I don't know if it still is, but baseball's nickname has been "America's national pastime." All the time that I was growing up, one aspect of team standings, namely, the number of games behind (GB) the leader a team iswas reported the same way stock prices were reported--in mixed fractions, i.e., four and one-half games were always "4 1/2.". Today, I noticed that both the Boston Red Sox and ESPN Web sites are reporting GB with decimal points! I don't see anybody needing to be reported as 4.25 games behind (a quarter-game doesn't happen), but here's another advance for decimal measurement. Might be just a computer thing, though--posting the GB online probably doesn't lend itself to mixed fractions. But, this long-time mixed fraction result has now been nevertheless decimalized. Buy me some peanuts and about 100 g of Cracker Jack while you're at it, baseball!
Paul Trusten, R.Ph. Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. www.metric.org 3609 Caldera Blvd. Apt. 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 US +1(432)528-7724 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
