N.Y. Times: Glanville: Doubleday and Darwin (RR)

Inherit the Windup...the latest dandy from Doug Glanville.

There are quantifiable skills that can make someone naturally compatible with the rules of the game, but it’s almost more important to be adaptable. Baseball can update pretty dramatically for a National Pastime. It has the ability to stay both classic and current, without contradiction. On the table of baseball rule changes for late this season is the instant replay, intended to help umpires on difficult home run calls. In the end, if it’s added to the rule book, the game will go on; players — and umpires — who don’t adapt won’t.

As the game changes, what is deemed “talent” changes right along with it. A player is discovered only in the shadow of these rules — rules that were invented and that have matured over time.

If I were to make my baseball experience the basis of answering the question about discovery vs. invention posed by my high school math teacher, I’d say that math was discovered . . . through the lens of our invention.