The Arcadia Athletics and the Beaver Bombers pitched an amazing final project on Thursday, Dec. 17, with President Jerry Greiner tossing the first pitch. The wiffle ball game was played by students in the University Seminar Baseball and Beisbol: Race and Ethnicity. The final score was 2 to 1, with the A’s winning the game.

Led by Dr. Jeff Shultz, Professor of Education and Assistant Provost for Special Projects, the seminar examined the evolution of racial and ethnic relations in Major League Baseball in the United States. (See Dan Geringer’s article today in the Philadelphia Daily News about Shultz’ “lifelong quest to unravel the mysteries of racial and ethnic discrimination in Major League Baseball.”)

In addition to organizing and playing the game, each student produced a poster about a major league baseball player as part of the final project. The posters were on chronological display during the game and revealed crucial turning points in race relations in baseball.

For the game, half the students played for the Arcadia Athletics, while the other half were on the Beaver Bombers. Each student wore a T-shirt bearing the number of the major league player he or she researched.

President Greiner stayed to watch the game and Dr. John Hoffman, Dean of the College of Business, Health and Sciences, served as the celebrity umpire, and Dr. Norah Shultz, Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, kept score.