Baseball idioms

[Scuba]

If you're looking forward to spring training you might enjoy these baseball phrases ...


Al Capone: a double play (twin killing)

Baseball daisy: a female fan who strategically dated pitchers of the opposing teams

Cancel Christmas: to have something bad happen

Doghouse fiddle: attempt a double steal

Edison: pitcher who is always experimenting with new pitches

Figger filbert: Damon Runyan's nickname for statistician Al Munro Elias

Gonfalonia interruptus: facetious, pseudo-medical term for the struggles of a team bogged down in a pennant race

High mass: Sunday doubleheader

Ice wagon: player who runs slowly

Jake: loaf or stall; refuse to play because of a real or imagined injury

Kimono pitch: delivered from behind the pitcher's back

Lady Godiva pitch: one with nothing on it

Mullion: an ugly or unattractive player

Near beer pitcher: one who works himself into 3-2 counts

Ozarkism: a fractured line in the manner of Philadelphia Phillies manager Danny Ozark, who once said, "Even Napoleon had his Watergate."

Platinum sombrero: mythical award given to a batter who strikes out five times in a game

Quick belly button: hip action needed to hit line drives

Red ass: tough, angry, intense player

Screwjack: player who is notoriously wacky

Tarzan: slovenly, frowsy baseball player

Ukulele hitter: one who hits weak ground balls to infielders

Vapor lock: failure to perform on the field due to lack of concentration or mental error

Wave howdy: fielder lets a hard hit ball pass rather than risk injury by trying to field it

X-Factor: a "rule" that free agents first pass a team physical exam before signing a contract

Yakker: mean, sharp-breaking, overhand curveball

Zob: weak person, fool

[kairos12]

1. Love baseball. Those are great.

Baseball story. Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin go to Texas to go hunting on a property owned by a friend of Mantle's. When they pull up to the ranch Mantle tells Martin let me go inside and make sure everything is good. Mantle goes in and his friend says sure you can hunt but you can do me a favor and shoot my mule. Of course, Mantle is confused by this. The man explains he has had this mule for 20 years and it is very sickly and needs to be put down but he can't do it. Mantle reluctantly agrees. While Mantle is walking back to the car he thinks to himself I'm going to mess with Billy. When he gets to the car Billy asks are we good to hunt? Mantle says can you believe that SOB said no. Mantle says I'm going to get him back and pulls out his rifle and shoots the mule. Seconds later Mantle hears two shots and turns around where Martin says to him I got two of that SOB's cows too.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. How about the Dennis Eckersley baseball vocabulary?

Eck-ism Baseball Term/Phrase Explanation or Use

Cheese Fastball Can also use 'Cheddar'

High Cheese High pitch Typically a fastball

Educated Cheese Fastball with good location Greg Maddux got by with educated cheese

Branch Work Barely surviving A pitcher struggling through an inning

Dead Central Center field 'He hit a rope to dead central'

Goin' Bridge Home Run 'Ortiz is goin' bridge right here!'

Gas High Speed Describing a pitcher's velocity

Iron Money 'He wants more iron in that next contract'

Hair Late movement On a fastball

Moss Hair 'The moss is looking good today'

... just to stay in shape Repeating an action 'He's walking guys just to stay in shape'

Jump Street The beginning 'He's been struggling from jump street'

Fallin' out of his tree Giving up a big inning A pitcher with branch work usually falls out of his tree

Salad Off speed pitches Jamie Moyer made a career on 'salad'

Paint Good control 'This guy is hitting the corners. He can paint!'

Punchout Strikeout 'Halladay is racking up a lot of punchouts'

Bronzin' Getting a tan 'I was bronzin' in the Bahamas'

Lamb A weak hitter 'This #9 hitter is a lamb'

[Blue_Tires]

3. Where the hell did these come from

because I've only ever heard 2-3 of them...Is that supposed to be like West Coast lingo or something??

[KamaAina]

4. I'd never heard any!

[Blue_Tires]

5. And some of them are general-use pop culture terms...