I would like to know if, in professional golf, there are regulations on the use of balls. Can players change balls during the game, one for driver and another for putts? Are they given new balls at their convenience or do they keep the same one for the entire game?
According to United States Golf Association (USGA) rules, a player cannot change balls on every shot. According to rule 6.3b(1), “a ball may only be changed in case of relief or between two holes.” As for changing the ball once on the putting green, Rule 4.2C(2) states that it is not possible to “replace a ball…unless the ball is split or cracked”. Thus, a player cannot change balls unless there is a breakage or loss. He must wait until he arrives at the next hole to do so.
Historically, the names of New York Yankees players have not appeared on their jerseys. Is this an exclusive privilege, or could any club adopt this (deplorable) practice?
No, this is not a privilege. For a long time, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants did not display player names on jerseys. This is still the case for the Boston Red Sox, during home games. Other teams have created “alternate” jerseys where the names do not appear, such as the Texas Rangers, as part of the City Connect collection.
It’s amazing, the dozens of balls that are used during a Major League Baseball game. Each time the ball hits the ground, it is replaced. For what ? How many dozen balls on average can be used in a match?
In a nine inning game, 75 to 100 balls are used. A little more, if it’s an attacking duel or there are extra innings. For one thing, the ball must be clean enough for the batter to see well. On the other hand, pitchers generally like to handle a new ball, on which there is no alteration when placing their fingers on it. There are, however, notable exceptions. Mike Scott, a great pitcher for the Houston Astros during the 1980s, liked to throw worn balls because they moved differently.
Talking about batting average in baseball, or save average in hockey, why do we say .256 or .915 instead of 25.6% or 91.5%? Is it because the % character takes up more space when written?
Excellent question. I searched our archives, and La Presse always expressed baseball averages as 1000, rather than 100. This is probably a legacy of cricket statistics, which were expressed that way. Furthermore, in his book A Game of Inches, Peter Morris points out that until 1874, batting average expressed the number of hits per game, and not per appearance at bat. So it wasn’t a percentage. When the formula changed, the notation out of 1000 remained. In hockey, La Presse journalists use both formulations.
The NFL season is upon us and I would like to know, geographically speaking, the historical reason why the Dallas Cowboys play in the Eastern division of the National.
Dear Pierre, well taken: There is a club in Dallas that, by the NFL’s random geographic criteria, is part of the East Coast region, just like a club in New York, although the Cowboys play in another time zone. You will have understood that in the fantasy world of American football, we do not get bogged down in such details; once, for example, the Arizona Cards were also an Eastern club. As far as the Cowboys are concerned, legend has it that decision was a fluke. In fact, it is said that when rethinking the order of divisions in 1970, commissioner Pete Rozelle asked his secretary to write the names of the teams on pieces of paper, and then to do some drawing. It was in this very scientific way, it seems, that the Cowboys became a club in the East. That won’t change, anyway, because the rivalry they’ve had since that time with the Giants, the Eagles and other Commanders is far too lucrative.
