The name is self-explanatory. To calculate WHIP, add a pitcher's hits and walks and divide this total by his innings pitched.

While the older and more common ERA (earned run average) stat measures the amount of runs a pitcher surrenders, WHIP measures the amount of baserunners.

For reference sake, a great WHIP ratio would be close to 1.0 (Pedro Martinez had the best WHIP in 2002, with 0.92; Randy Johnson's 1.01 led the Major Leagues in 2001). A more average WHIP is closer to around 1.3.

While ERA can be drastically affected by the size of a team's ballpark, WHIP is (arguably) a more consistent judge of a pitcher's worth.

WHIP is not a mainstream stat and you likely won't hear it in television broadcasts or similar. However, it's increasingly popular amongst stats junkies (SABRmetricians). It's also a common category used in fantasy baseball or rotisserie baseball.

What is a whip?

A whip is a tapered cord, that by conservation of momentum, exceeds the speed of sound, emitting a loud sonic CRACK! Whips are generally made of tapered leather strips, braided together. Heavier whips, like Indiana Jones's whip, are made of many layers of leather braid, on top of each other, and often over a core of lead shot, to add weight. Less expensive whips can be made out of nearly anything, from common rope (nylon, cotton, hemp, sisal) to toilet paper! (note: I haven't actually tried this, but believe that it's possible.)

What makes up a whip?

Well, the handle of a whip is called, well, a handle. The braided portion is called the braid, or the thong. At the end of the braid is a single skinny piece of leather or rope, and attached to this is usually a narrow (1/16 in.) cord, that is frayed the last two inches. This is called a cracker or popper, and greatly improves the crack. The cracker needs to be replaced periodically.

What kinds of whips are available?

Bullwhips: Long (6-12 ft usually), heavy, slower-moving whips with rigid handles integrated into the braid. Indiana Jones had a bullwhip. Designed to crack loud enough to stop a charging bull dead in its tracks.

Stockwhips: Very long (8+ ft), skinnier, faster moving whips designed for herding cattle. Popular down under with ranchers. Characterized by a seperate, long handle, attached to the whip on a sort of flexible swivel knot.

Snakewhips: Basically a bullwhip without a handle. Smaller snakes can be coiled and carried in a pocket.

Signal whips: A short (around 4 ft.) whip, usually of nylon, made for driving sled-dogs. Supposedly, the dogs can be trained to turn based on what direction the crack is directed in. These whips are one-piece whips; the fall and cracker are braided into the whip and are not easy to replace.

Why?

Lots of noise, some danger, you never run out of shells, and it's okay if you miss -- hitting things is bad! Sport cracking is good excerise, teaches you new skills, can make an interesting conversation starter (refer to Indiana Jones -- everyone likes him and people won't think you're into S & M, unless you want that). The crack of a whip was once used to drive animals, and I'd bet that a good one might scare away a wild animal. Or a less then determined criminal, like a common mugger. A determined person would probably just rush you with their weapon.

Sounds fun, but I don't want to part with my cash. Can you tell me how to make one?

Certainly! I recommend making a simple pocket snake. I made mine from my family's supply of quarter-inch nylon camping rope, a 1/8 in. nylon cord, and about a foot of nylon twine for the cracker. It's about 5.5 ft long, including cracker and fits quite nicely in my coat pocket, and can squeeze into my jeans pocket. I can produce cracks that sound about as loud, perhaps a little louder than a 22 rifle.

First, you need to find your rope. You want to plan this out. Figure out what pieces you can make from your rope(s). You want a gradual taper. If you have a long, skinny cord, this should be the longest. Have that for the entire length of the whip, then say add two cords a foot later, braid them, add a cord to that a foot later, braid that... whatever. You'll figure it out. I've rebraided my whip more times than I can remember (over 20). Remember, the braid doesn't have to be exactly balanced; the whip should taper evenly, though. Make sure you start at the skinny end, so you don't have to tie the little end into a big, ugly, bad-physics knot (you can tie the handle end though).

You need to decide how you're going to braid this. A simple 3 plait flat braid will work alright, but doing a round braid is SO much better, even if you only do it for part of the way.

To do a 4-plait round braid, you secure the four sections somehow, then take them, two in each hand, then cross the center two. Lets say the left-center part is over the right-center one. Take the far-right portion, bring it around the braid, under the far-left portion, and over the center-left portion, so that the center-right plait is over the center-left plait. Then do the reverse; take the far-left portion, around, under the far-right portion, over the center-right portion. Repeat until you are done braiding. While braiding, the tighter you braid, the better the whip. I recommend that you take the occasional break.

Once you get it all braided, you need to attach the cracker to the end. You can just take a foot or so of twine, and tie it on. It's better if you make a twisted cracker, though. Take around two feet of twine and tie the middle of that to the end of the fall somehow. The cracker should be tied onto the fall, not the cracker and the fall tied together -- makes a smaller knot and makes it a lot easier to replace the cracker. Take the two ends, and twist each in turn until it starts to bunch up, then tie a knot a couple inches from the end and let go. It'll magically twist together and you have now made your first whip! Congratulations!

Okay, I got it together, now how do I crack this thing?

Well, first off, before you try it, I recommend wearing a heavy coat, a wide-brimmed hat, some safety glasses, and long pants. Ear protection comes later.

You can snap it like a wet towel, but that is pretty lame, and I always end up hurting myself doing it.

The easiest crack is to have the whip at rest, then to toss it slowly but steadily over your shoulder, then throw it forward. Like fly fishing. If you do it right, the whip will form a loop in it, which will travel down the braid to the cracker, where it exceeds the speed of sound, producing a pop. Timing is everything. Once you get it right (don't give up!), you can try doing it at an angle: toss the whip over your left shoulder (assuming you are right-handed), then toss it forward, at the same angle. Try doing it over your head! Experiment! With practice, you'll know what you can do and what will end up hurting.

You'll eventually be able to do the reverse of a crack, where you do just the opposite, for example, when doing the forward crack, have the whip go forward, then toss backwards. You can do the crack, then the reverse of the crack, to produce loud volleys of cracks. Good excercise!

Your writeup sucked and lacked information, where can I learn more?

There is a host of information available online. Use the force, Luke!

Legislatures are bodies of government composed of a number of members whose main job is to elaborate and pass legislation. When considering legislature in a national context, we speak of the Parliament, Congress, or National Assembly, and the legislation passed by these authorities are laws. While the organization and form of election of members of legislature may vary depending on the organization of each country, in democratic systems the members are elected, either directly or indirectly, by citizens of each country.

World-wide, legislatures are organized in chambers or houses, and are generally either unicameral or bicameral. When legislature is unicameral, members are organized in only one chamber, in which laws are proposed, discussed and passed or vetoed. In bicameral systems, members are organized in two chambers, each of which generally have certain veto powers regarding law proposals coming from the other chamber, and they also have privileges in proposing certain types of law projects.

The number of members of each legislative body will also vary depending on each country, but it is usually proportional to the corresponding population. In general, this means that legislature will function with an important number of members from different political parties or movements, and each of them have the power to vote on all the subjects that are discussed in forum.

While each member is independent in the deliberation that takes place, they also generally belong to a political party and have been elected on the basis of the political agenda they represent (and, as spiregrain points out, on their personal qualities as well). As a consequence, members of legislature of a same political party generally vote in the same sense in specific topics. For example, members of a conservative political party will all usually vote against law proposals like ones allowing same-sex unions.

While all of this might not be new to those of you who enjoy watching C-SPAN and the likes (I'm guilty of doing the same with the Paraguayan equivalent), the most interesting part is what actually happens behind the scenes. Ensuring that 50 or 60 members of legislature vote in the same sense, even when belonging to the same political party, requires quite the orchestration.

This is where the role of the "whip" comes in. In politics, a "whip" is known as a member of a determined political party (who is usually a member of legislature as well, though not always) in charge of ensuring coherence and discipline within members of the same political party. This means ensuring members attend to sessions where issues of importance to the party are being discussed, and that they vote according to party mandates.

The term "whip" comes from the "whippers-in" in hunting, who are in charge of keeping packs together and preventing them from straying. In this sense, the party whip does the same thing to prevent members of legislature voting against party mandates, and ensuring that enough votes are had to pass or reject proposals that might be in favor or against interests of the party.

Depending on the country, disobeying instructions given by party whips could have different consequences. Depending on the issue, members of legislature that "stray" might be even be expelled from their parties. However, in other parts of the world the role of the "whip" doesn't officially exist, and this discipline is enforced by party leaders, or even leaders of different factions within legislature that might belong to the same party. The discipline, however, is always (somehow) enforced.

*whipcrack!*

Whip (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whipped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Whipping.] [OE. whippen to overlay, as a cord, with other cords, probably akin to G. & D. wippen to shake, to move up and down, Sw. vippa, Dan. vippe to swing to and fro, to shake, to toss up, and L. vibrare to shake. Cf. Vibrate.]

1.

To strike with a lash, a cord, a rod, or anything slender and lithe; to lash; to beat; as, to whip a horse, or a carpet.

2.

To drive with lashes or strokes of a whip; to cause to rotate by lashing with a cord; as, to whip a top.

3.

To punish with a whip, scourge, or rod; to flog; to beat; as, to whip a vagrant; to whip one with thirty nine lashes; to whip a perverse boy.

Who, for false quantities, was whipped at school. Dryden.

4.

To apply that which hurts keenly to; to lash, as with sarcasm, abuse, or the like; to apply cutting language to.

They would whip me with their fine wits. Shak.

5.

To thrash; to beat out, as grain, by striking; as, to whip wheat.

6.

To beat (eggs, cream, or the like) into a froth, as with a whisk, fork, or the like.

7.

To conquer; to defeat, as in a contest or game; to beat; to surpass.

8.

To overlay (a cord, rope, or the like) with other cords going round and round it; to overcast, as the edge of a seam; to wrap; -- often with about, around, or over.

Its string is firmly whipped about with small gut. Moxon.

9.

To sew lightly; specifically, to form (a fabric) into gathers by loosely overcasting the rolled edge and drawing up the thread; as, to whip a ruffle.

In half-whipped muslin needles useless lie. Gay.

10.

To take or move by a sudden motion; to jerk; to snatch; -- with into, out, up, off, and the like.

She, in a hurry, whips up her darling under her arm. L'Estrange.

He whips out his pocketbook every moment, and writes descriptions of everything he sees. Walpole.

11. Naut. (a)

To hoist or purchase by means of a whip.

To secure the end of (a rope, or the like) from untwisting by overcasting it with small stuff.

12.

To fish (a body of water) with a rod and artificial fly, the motion being that employed in using a whip.

Whipping their rough surface for a trout. Emerson.

To whip in, to drive in, or keep from scattering, as hounds in a hurt; hence, to collect, or to keep together, as member of a party, or the like. -- To whip the cat. (a) To practice extreme parsimony. [Prov. Eng.] Forby. (b) To go from house to house working by the day, as itinerant tailors and carpenters do. [Prov. & U. S.]

© Webster 1913.

Whip (?), v. i.

To move nimbly; to start or turn suddenly and do something; to whisk; as, he whipped around the corner.

With speed from thence he whipped. Sackville.

Two friends, traveling, met a bear upon the way; the one whips up a tree, and the other throws himself flat upon the ground. L'Estrange.

© Webster 1913.

Whip, n. [OE. whippe. See Whip, v. t.]

1.

An instrument or driving horses or other animals, or for correction, consisting usually of a lash attached to a handle, or of a handle and lash so combined as to form a flexible rod.

Chaucer.

In his right hand he holds a whip, with which he is supposed to drive the horses of the sun. Addison.

2.

A coachman; a driver of a carriage; as, a good whip.

Beaconsfield.

3. Mach. (a)

One of the arms or frames of a windmill, on which the sails are spread.

The length of the arm reckoned from the shaft.

4. Naut. (a)

A small tackle with a single rope, used to hoist light bodies.

The long pennant. See Pennant (a)

5.

A huntsman who whips in the hounds; whipper-in.

6. Eng. Politics (a)

A person (as a member of Parliament) appointed to enforce party discipline, and secure the attendance of the members of a Parliament party at any important session, especially when their votes are needed.

A call made upon members of a Parliament party to be in their places at a given time, as when a vote is to be taken.

Whip and spur, with the utmost haste. -- Whip crane, or Whip purchase, a simple form of crane having a small drum from which the load is suspended, turned by pulling on a rope wound around larger drum on the same axle. -- Whip gin. See Gin block, under 5th Gin. -- Whip grafting. See under Grafting. -- Whip hand, the hand with which the whip is used; hence, advantage; mastery; as, to have or get the whip hand of a person. Dryden. -- Whip ray Zool., the European eagle ray. See under Ray. -- Whip roll Weaving, a roll or bar, behind the reeds in a loom, on which the warp threads rest. -- Whip scorpion Zool., any one of numerous species of arachnids belonging to Thelyphonus and allied genera. They somewhat resemble true scorpions, but have a long, slender bristle, or lashlike organ, at the end of the body, instead of a sting. -- Whip snake Zool., any one of various species of slender snakes. Specifically: (a) A bright green South American tree snake (Philodryas viridissimus) having a long and slender body. It is not venomous. Called also emerald whip snake. (b) The coachwhip snake.

© Webster 1913.

Whip, n.

1.

A whipping motion; a thrashing about; as, the whip of a tense rope or wire which has suddenly parted; also, the quality of being whiplike or flexible; flexibility; suppleness, as of the shaft of a golf club.

2. (Mech.)

Any of various pieces that operate with a quick vibratory motion, as a spring in certain electrical devices for making a circuit, or a rocking certain piano actions.

© Webster 1913