Alphabetic Baseball Slang Thread

[A Boy Named Seo]

I think we covered bush league. Well done, Edge.

[Centerfield]

Closer: 1. A relief pitcher designated for use in save situations.

2. The player on a given baseball team deemed solely responsible for that team's failures by moronic fans.

[MFS62]

Drag Bunt - where a batter bunts down the first base line, trying to get the ball past the pitcher so he can beat it out for a base hit.

Later

[metirish]

Eegit - bunting is for eegits - metirish

[Gwreck]

Free Pass
A bases on balls; a walk. When four balls are called during a plate appearance and the batter is allowed to advance to first base unchallenged.

Most frequently used as a synonym for an intentional walk (where the pitch is deliberately thrown outside the strike zone) but sometimes also used as synonym for unintentional walks.

[MFS62]

Gopher ball - a home run.

Later

[seawolf17]

hanger /ˈh�ŋər/ (n) - a curveball that doesn't curve much, thereby making it much easier to hit. Often winds up becoming a gopher ball.

[Fman99]

="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.

I love you guys.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

ice cream cone/aɪsˌkrim koʊn-- a dramatic catch with the webbing of the glove, so that the white of the baseball shows at the top of the glove like a scoop of ice cream; some real Endy shizz (LeiterWagner... adapted from Coach Unga)

[G-Fafif]

Jump A good thing to get off a bag or when a ball is hit to you in the outfield.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

keystone/kee'-stohn (n)-- the weak link of any Mets team from 1965-1972, 1977-1984, 1988-1998, and 2002-2008. (LeiterWagner... with help from the Ultimate Mets DB)

[G-Fafif]

Lollygag What virtually every Durham Bull did to cause a very poor start to the minor league season.

[Fman99]

Muff

Yes, I went with muff. That's how I roll.

Meaning, to make an error on a ball put in play. "He muffed it."

[Theoldmole]

No-no.

A no=hitter. (also slang)

[G-Fafif]

Ohfer Not a helpful thing to take in a big game; ohfer four; ohfer five.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Paint the black (a personal favorite)-- work the edges of the plate while pitching; the province of maestros like Seaver or Sabes.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Quisenberry - (n.)

1. A mustachioed relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals from 1979-1988.

2. A style of pitching where the pitcher delivers the ball using an underhand, rather than overhand, motion. Writer Roger Angell called it "a swallowlike, harmless-looking thing that rose abruptly... then changed its mind".

3. A controversial quince/raspberry hybrid fruit jam created by Knott's Berry Farm in 1976.

[G-Fafif]

Rake To hit really well. "That Olerud, he can rake."

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Seeing-eye Single-- a weakly-hit grounder that makes its way through the infielders for a base hit; how Luis Castillo do his do.

[Theoldmole]

Tater - a home run

[G-Fafif]

Utility player Better than not being a player at all.

[metirish]

Vinegar - something extra on a fastball......I think I have heard that maybe once or twice..probably a Fran Healy special.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

ww -- wasn't watching, Phil Rizzuto's famous scorecard symbol.

[metirish]

="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]ww -- wasn't watching, Phil Rizzuto's famous scorecard symbol.

Another Fran Healy special....told that story a lot...

Xavier , Fran's middle name

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Yo-Yo Curveball-Curveball with wicked, tumbling bite, on which it looks like the pitcher in question is "pulling the string" to start its precipitous drop* (e.g., Doc to NL, 1984-1986; Wainwright to Beltran, 2006)

*All the more apropos since the motion of throwing a snappy curve is akin to that of throwing a yo-yo-- release the ball out front with full extension, then pull the wrist in.

[G-Fafif]

Zeroes What Johan Santana put up on September 27, 2008; sadly, what the Mets offense put up too often in September 2008

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

around the horn-- when fielding a screamer for a double-play rally, it's third base to second base to first base, pally

[G-Fafif]

Butcher Boy Square to bunt, swing away, fool the opposition

[metirish]

Captain Hook - A manager quick to the mound to pull his pitcher at the first signs of trouble.

[Frayed Knot]

A cutter -- slang for cut fastball, not a new pitch but mostly a modern term for a hard breaking pitch somewhere between a fastball and what is now called a slider. Probably close to what was originally called a slider.

Not to be confused with a Cutter, a term for blue-collar townies living in or around Bloomington, Indiana circa 1979