Hughie Jennings, who managed Cobb back in the day and who used to call out “Eeee-yaaah” to keep his players on their toes, told Cobb that when he paused between “Eeee” and “yaaah,” that was the sign to hit and run.Īs an aside, Cobb once played with a second baseman known as Herman “Germany” Schaefer. With a runner on first base the hitter looks to the third base coach to tell him what to do-sac bunt (see above) or hit and run.
#Baseball terminology slang series
Of course with a runner at second base, who can steal the signs and relay them to the hitter, the catcher goes through a whole series of signs that, hopefully, the pitcher can decipher and the runner can’t.Ī pitcher who crosses up his catcher by throwing a fastball when he is expecting something off speed almost always results in a visit to the mound by the catcher to make certain they’re on the same page going forward.
Now the signal for a fastball is followed by two more fingers or four to indicate a two-seam or a four-seam fastball, and a third finger to indicate inside or outside. Pitch signs used to be simple: one finger, fastball two fingers, curve three fingers, slider four fingers, changeup. The catcher looks to the dugout to get the sign, which he relays to his pitcher, to throw over to first base to keep the runner close.Īnd of course there are the signs the catcher relays to the pitcher for which pitch to throw. I guess the gurus of baseball felt the need to award the run somehow and since they couldn’t award it to the pitcher’s stats, they figured, what the heck, let’s give it to the hitter and hope no one notices.īut baseball uses the language of signs, too.
#Baseball terminology slang full
Yet a hitter who walks with the bases full (loaded) is awarded an RBI for what is considered a non-plate appearance. Now, a walk is not considered a plate appearance for a hitter hence his final stats for the day might show that he went one for three when in actuality he had four trips to the dish (plate). Speaking of RBIs, a man once told Ken Singleton he should “walk with the Lord,” to which Singleton replied, “I’d rather walk with the bases loaded.
Imagine saying Miguel Cabrera has 90 RsBI on the season.įortunately the movement was short-lived. A movement was made to change the terminology to RsBI or simply RBI. But a few years ago it was brought to the attention of the baseball fraternity that this was incorrect grammar. Multiple runs batted in have always been known as RBIs. Tigers color man Rod Allen often refers to RBIs as “rib eyes” and, occasionally, simply “steaks.” A “passed ball” is an error charged to the catcher when he allows a ball to get past him that enables a runner to advance a base. Small ball in today’s era is a lost art. Still, if you want to appear more than a novice, a mention of small ball to your buddies will be a bonding moment.ĮRA translates to a pitcher’s earned run average-how many runs he gives up without taking into account misplays that allow a runner to reach base or errant throws, like a wild pitch. The true fan knows the homerun as “playing long ball.”īilly Martin brought into fashion what once was known as “small ball”-advancing the runner one base at a time using the steal and the sacrifice. The double and triple are sometimes known as a two-bagger and three-bagger respectively but calling a single a one-bagger betrays one as a novice fan.
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