How to Speak Baseball: An Illustrated Guide to Ballpark Banter

By James Charlton, Sally Cook and Ross Macdonald

“An elegantly designed little book . . . capturing the colorful, frequently fanciful vocabulary that describes the world of baseball.” —The Litchfield County Times

This handsome guide to the language of baseball decodes the amusing, clever phrases that pepper commentary about the sport. Packed with witty explanations of everything from “duster” and “rubber arm” to “up the elevator,” this ballpark lexicon plays on a nostalgic love for the national pastime while covering ground from baseball’s beginnings to today. This humorous mix of definitions and anecdotes is the perfect gift for both lifelong baseball fans and rookies “working up the ranks.”

“If you happen to be watching or listening to a game, do you wonder what the announcer means by ‘the neighborhood play,’ ‘can of corn’ or ‘golden sombrero?’ How to Speak Baseball: An Illustrated Guide to Ballpark Banter, by James Charlton and Sally Cook, is an informative, entertaining read. The authors have compiled a list of obscure, old and newer baseball terms from ‘ace’ to ‘you can’t walk off the island.’” —Daily Pilot

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Feb 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452132228

James Charlton

JAMES CHARLTON lives in New York City, New York.

Book preview

To Four Special Daniels

To Jame-boy

Text copyright © 2014 by James Charlton & Sally Cook.

Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Ross MacDonald.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-4521-2645-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4521-3222-8 (epub, mobi)

Designed by Neil Egan

Additional Typesetting by DC Type

Chronicle Books LLC

680 Second Street

San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

Introduction

Baseball is the oldest of America’s team sports, and probably the richest in colorful vocabulary. One dictionary lists more than 5,000 terms used in the game, and those are constantly being added to—by players, coaches, fans, and commentators.

Some of the new additions to the lexicon are from Hall of Fame pitcher turned announcer, Dennis Eckersley, who describes how to pitch: Pitching is simple—cheese for the kitchen [inside pitch] and a yakker [curveball] for the kudo [the little bow a batter takes when he bails out on a curve]. If that description doesn’t make you dizzy, you’ll probably dig another Eckersley observation: The manager has had enough of this salad. He’s going to the bullpen to find someone who can really bring the cheese. He’s looking for someone to bring the gas, a little high cheddar with some hair on it, maybe to buzz this dude’s moss and set it up so he can paint for a punch out. Got it?

You’ll find that many of the terms have become common in our everyday English. To name a few: southpaw, bush league, fastball, down the middle, hit it out of the park, it’s the bottom of the ninth, threw me a curve, closer, and bullpen.

The use of baseball images abounds in daily life: The word strike is pervasive in common English. When a person has failed we say they’ve struck out. Or how about this one? He stepped up to the plate refers to a person who takes on his responsibilities.

We’ve mined a bountiful source in bringing you this compendium of baseball slang, popular and obscure, new and old. We think the stories and illustrations that accompany these terms are as much fun as the rich lexicon. We hope you’ll agree.

Ace: A team’s best pitcher.

Airmail: A throw over another player’s head that is too high to catch. No postage necessary.

Alley: The section of the field between outfielders. A hit in the alley between the center fielder and either the right or left fielder usually

Reviews for How to Speak Baseball

[benkline · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fun, quick little quirky "vocabulary"/"glossary" style book that I read with/in-conjunction with Olivia-Grace. Even included a few words and terms that I hadn't heard before or didn't know the behind the scenes meaning to. I believe this was one of the many "50 cent" or "1 dollar" book finds at either the Hummelstown or Hershey Library Sales.