Pedro Martinez Strikeout Statistics

Baseball fans are nutty about statistics. After all, baseball is very much a game of numbers . There are countless baseball reference Web sites freely available online as well as dozens of books dedicated to baseball statistics. However certain statistics are easier to locate than others, especially those pertaining to individual players. Today's reference challenge? What is the highest number of strikeouts that Pedro Martinez racked up in a single game? We know that it is less than 20 - Roger Clemens holds that record for the most strikeouts recorded in a single, nine inning game.

Blueberry Buoyancy

The following reference question came in by phone to a reference desk at a local public library. "Why do some blueberries float and others sink?" Ideas? Sources? Experiments? Research? Conspiracy theories?

Massachusetts State Police Uniforms an Inspiration for the Nazi Party?

While spending their 10 minute break in the hallway outside of a GSLIS classroom, a group of Simmons students were becoming very silly. One of the students told the group that her eccentric father in law claimed that Adolph Hitler was so taken with the uniforms worn by the Massachusetts State Police that he decided to steal the look for his men. "Bob Barker?" Someone interjected. Obviously, they had not been listening. There was five seconds of hearty librarian laughter and then everyone got very serious and began hmmmming and stroking their chins even though there was only one beard between the four of them. These library students need your help! Did the Nazis base their uniforms on those worn by the Massachusetts State Police?
It's not just about the answer, the more sources the better!

"In God We Trust"

When did the US start printing "In God We Trust" on their paper currency (and why).
The imagined *customer* needs 3 sources to cite:
(1) free, reliable, available-to-all online;
(2) library-subscription e-ref resource/database;
(3) print ref resource/book.