Decimal place
value
Decimals Around the Diamond
Name ______________________________________________
Baseball fans always argue who the best player
was. Some say it was Ken Griffey, Jr. Others
insist it was Cal Ripkin, Jr. Still others claim it
was Barry Bonds. Everybody seems to have a
favorite!
When it comes to finding the best hitter,
though, no one can argue with batting averages. The batting average shows how often a
baseball player gets a hit. It is a 3-digit decimal
number, and looks like this: .328, .287, .311,
.253. The larger the batting average is, the
better the hitter is.
Rank
Decimals are numbers between 0 and 1. They
are written to the right of the ones place.
Decimals always have a decimal point to the
left of them.
.325
decimal tenths hundredths thousandths
point
place
place
place
Read the chart of baseball players’ batting
averages from 1995. Rank the batting
averages. This means number the batting
averages in order from highest to lowest.
(See Home Plate for help.) Write the
numbers 1 to 10 in the boxes next to the
names—1 for the highest average, 10 for
the lowest. Ready? Play ball!
To rank decim
Player
(Team)
1995 Batting
Average
Cal Ripken, Jr.
(Baltimore Orioles)
Barry Bonds
(San Francisco Giants)
Mo Vaughn
(Boston Red Sox)
Barry Larkin
(Cincinnati Reds)
Kirby Puckett
(Minnesota Twins)
Tony Gwynn
(San Diego Padres)
Ken Griffey, Jr.
(Seattle Mariners)
Mike Piazza
(Los Angeles Dodgers)
Frank Thomas
(Chicago White Sox)
David Justice
(Atlanta Braves)
.262
.294
.300
.319
.314
.368
.258
.346
.308
.253
HOME PLATE
al nu
mbers:
• Start at the le
ft.
• Compare the
digits in the sam
e place.
• Find the first
place where the
di
gits are differen
• The number w
t.
ith the smaller di
git is the smalle
number. Exampl
r
e: Rank .317 an
d .312
.317
↔
↔
↔
What to Do:
Date _________________
.312
So .312 is smalle
r
than .317.
Scholastic Success With: Math, Grade 4 © Scholastic Teaching Resources
47
Answer Key
Page 47
Here is the correct ranking from highest to lowest:
1—Tony Gwynn (.368); 2—Mike Piazza (.346); 3—Barry
Larkin (.319); 4—Kirby Puckett (.314); 5—Frank Thomas
(.308); 6—Mo Vaughn (.300); 7—Barry Bonds (.294); 8—Cal
Ripken, Jr. (.262); 9—Ken Griffey, Jr. (.258); 10—David
Justice (.253)
Scholastic Success With: Math, Grade 4 © Scholastic Teaching Resources
63