Alphabetic Baseball Slang Thread

[Guest Kong76]

We've done baseball slang threads and lists, this one's a little different.
Add one in alphabetical order and supply a definition. Use your own definition
or a researched one. If you cut and paste a definition, give proper credit.

examples:

ace - best pitcher on a team -- kong76

Baltimore Chop - "The Baltimore Chop was a hitting technique used by batters during Major League Baseball's dead ball era. This technique was an important element of John McGraw's "Inside baseball". Popularized by and named after the original Baltimore Orioles, the batter would intentionally hit the ball downward to the hard ground in front of home plate, resulting in a high bounce which allowed the batter to reach first base safely before the opposing team could field it." -- Wikipedia

[Fman99]

Can of corn -- an easy pop fly. I immediately think of Fran Healy when hearing the phrase.

[Guest Kong76]

dinger - a home run -- kong76

[dinosaur jesus]

Eephus--Rip Sewell's blooper pitch; Ted Williams was the only batter ever to hit a home run off it, in the 1946 All Star game.

Seaver had a blooper pitch at the end of his career, though I guess he didn't call it an eephus. It was kind of embarrassing, whatever he called it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

fan - to strike out or, alternatively, to strike a batter out as a pitcher. The term metaphorically refers to a batsman swinging at a pitch and missing, and therefore only connecting with air, as a hand fan. Edgy DC

[Guest Kong76]

gone - a ball that has traveled far enough to be a home run -- kong76

[dgwphotography]

homer - an announcer who views the game through the home team's colored glasses. See Kay, Michael.

[metirish]

Iron Glove - a bad glove man... all hit no glove

[DocTee]

Jeter:Shortstop of limited range, and incomparable intangibles. Object of Steve J Rogers affections.

[Guest Kong76]

kahnfidence, uh ...

k: a strike out -- kong76

[Theoldmole]

Low Strike Zone -- instance of this bizarre idea that a strike zone should be a reflection of an umpire's personality.

[G-Fafif]

Mash -- To really hit that ball hard; not to be confused with every time a team has three players on the DL and an announcer refers to the 40-man roster as a M*A*S*H unit

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

MENDOZA LINE-- Informal term used to denote the ineffable barrier-- generally considered to be an average of .200-- between mere below-average performance with the bat and Doug-Flynn/Rey-Rey-level futility. (LeiterWagner...)

[Theoldmole]

Nickel curve -- a slider.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Onion --- a baseball (Edgy DC)

[Guest Kong76]

pounding it in hard - throwing pitches to a batter fast and close -- kong76

Sorry Fman, beat ya to it.

[MFS62]

Quick bat- a short, compact stroke that can catch up with a fastball. (my definition)

Later

[metirish]

Rally Caps - for superstitious players and fans , turning their caps inside out in a close game to get their team to rally back from a deficit. -

metirish

[Guest Edgy DC]

shoestring catch
Function: noun
Date: 1926
: a catch (as in baseball) made very close to the feet

Source: merriam-webster.com.

[DocTee]

Turn Two:

A double-play, often nimbly performed, usually involving three infielders.

[Fman99]

Ugly finder

A foul ball hit into a dugout, presumably destined to "find" someone who is ugly, or to render him that way if he fails to dodge the ball.

(from Wikipedia)

[G-Fafif]

Velocity: How fast a pitcher is throwing; in far greater usage in the '70s than today; has given way to movement in terms of appraising a pitcher's abilities.

[metirish]

Wheels - Used to describe a player with great speed , can also be used to take the piss out of a slow footed player like Brian Schneider.......metirish

[Guest Edgy DC]

X
Function: noun
: the character used in baseball to depict the bottom of the last inning in the linescore of a game won by the home team, eliminating the need for any actual play in that half inning.

Source: Edgy DC

[Fman99]

Yips

A baseball player who loses the ability to make routine throws (see Sasser, Mackey) is said to have these.

[G-Fafif]

Zone Where pitchers hope to be with their pitchers, preferably not wild high within. If they can place their pitches where they want, in the zone, they will give up zip.

[metirish]

Arms Extended - Fran Healy describing a hitter with his trusty telestrator - " Look at him , head level , eyes on the ball and his ARMS EXTENDED"......

Fran

[A Boy Named Seo]

Bush League - 1) A term used to describe an unsportsmanlike play. The term is a reference to the very low minor leagues. Ex. "A-Rod slapping at the pitcher's glove was fuckin' Bush League, man."

2) A Pearl Jam song about President Bush.

3) Fman's Fantasy Baseball League Name.

[Guest Edgy DC]

bush league
Function: noun, adjective
used to describe a minor league, or play that is of minor league or unprofessional quality. The "bushes" or the "sticks" are small towns where minor league teams may operate. The hero of Ring Lardner's You Know Me, Al was known to complain to his titular correspondent, "I ain't no busher."

"Bush," "bushes," and "sticks" have come to be adopted into common usage to describe employment at the professional fringes of one's field. The latter term also used in the acting profession, famously in the Variety headline of July 17, 1935, "Sticks nix hick pix", meaning small towns reject motion pictures about small towns.

(Adapted by Edgy DC from wikipedia.org)

[Guest Edgy DC]

OH, SHIT!