Jun 7, 2008
Simple lesson in semiotics: People don’t think “strikeout” when they see KKK.
In some promotional signage at Twins’ games, K represents a strike.
3 strikes equals KKK.
Isn’t anyone paid to notice these things?
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I agree with you that most people don’t think three strikes when they see KKK on the street. I know I don’t. However, and it’s probably because I go to a lot of games, at a baseball game I do tend to think of strikes. Go figure!
Oh yeah… Go Cubs!!!
When you keep a scorecard, K is the symbol for strike.
The bedsheet is optional.
I completely agree – how many people review things like that and still miss them.
And this particular sign is bad on two fronts. K doesn’t represent a strike – it represents a strikeout. So there’s no reason they needed to use three of them – unless they were recording the number of strikeouts for the pitcher. And then in that case, it’s customary to turn K’s backwards for any strikeouts where the batter struck out looking.
I was at a Lexington Legends game a couple of years ago, and I was sitting behind an older woman and her daughter. Both African-American.
When the third “K” went up, the older woman became agitated and the daughter almost didn’t get her calmed down. She had no idea what the signs actually meant.
Rather sad, in its way, but I couldn’t help but laugh a bit.
On the pictured sign, K represented a strikeout, but they also played this game where it was a strike, and if the contestant got 3 in a row, they were out.
It seems to take familiarity with baseball (which I obviously don’t have) for granted.
My dad taught me to score baseball games as soon as I was old enough to hold a pencil. This blog entry confused the heck out of me until I read Michaels entry! Never occurred to me that a list of strikeouts could look offensive to people.
Makes complete sense though – just something that in 40+ years of baseball watching (and scoring) never crossed my mind!
Hey – did I ever tell you about the time I saw Bartolo Colon pitch a nearly perfect game? He walked the first batter of the game then never let another batter on base. One walk away from a perfect game. Luckily we were keeping a scorecard in the stands – it is a beauty of a card too. If you care…which most people don’t. But to a sabermatrician there are few sights as beautiful as the completely symmetrical scorecard that comes from a 27 up, 27 out scorecard.
Yes, I am a geek.
When I was in high school, all of us chicks who went to the baseball games would put up giant Ks for every strikeout. One afternoon, school dismissed so students could watch an early game. One student in attendance, who didn’t know much about the game, went ballistic after three Ks were put up. He had no idea what the Ks were for, he just saw KKK and started tearing down our signs and screaming about how racist we all were. He would not calm down enough for anyone to explain, so he was escorted back to the school.
Would it be tolerated if the strikeouts were noted with swatztikas? prolly not.
But this does remind me of a family from St. Louis. african-american. lovely people. Christians. Had three boys. All their names began with “K”. That always struck me as odd. struck. strike. K. hmmmmm.
Two comments: First I think it’s fantastic that someone used the word “sabermatrician” on this blog since there a 0% chance that the blogger has ever used that word in any context. Second, every game I’ve ever been to that displays a “k” for every strikeout ALWAYS turns the third “k” backwards to avoid negative symbolism.
Too bad I can’t spell, though. The word is “sabermetrician”.
I would go so far as to say that the beauty of a perfect baseball game is evidence of God. The pitcher faces 9 batters, 3 each inning for a total of 3 times in a 9 inning game. Completely symmetrical – completely perfect.
It’s a once in a lifetime experience and God must really love me alot to have given me a chance to not only be at a nearly perfect game but to actually score one. It was a good day.
I noticed the same thing here at a Louisville Bats game and remember being confused and a little uncomfortable. Didn’t ask about it at the time.
It’s interesting the cultural references that words and letters represent to us.
For example, my grandmother (who if she was alive would be almost 100) never got the whole gay=homosexual connotation. To her, the word ‘gay’ meant care free.
Same goes for many swear words. There are linguists who specialize in etymology (not to be confused with entymology) of swear words.
Pretty interesting how they’ve changed over the years.
I wonder how many years, if ever, the cultural connotations of the letters KKK will change.
P.S. The swastika wasn’t always the symbol of Nazi Germany.
K forwards=strikeout swinging.
K backwards=strikeout looking.
Just out of curiosity, which came first, the symbol or the klan? I mean, honestly… three k’s in a row are not threatening in any way at a baseball game. And, if baseball used it before the klan, shouldn’t we think of their kkk as a strikeout? I’m just saying…..
Which came first isn’t going to help sort this one out–it’s a virtual tie:
“The first Klan was founded in 1866 by veterans of the Confederate Army. Its purpose was to restore white supremacy in the aftermath of the American Civil War.” (Wikipedia)
Henry Chadwick is credited with inventing scoresheets and boxscores for baseball (as well as many of the stats and notations that fill them, including the K). The first boxscore was published in 1845, but strikeouts weren’t specifically included until the 1860′s. (Wikipedia and ESPN.com)
The reason it’s a K, incidentally, is because S already indicated “sacrifice,” and “strucK out” has a prominent K in it. (My own mental pit of baseball arcana)
Cheers,
KP
This thread makes baby Bill James cry.
In short – a “K” indicates a strikeout (3 strikes in one at bat) in baseball scoring. A K forward does typically mean that the batter swung at the last strike. A K backwards would indicate that he didn’t swing at his final pitch.
It is questionable whether this scoring shorthand actually does predate the klan. It may not. Baseball itself isn’t that old of a sport and most experts (including sabermetricians) date the art of scoring a game only back to the late 1800′s.
You wouldn’t actually see a “KKK” in a scorecard because even if the pitcher threw three strikeouts in a row the K’s would be in a column under the inning number.
All this to say that I think Abraham’s original post has alot of merit – whoever created that sign should have stopped to think that putting “KKK” on it was foolish from a cultural sensitivity standpoint and also not terribly significant in terms of baseball. Two K’s or 4 K’s would have communicated the exact same message without any confusion.
Now I’m off to see our local AAA team play. Thank you all for helping to get me into the baseball mood today!!! What a fun and timely blog entry, Abraham. Thanks!
Hey there, Elizabeth,
I’m going to sound really defensive when I say, “I know.”
I am not aware of any regime that created its own logo like Nike.
peace.
Here’s an interesting and entertaining post on how to keep score in Baseball.
http://tinyurl.com/6emvut
This thread gets funnier all the time, not because of the quality of the content, but because of the Abraham’s indifference to baseball. He was once forced to be a fill in outfielder for a little league game because one team was lacking the necessary 9. He later admitted to being terrified and having no idea what to do at the plate. Although I do remember one nice running catch in center field.
All that to say, let’s not forget the original point of the post, since he clearly didn’t mean it as a baseball lesson.
I’m very happy with the direction of this comment thread. I’ve learned more in this one than from any other post’s, I think.
I won’t say I think it matters very much, but it’s been a good lesson in baseball trivia.
And vocabularically, you don’t get much better than “sabermetrician.”
Thanks all–keep the lessons coming!
Yep, the Brewers are also taking part in this… it also had to be explained to me.
Um. Barnabas. Your bro has come quite a long way from those “not know what to do at the plate” days.
We nearly had a lawsuit on our hands because he pounded one out of our yard, across the street, into the alley, out of sight and then “dink” as it nailed a moving vehicle.
We had a good laugh.
You should be proud.
of your brother.