Duncan and Marjorie Phillips attended many baseball games in Washington, D.C. Marjorie would sit and sketch her surroundings Sketch some of the highlights of a baseball game you have seen.
Joe DiMaggio was famous for his extra-wide batting stance. Do you think Marjorie Phillips accurately portrayed him? Look for photos of DiMaggio and compare them with Marjorie Phillips’ portrayal. Are they alike or different? In what ways?
Draw a picture of your favorite sports figure. What features make this person distinctive?
Marjorie Phillips’s Night Baseball would not have been possible without electric lights. Analyze the impact of stadium lighting on sports. How did it affect the economics of sports (e.g., schedules, ticket prices, athletes’ salaries, profits for the owners, jobs for stadium workers)?
Trace baseball history and create a timeline of important events or influences—such as the advent of stadium lighting or personalities like Joe DiMaggio.
Baseball is called the “great American pastime.” Is this true today? Debate which sport is the “most American” and why.
Find different geometric angles in Night Baseball. Classify the angles as right, acute, obtuse or straight. Find at least three adjacent angles, and two angles that share a common ray, (as in the angle found from third base to home plate to first base).
After studying Night Baseball, construct a model of a baseball stadium out of cardboard, craftsticks, and found objects. Determine the shapes and volumes that make up the seating arrangements, the field design, and the lighting placement to ensure maximum utility for players, workers, and fans.
Phillips carefully chose to paint the climactic moment just before the pitcher releases the ball to set the field in motion. Write and act out a radio broadcast describing the next few moments of the game. Add in sound effects (the crack of ball to bat, the roar of the crowd).