Baseball Lingo-page2

• Ace Pitcher: On every baseball team, be it little league or big league, there is one pitcher on the team who is considered the best.

  This pitcher is called the team’s Ace pitcher the manager will save his talent for the highest profile heavy hitting teams of the league when it comes down to those must win games going for all the marbles and the pennant.

The etymology of the term “ace” meaning the best pitcher on a team derives from the nickname of Asa Brainard, one of the top pitchers of baseball’s early years. In contemporary accounts the Brooklyn Eagle referred to him as “Acey” as early as August 15, 1864, and shortened it to “Ace” by at least September 3, 1875.

The monikers were rhythmically related to his name Asa; it would be decades before the term “ace” became an adjective and noun commonly used to denote a club’s top hurler.

ace -- A team's best starting pitcher.

You see BaseballLingo-page2 let you know the Ace does not pitch every game many times he will be saved until just the right time or game to do his magic.

• Alley: When a hitter hits the ball on the ground near but past the pitcher and goes streaming past second base into center field. we will refer to his hitting the ball right down the "alley".

  The "alley" is also referred to the "gap" between any two of the outfielders. When a ball is drilled between two outfielders we call this hit down or through the alley.

  alley-- The section of the outfield between the outfielders. Also "gap."

  Annex Bat: A company where a couple of young men Matt and Tony are producing hard Maple bats making a real difference in the world of wood baseball bats just as BaseballLingo-page2 promised here is another part of baseball the name for your favorite bat.

  Apple: Often time out at the ball park in the heat of a game you might hear from some of the older has been ball players yell encouragement to a young hitter at the plate. "Come on (Jimmy or Johnny) give that apple a ride." All the ball players know exactly what he means, "Come on hit the ball."

  Around the Horn: The infielders throwing the ball from first to second and then to third or from third to second to first is considered around the horn. It could include the catcher but not necessarily.

  A double play going from third base to second to first is the classic "around the horn" play of baseball.

  Back in high school studying geography you were taught "Around the Horn" was going south of the Horn of South America traveling from the Blue Pacific to the Great Atlantic.

  around the horn-- A double play going from third base to second to first.

  Baseball Lingo-page2 jargon might reverse course and make the ship go from Atlantic to Pacific loaded with tobacco from the Carolina coasts to Sunny California and the Gold Rush of the 49ers.

Astrogenetix: Baseballlingo-page2 norm it is not but Rocket Science in a microgravity environment it is. Astrogenetix is the first NASA approved biomedical research company to utilize the International Space Station (ISS) and its National Lab for development of medical biomarkers using the microgravity platform of outer space. Astrogenetix Inc is a subsidiary of the Astrotech Corporation (SPAB). Where else but here at Baseball Lingo-page2 would you learn about Astrogenetix?

B

• Backdoor slider: -- A pitch that appears to be out of the strike zone, but then breaks back over the plate.
• Backstop: Sometimes the catcher is called the backstop. The term backstop really is about the fenced area or fence back behind the catcher.

Speaking of backstop Baseball Lingo-page2 would be remiss if we did not tell you tell you that back there in grammar school playground ball playing we had no fenced backstop.

We may not have had the fenced backstop but we did have what we referred to as "A Pig Tail." What in the name of goodness is a pig tail? Remember the bigger boys in the class called the shots so a little youngster to small to really contribute out in the field of play was ordered to be the pig tail.

The job of the pig tail was to chase down any wild pitches or foul balls escaping back past the catcher. As a rule these little ones would do this job with gusto for you see they wanted to be accepted as part of the game.

• Bag: Any of the bases but not home plate. Home is called the plate. First, second and third bases are called bags in Baseball Lingo-page2.

  bag -- A base.

  Balk: This is a strange little word and a strange action too. When a pitcher toes the pitching rubber with runners on the bases or without runners on base he has and obligation to pitch the ball in the same direction in which he makes his first motion.

  He is not allowed to change his mind and change the direction of his throw once he makes a commitment by body language to throw the ball to the hitter.

  The actual act of body motion which indicates where he will throw the ball is so subtle and sometimes so deceiving even the umpire will not be able to detect this slight deception.

  Once the ball is thrown we know full fell where he was throwing it may even come into the BaseballLingo-page2 pit.

  A runner on first base can take a lead off the base and try to steal to second base. There is a cat and mouse game between the pitcher and the runner. The pitcher would like to catch the runner off base and quickly throw to first to get the runner caught off the base and for the out.

  Now for this thing we call a balk if the pitcher makes his motion to throw to the batter and whirls and instead throws to first base his body action indicated he was to throw to the batter then the umpire has the obligation to call a balk.

  The runner is awarded a free pass to go to second base. The pitcher also may indicate by body motion he will throw to first to chase the runner back to the base. If the pitcher does not throw to first base again this is considered a balk and the runner is awarded a free pass to second base.

  There are many more subtle actions involving the umpires call for a balk but I will leave some of the other details for your friends and other ball fans to enlighten you. A balk has many twists and turns.

  Does this Baseball Lingo-page2 begin to make sense and help the novice baseball fan?

• Ball Butterfly: Knuckle-ball. some pitchers have the uncanny ability to pitch a baseball which does not spin one iota. The baseball thrown which has no rotation or spin will come to home plate floating like a butterfly.

  A Knuckle-ball pitch and Baseball Lingo-page2 both do a lot of bouncing and flitting like the beautiful butterfly.

  The ball which floats without any spin is subject to dance or dip and goodness know what all. this is a Knuckle-ball.

• Baltimore chop -- A ground ball that hits in front of home plate (or off of it) and takes a large hop over the infielder's head.

  This type of hit was made famous by Wee Willie Keeler.

  Baltimore chop -- A ground ball that hits in front of home plate (or off of it) and takes a large hop over the infielder's head.

• Bandbox: A small ballpark that favors the hitters.

  Take it from this baseball playing wannabe and Baseball Lingo-page2 all hitters were delighted when his team had a chance to play bandbox sized parks.

  bandbox-- A small ballpark that favors hitters.

• Bang Bang Play: A play which the base runners foot hits the bag a split-second before the ball arrives or vice-versa.

  The decision call of safe or out is such a finite quick flash look the call could go either way as to whether the runner is to be called safe or out. This quick as a wink decision play call is known as a bang bang play.

  The same concept applies on the tag of a runner sliding into a base either ahead of the tag or a fraction of a second late. The umpire making the call must quickly decide was he safe or was he out and make the bang bang call.

  bang-bang play -- A play in which the base-runner hits the bag a split-second before the ball arrives or vice-versa.

• Baseball!Alias?: Little white baseball is known by many names--hoss-hide, pill, rock, tater, pebble, and probably a lot more.

• Basket Catch: Another way to describe "Willie Mays" the "say hey kids" patented catch. the fielder catches a ball with his glove near belt level.

  No ladies Baseball Lingo-page2 did not send him to play outfield with a flower basket.

• Battery Mate: No it is not something which goes in a car to make it crank. Again it is not two Aussies talking about their bunk house pal.

  Battery mate is the reference to the combination of a pitcher and a catcher.

  We will refer to the pitcher and the catcher of a game as being battery mates. The origin of this usage for a pitcher and catcher being called battery mates is unknown by this writer.

  If Baseball Lingo-page2 does not have the right term you are looking for then page3 or maybe page 4 has the right call.

• Barn Burner: A game where both teams are red hot and scoring runs in bunches and the score is getting out of hand we will tell everyone we have a barn burner going on.

  No way is Baseball Lingo-page2 going to tell you that Paul Newman was a barn burner even though it has been a hot summer.

• Base Path: The base path is an imaginary line from the center line (unmarked) between first to second to third base. The runner is not allowed to leave this imaginary line to avoid being tagged out.

  The umpire’s decision makes the call when a runner veers to far from the center line to avoid a tag.

  You see this base path being imaginary but it's still real comes more alive by listening to Baseball Lingo-page2 definition huh?

  A runner is not allowed to interfere with a fielder being able to make an unobstructed play either fielding or throwing of the "in play" ball.

  A runner leaving home-plate going down the first baseline is obligated to remain in foul territory and not interfere with a catcher’s ability to field and throw a short fair ball roller going down the first base line.

  If the runner interferes in the throw he is automatically called out.

  Now as Baseball Lingo-page2 has cleared the base path mystery we are ready to move on to more exciting baseball vocabulary or terminology.

• Baseball Jersey: No the shirt or blouse of the uniform is not the jersey.

  The baseball jersey is worn under the uniform shirt and normally has a tight fitting three-quarters length sleeve. Jersey, shirt or blouse Baseball Lingo-page2 telling all this just like it is.

  For the fashion clothes buff the body of the jersey is in most cases your basic white while the exposed sleeve is part of the uniform color coordination. Maybe I should say, "Fashion statement" here at BaseballLingo-page2.

• Baseball Scout: Major league teams throughout professional baseball have a network of coaches, managers, former ball players and on salary people who know the value and skill of ball players.

  These baseball people are like a bunch of baseball lingo-page2 seeking out all the clues and going all over the country looking for young talented ball players.

  These scouts or hunters of good ball playing talent will travel all over the farm system looking and watching, just like a farmer watching his crop.

  When those 15 to 20 year old players grow and ripen into professional quality baseball players the scout gathers his crop.

  When the time is right (ripe) they let major league team owners know here is a kid we must have for our team.

  Someone other than BaseballLingo-page2 might try to have you think scouts were only used by the Cleveland Indians or the Atlanta Braves.

• Basket Catch -- When a fielder catches a ball with his glove near belt level.

  The "Say Hey Kid" Willie Mays made this type of catch famous by his sterling performance roaming the green pastures of dear ole Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama as a young 17 year old.

  Later as the great all-star performer in the Majors playing with the New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants.

• Bat Boy: Someone is responsible before during and after every batter enters or leaves the batters box to account for or retrieve the bat. A batter leaves that batters box running.

  The bat boy will dutifully trot out, pick up that left behind bat, bring it back and place it back into the bat rack.

  There are baseball playing teenagers who would fight to have this honor.

Baseball Lingo-page2 give you the baseball term for bat boy but in the British Royal Marines each officer has at his beck and call a bat man or bat boy to be his personal runner or errand boy.

• Batters Box: The batters box is a rectangular (white lime marked) box to the right side and the left side of home plate.

  The batters box is measured exactly 4 feet by 6 feet. Each box is 6 inches from the nearest edge of home-plate and 29 inches from each other parallel to the edge of home plate.

  The front or leading edge of home plate is exactly 17 inches wide. Baseball Lingo-page2 will do the math for you if the plate is 17" wide and each edge of the batters box for (left handed hitters and right handed hitters) being 6" from the plate. Add this 6" each side equals 12." Add this 12" to the 17" wide home plate then that means the batters box are 29" apart.

  Ladies and gentlemen, a pitcher has only a 17 inch wide window in which to slip that 90 mph hoss-hide past those sluggers.

  The last thing the pre-game grounds keeper does just prior to the umpires coming to home plate and pow-wowing with the managers is to mark off the batters boxes.

• Batting Cage: A huge tubular frame structure mounted on wheels with heavy cord mesh covering.

  The batting cage is rolled into place and surrounds home plate for batting practice prior to a game. The cage is moved from home plate before the start of infield practice and is removed from the field before the start of the game.

• Batting Glove: The use of a batting glove is an optional additional piece of apparel/equipment. Technically, it provides for a better grip of the bat thereby improving bat control.

  It is one of those nice to have items, not a necessity.

  Standby sports fans a new high tech space age material has introduced a new wrinkle the batting gloves are now gauntlet styled protective equipment for the hands and wrist.

  Baseball Lingo-page2 might mention to you modern day players that early on in the history of baseball the use of a batting glove would have been akin to calling a hitter with a batting glove a sissy.

  The use of a batting glove did help to eliminate a hitter from rubbing pine tar up and down the bat handle for a better gripping surface. Now it may become protective gear.

  One George Brett Hall of Fame Player of the Kansas City Royals got into hot water for using too much pine tar. His old tar baby bat is probably in the Baseball Hall of Fame museum.

Batting Helmet: Protective head gear required to be worn by all players at bat. The use of this safety measure was initiated by Little League rules not by Baseballfarming baseball lingo-page2.

Now this wearing of a batting helmet is a requirement for all organized baseball leagues. The only exception these days is those pick-up games still being played out there in the cow pastures.

Battle Royal or Brawl: Baseball has been known far and wide by its spirited disagreements which erupt during a game.

When the action reaches the point that a fight erupts between two players and the bench empties and all players from both teams get into the fray.

We are witnessing a real donnybrook and a battle royal or brawl and it really gets climatic when the fans decide they too want part of the action.

Baseball Lingo A-B adds this footnote for all real baseball fans "Do Not Leave The Stands and Join The Action."

• Baseball Rules Pinch Hitter: Baseball game rules allows the use of substituting one player for another player during the course of a game.

  In the case of substituting one hitter into the line up to replace a hitter due to come to bat is permitted. This is called the use of a "Pinch Hitter."

  The hitter whose has been replaced must now leave the game he has been replaced by the pinch hitter. Even though the new hitter replaces the due up hitter the new hitter normally would take that players position on the defense. The pinch hitter rule has further meaning applied in that by rule the pinch hitter could if needed also be replaced with another player being substituted into the defensive playing position when the team goes on the defense.

  Baseball rules pinch hitter has more ramifications than basic rules of baseball as you can now see rules for baseball can get a little complicated.

  The use of a pinch hitter is a situational part of the game calling for a manager or coach to employ some thoughtful strategy with his batting order trying to provide the winning margin for his team.

• Bean Ball: When a pitcher throws a pitch high above the shoulders and in too close to the hitter, it is called a bean ball.

  If the pitch is really too close and knocks the batters helmet loose and rattles his noggin then by golly it's a bean ball for sure.

  The umpire is to pay close attention and if he determines the pitcher deliberately meant to throw high and tight at the head he is obliged to warn the pitcher.

  After a warning, if a pitcher throws too close for comfort, then the umpire lets the pitcher take an early shower.

  An inadvertent wild pitch is one thing but throwing that rock at a hitters head is a no-no. The price a hitter must pay by getting hit in the ole bean is much too high.

• Belt High: Generally refers to a fast ball pitched in the strike zone and in the middle of the plate.
• BESR: Ball Exit Speed Ratio-the use of a non-wood bat by high schools requires a certification mark be on every bat. This certification mark signifies the bat has been tested to ensure it is safe piece of equipment for a maximum of 97 mile per hour exit of the ball leaving the bat.

• Bloop Hit: That little poop of a hit which acts like a dying quail drops just over the scrambling out stretched glove or dive of the infielder.
• Blue Darter: Ole Pardner Dizzy Dean would use this term on a blazing line drive traveling near but so fast the infielder had no prayer of getting his glove on it.

  I think another description would be tantamount to the ball traveling so vicious it was as if Mighty Mouse in his blue cape was leaving a vapor trail.

• Boo Birds: Some percentage of sport fans are never satisfied. Players may bust their hump trying all out to make every play as flawlessly as they possible can but one boo boo or mishap and the Boo Birds start their chorus of Boo Boo Boo.

  A Boo bird is somewhat kin to a Mug Rump. A Mug Rump sits on the fence never being satisfied but he sits there on top of the fence with his Mug on one side of the fence and his Rump on the other side of the fence. Since he is never satisfied he doesn't know which side of the fence he wants to show either his Mug or his Rump. I think he is mostly a Rump.

  Bronx cheer -- When the crowd boos.

• Bottom of the Inning: Home team is at bat. The home team bats in the bottom (or ending) of an inning.

  Therefore the home team always bats last to end the game.

  Exception – if home team is ahead at the bottom of the ninth inning they do not bat--the game has been won.

  This baseball jargon jazz could get a little confusing couldn't it? Nope! it becomes routine and second nature real soon that is why we bring you Baseball Lingo-page2.

• Box-score: Sheet of score. The official record for a game is recorded on what is known as a score sheet.

  The box-score lists all the players which played in the game and it records in a formatted fashion a complete record of the vital statistics of the game.

  Without being finite in all the details here are some of the basic data or statistics found in the box-score.

  Hitting (1)The entire batting order of every player in the game

  (2)Gives record of the batting order in columnar format for each player showing AB-at bats, R-runs, H-hits,BI or RBI-runs batted in,BB-base on balls,SO-strike outs,Avg-batting average total are shown at the bottom of each column

  (3)Below the batting order is the score or runs scored by inning with the extended total score Runs--Hits--Errors

  (4)Then it provides some footnotes for the data

  Pitching

  (5)A columnar record of all the pitchers of IP-innings pitched,H-hits given up,R-runs score against,ER-earned runs,BB-base on balls,SO-strike outs,NP-number of pitches,ERA-earned run average.

  (6)Then it provides some pitching footnotes

  (7)The very bottom of the boxscore it provides T-how much time to play the game and A-game attendance figures.

• Box Seats: The special reserved seats for dignitaries and season ticket holders. These seats are normally right behind the respective visiting and home team dugouts.

  Politicians and Socialite dignitaries have reserved privileged seating so they can have up close and personal contact with the players.

  In the early years of baseball these reserved box seats were strictly for the moneyed and well placed muckety-mucks.

• Break out a New Can: Razzing a pitcher after he has thrown a wild pitch or two.
• Bring Down the Rain: When a hitter hits a fly ball so high up into sky, we can barely see it. We jokingly say it is going to bring down the rain.

  When coaches during practice hit fly balls with a fungo bat for the outfielders, we will razz him conjoling that he cannot bring down the rain. We are saying, "Come on coach, you are hitting cream puffs. Come on bring down the rain".

• Brush-back: A pitch deliberately thrown that nearly hits the batter. Good hitters that have hit well against a pitcher and the pitcher remembers them well he will throw close to that particular hitter to keep him a little unnerved and off balance.

  We must remember there is always a constant battle between the pitcher and the hitters. There is a constant struggle between pitchers and hitters going on out there on the diamond.

  brush-back -- A pitch that nearly hits a batter.

• Brush off Pitch: This is one weapon a pitcher has, to protect his trade as a nifty twirler, when facing a hitter who routinely knocks the stuffing out of the ball.

  The brush off is a pitch thrown hard and fast close to the hitters body, not up high near the head.

  Hopefully Baseball Lingo-page2 has enlightened some with the difference between the "Bean Ball" and the "Brush Off Pitch."

  It is a controlled pitch and is designed to add just a little fright into the hitter. After all, a baseball whizzing up there at upwards of 90 mph can put a knot as big as a coconut on your head.

  One might wonder which knot was his noggin for Baseball Lingo A-B is not so important and the old bean doesn't feel so good after such an encounter.

• Bull Pen: The arm of a baseball player is not designed to take the stress and strain we place on it throwing a baseball. We combat this frailty to the best of our knowledge and ability.

  Before any game the starting pitchers start pitching or throwing well prior to the game to get their arms warm and flexed to throw hard at game time.

  During the course of the game the pitching coach has his relief pitchers warming up in the "Bull Pen" area.

  The area of the field in foul territory or out behind the outfield wall where these relief pitchers are getting ready is the bull pen.

  Baseball Lingo-page2 might be talking bull but we hope it is straight shooting good information for our baseball fans.

  I suppose it is so named because a lot of bull goes on out there to while away the time during the wait.

• Bush: Also "bush League." An amateur play or behavior.

  bush -- Also "bush league." An amateur play or behavior.

Hopefully Baseball Lingo-page2 has given you a better understanding for some of the baseball lingo used constantly and so freely at the ball parks.

Baseball is unique by its uses of Baseball Lingo-page2 and all the rest of, vocabulary, terminology, chatter and jargon which are descriptive word pictures describing the game and the action surrounding whats happening.

Batter Up----Let's Play Ball....

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