Euphemism Alert

[Edgy MD]

Driving home with my wife today, we caught the last bit of the game as Lewin and Rose had this exchange.

Lewin: "You know, Kent was always a tough interview. He was really intense."

Rose: "Oh, he was intense, was he?"

As they continued with a brief snicker, I cracked up, because I realized that he let us briefly peek behind a curtain of euphemism that I wasn't sure broadcasters even knew they were using. My wife realized what I was laughing about, because she asked me, "What are those three euphemisms again?"

To review, as first outlined (I think) by Johnny Lunchbucket:

• If you're white, and you're an asshole, then you're intense.
  
• If you're black, and you're an asshole, then you're troubled.
  
• If you're Latin American, and you're an asshole, then you're fiery.

My wife followed up with, "What about the Japanese players?" I didn't know. I guess there've been few enough, and we get little enough media engagement with them that a eupemism has never evolved. And heck, the important diplomatic nature of their careers here has seemed to keep any of them from anti-social behavior even if they're so inclined. The closest thing to a misanthropic Japanese player in the US that I can think of was from the early years --- Hidecki Irabu. And I'd be pretty intense myself if I had to put up with the shit he got.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Japanese/East Asian asshole? "Enigmatic."

[Edgy MD]

Not bad. Keep your ears peeled.

[MFS62]

Focused.

Later

[DocTee]

Asian assholes are "spirited."

[G-Fafif]

Latin player over 30 who's accomplished and hasn't been under fire for PEDs: Proud.

African-American player over 35: Great in the clubhouse.

[Fman99]

White player with a negligible set of skills is "scrappy."

[Theoldmole]

Inscrutable.

[Edgy MD]

If only your typical radio announcer had a taste for mid-century pulp novels.

[bmfc1]

White player that hits well but can't field: "professional hitter."

[MFS62]

As the Bard may have said, "An asshole by any other name smells as bad".

Later

[Chad ochoseis]

bmfc1 wrote: White player that hits well but can't field: "professional hitter."

That one transcends race. Lenny Harris was a "professional hitter" fairly frequently.

[Ceetar]

Chad Ochoseis wrote: White player that hits well but can't field: "professional hitter." That one transcends race. Lenny Harris was a "professional hitter" fairly frequently.

I thought he was "a baseball player" or is that not a racial euphemism and more of a scouting one?

[metirish]

Howie and Josh are great together...long may it last.....

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ceetar wrote: White player that hits well but can't field: "professional hitter." That one transcends race. Lenny Harris was a "professional hitter" fairly frequently. I thought he was "a baseball player" or is that not a racial euphemism and more of a scouting one?

"Baseball player" is a non-race-specific synonym for "scrappy" ("That Miguel Cairo may be 53, and legally blind... but, man, he is a baseball player, isn't he?").

"Professional hitter" is actually can't field AND doesn't walk AND has no power (see: Lenny Harris); you almost never heard, say, Matt Stairs described as such.

"Inscrutable." GOOD one, Mole.

[Centerfield]

Shinjo was "colorful".



As were Jose Reyes and Jose Lima. At first I thought this phrase was limited to the darker pigments, but then I remembered Turk Wendell.



So it turns out you don't have to be a person of color to be "colorful".

"Blue collar", on the other hand, seems to be exclusively white. Wallly Backman. Randy Myers.



I think it helps to have a moustache.

[Edgy MD]

Yes, lunchpail guys.

I just found it entertaining that Howie was aware of what Lewin was doing --- most announcers are too asleep and unreflective to consider that maybe they're giving you a weakly filtered version of the story --- and was willing to gently call Josh on it.

Yeah, they are great together. I thought maybe Howie had jumped the shark in recent years, but Lewin has been the medicine for him the way McCarver was for Ralph Kiner.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

I know MFS62 is our resident Ball Four guru, but this exchange reminded me of a story from that book. The first paragraph is from a web site called onegreatscorer.com. The second and third are directly from the book.

Watching the Major League All Star game, I was reminded of a passage in the June 28 entry of Jim Bouton�s Ball Four. Bouton, chatting with catcher Jim Pagliaroni, tells a story about former Major League player and coach Rocky Bridges. Bridges, according to Bouton, once gave a sign from third base while standing on his head � prompting the batter, one Allen Blackaby, to stand on his head in order to get the sign. Bouton continues:

I told the story to Pag. He said he�d love to see it but that baseball would consider it, well, sacrilegious. �Baseball wants color,� he said, �but not that much.�

�By �color,� I said, �they mean they want you to wear your cap at a jaunty angle.�

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Edgy MD wrote: Yes, lunchpail guys. I just found it entertaining that Howie was aware of what Lewin was doing --- most announcers are too asleep and unreflective to consider that maybe they're giving you a weakly filtered version of the story --- and was willing to gently call Josh on it. Yeah, they are great together. I thought maybe Howie had jumped the shark in recent years, but Lewin has been the medicine for him the way McCarver was for Ralph Kiner.

Working with Wayne Hagin would make you want to jump into a shark.

[dinosaur jesus]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: "Professional hitter" is actually can't field AND doesn't walk AND has no power (see: Lenny Harris); you almost never heard, say, Matt Stairs described as such.

Actually, you heard Matt Stairs called that a lot--probably more than any other recent player. Try Googling "Matt Stairs" and "professional hitter." It's even on his Wikipedia page.

[Edgy MD]

I'm almost at the point where, if I don't get the home TV feed, I'm fine with muting the road feed and listening to Howie and Josh, even though the synching is rarely close.

[MFS62]

Thanks for the props, Swannie.
When I hear talk of "colorful players" I remember that quote, too.

Later

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: I'm almost at the point where, if I don't get the home TV feed, I'm fine with muting the road feed and listening to Howie and Josh, even though the synching is rarely close.

More so than the syncing is the cameras i think. The broadcast is going to jump and you're gonna (well, I am) wonder why we're focused on Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the dugout or the left fielder or some such. I only have a crappy radio in the bathroom (well, give me 6 weeks) but I find the radio-tv bit works best when you're multitasking. The radio's just enough ahead that it gives you time to step over or look up to the TV to see the action they just called.

[metirish]

Very good white pitchers are often regaled for being "very intelligent " , very good latino pitchers who are also intelligent are often regaled for their " broodiness" on the mound.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Successful white pitcher: "He knows how to win!"

Successful Latino/black pitcher: "He has God-given ability."

[Guest Swan Swan H]

White pitcher who throws at guys: "Controls the plate, keeps batters on their toes. A real competitor."

Latino pitcher who throws at guys: "Headhunter"

[MFS62]

Swan Swan H wrote: White pitcher who throws at guys: "Controls the plate, keeps batters on their toes. A real competitor." Latino pitcher who throws at guys: "Headhunter"

Black pitchers who throw at guys: "He's got a lot of Bob Gibson in him".

Later

[G-Fafif]

Any white player who does anything that requires physical exertion that exceeds his perceived talent level is a "blue collar" player. Nonwhite players presumably field their positions by cc'ing several senior vps and slipping out for a three-martini lunch.