By JARED DIAMOND
If you want to know which river is Europe’s longest, or which Chicago hotel was built in the Italian Renaissance style, someone in the dugout can probably tell you
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.—Baseball clubhouses don’t often foster an environment conducive to the pursuit of worldly knowledge. Only 55% of players who appeared in a major-league game last season attended college, and few of those stuck around campus long enough to earn a degree.
It’s not that ballplayers are unintelligent. Many of them have varied, diverse interests that extend well beyond sports. Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer is an amateur magician. Second baseman Daniel Murphy spoke at the White House last summer about the role of working fathers and parental rights in society.
Still, one wouldn’t expect them to spend their free time trying to name the longest river in Europe (the Volga)….
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