike zone’ (see below).
base – noun - In baseball, the playing field is called a diamond because it is shaped like one, with home plate at the nearest corner and ‘bases’ made up of rubber-filled canvas-covered square pillows placed on each of the other corners of the diamond, called “first base,” “second base,” and “third base.”
bat – noun – a tube, no more than 42 inches long, made of wood or metal, tapered at one end for easier grip, used by the batter to hit the ball thrown by the pitcher.
batter – noun – the player who uses a bat to hit the pitched ball and navigates the bases to score a run.
inning –noun - An inning is made up of a team sending their players, one at a time, to home plate to take their turn at bat. If a player hits the ball successfully, they can run the bases, first through third and come back to home plate to score a run. The batter has three chances to swing without hitting the ball before he is ‘out.’ The team gets three ‘outs’ before they must go back to the field and give the other team a chance to bat. Each cycle of ‘at bats’ is an inning.
out – 1) noun - If a batter fails to hit the pitch with his bat, or if he hits it, but it is caught by a player in the field without touching the ground first, the player is said to make an ‘out’ and his turn at bat is over. When a team makes three outs, their turn at bat is over and they must take the field, giving the competing team their turns at bat. 2) adjective – the player who has made an out is considered to be out.
pitch – 1) noun - when the pitcher throws the ball from his station on the pitcher’s mound toward the batter at home plate; 2) noun -the throw from the pitcher toward home plate.
pitcher – noun – the player who throws the ball from to the batter to start the action.
run – noun - runs are scored when a batter hits the ball delivered to him by a pitcher and successfully navigates all the bases to return home.
strike – 1) noun - when the pitcher delivers a ball to the batter and the batter swings at it, but fails to hit it with his bat; 2) verb - when a batter swings at a pitch but fails to hit it.
strike zone – noun - the area in front of the batter, from knee-high to chest high, above home plate, where the pitch must be thrown to be considered a strike.