Does Anyone Still...

[MFS62]

call a home run pitch a "Gopher Ball"?

AND,

What other baseball expressions haven't you heard or read for a while?



Later

[seawolf17]

Anyone still call the curveball the "Uncle Charlie?" I feel like that was a thing when I was a kid.

[Fman99]

I still refer to a strong fastball as the "high, stinky cheese." What a shame that some of these sayings have gone out of vogue.

[MFS62]

or "keystone combo".

Later

[ashie62]

Can of corn



Baltimore chop.

[kcmets]

Anyone still call the curveball the "Uncle Charlie?" I feel like that was a thing when I was a kid.

I think McCarver called a big curve Lord Charles, I don't recall the uncle thing.

[Frayed Knot]

McCarver's line was that Gooden's curve was so good that his Uncle Charley should be called Lord Charles instead.

[kcmets]

A: A 55-footer.

Q: What's Javy's favorite pitch to flail at and miss?

[kcmets]

Frayed Knot wrote: McCarver's line was that Gooden's curve was so good that his Uncle Charley should be called Lord Charles instead.

Sounds reasonable, but I don't remember the big explanation for years and

years. I think it just became The Lord Charles, but my senility is moving along...

[seawolf17]

=kcmets post_id=75955 time=1630338729 user_id=53]
A: A 55-footer.

Q: What's Javy's favorite pitch to flail at and miss?

[TransMonk]

https://c.tenor.com/gH44ywlkSE4AAAAC/major-league-movie-too-high.gif>



This is my go-to phrase when an opposing batter hits a no doubt HR.



Or to mock an opposing batter on a straight up pop fly.

[smg58]

=seawolf17 post_id=75957 time=1630338967 user_id=91]
=kcmets post_id=75955 time=1630338729 user_id=53]
A: A 55-footer.

Q: What's Javy's favorite pitch to flail at and miss?

[Ceetar]

yeah, Javy doesn't have a favorite, he'll flail at any pitch.

[DocTee]

Baltimore Chop is a good one!



A Texas Leaguer was another

[RealityChuck]

Can of corn.



You don't hear "hanging curve" all that much these days.



I don't see "no pepper" written on the walls of the grandstand any more.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Here's a baseball phrase I'm definitely aware that's gone missing because I miss it : balls hit in the gap between two outfielders used to be referred to as going "up the alley".

[Fman99]

We say "can of corn" at the ball park all the time, Fboy and I. Years of listening to Fran Healy is where that comes from.

[kcmets]

I don't see "no pepper" written on the walls of the grandstand any more.

Some (fan) stranger I was talking to many years ago told me that 'no pepper

games' used to be on the walls at stadiums because if a fan got hurt as the

result of a pepper game the stadium (team) would be liable because pepper

games didn't fall under the disclaimer language (incidental to the game of

baseball) which was common on the back of ticket stubs -- which isn't the

case anymore so they don't post it.



No idea if he was right, talking out of his ass or why I even remember him.



(Non-baseball side note... I was telling my wife a few weeks ago when we

were waiting on a subway platform there used to be stenciled signs on the

floor that said 'no spitting' or such. She didn't believe me.)

Edited August 30, 2021 by Guest

[kcmets]

Here's a baseball phrase I'm definitely aware that's gone missing because I miss it : balls hit in the gap between two outfielders used to be referred to as going "up the alley".

I think we still hear 'in the alley' quite frequently, maybe I'm mistaken.

[MFS62]

I don't see "no pepper" written on the walls of the grandstand any more. Some (fan) stranger I was talking to many years ago told me that 'no pepper games' used to be on the walls at stadiums because if a fan got hurt as the result of a pepper game the stadium (team) would be liable because pepper games didn't fall under the disclaimer language (incidental to the game of baseball) which was common on the back of ticket stubs -- which isn't the case anymore so they don't post. No idea if he was right, talking out of his ass or why I even remember him. (Non-baseball side note... I was telling my wife a few weeks ago when we were waiting on a subway platform there used to be stenciled signs on the floor that said 'no spitting' or such. She didn't believe me.)

I recall that was the reason for the no pepper signs.

And I remember the "no spitting" signs, too.

And baseball is banning chewing tobacco (is it now a grandfathered right?) so there won't be a need for "no spitting" signs in dugouts, if they ever had them.



Speaking of that (back to the thread) has anyone heard the term "Spitball" lately, or do they just say "foreign substance" on the ball?

Later

[RealityChuck]

"Payoff pitch." Lindsay Nelson used the phrase for every full count. No one has continued the tradition.

[MFS62]

"Payoff pitch." Lindsay Nelson used the phrase for every full count. No one has continued the tradition.

That reminds me, on a 3-2 count, Les Keiter would say, "Three and two. What'll he do?"



Later

[Frayed Knot]

Keith still uses 'hanging curve' or some variation of it: 'Oooh that's a hanger', particularly when watching the replay of a ball that was just tattooed

And also 'can of corn' though he frequently gets more specific: 'He got under that one with his upper-cut and that's a can of Del Monte'

[ashie62]

Texas Leaguer.

[MFS62]

The recent Mets hitting approach reminds me of some more oldies:

Swings like a rusty gate

Swings from his heels

Foot in the bucket.



Later

[G-Fafif]

We could use another circuit clout or two.

[Frayed Knot]

I hear Keith using most of these expressions.

Of course it's not like Keith makes any cultural references post about 1975 so we shouldn't expect new sports expressions either.