Vintage "base ball" lingo

[Mike Eisenbath]

Forgive me, Leon, if this isn't appropriate here since it's not about collecting, per se, but it does involve old-time ball -- and I think we're all aficionados of that!

Much of the language used in the early days of the sport (let's say late 19th century and early 20th century) differs from that of today -- especially words used in contemporary newspaper reporting. For instance, it was always "base ball," as in two words. (Does anyone know when that changed universally?)

My question: What words used then, and not used now, strike you as most interesting, curious, amusing or even would like to see used again today? My favorites are:

-- Cranks (the word generally used for fans)
-- Magnates (the word usually used for team owners)

As an aside, I'm really glad Perfectos didn't stick as the nickname for the St. Louis NL club!

Mike

[90feetaway]

"Soaking" the runner always was an interesting term around in the very early days of the game. Hey if you can't tag the runner, why not throw at his body. Imagine if that happened today.

[Eric72]

• Twirler
• Striker
• Keystone Sack

There are others, such as "fair/foul hitting" that wouldn't fit today's game.

[gonzo]

“First division” and “second division” recall a time when there were only 8 teams per league and the top 4 teams in each league got a share of the World Series gate receipts. For most players, a Series winner’s or loser’s share could be a substantial part of their overall earnings, and even for 2/3/4 place, it would be a nice bonus. One team might run away with the pennant, but there was still some money at stake for the others. After divisional play started in 1969, the terms mostly faded into irrelevance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_division_(baseball)

[steve B]

The goat wasn't the greatest of all time but rather the guy who messed up and cost his team the game. Especially if the mistake was really bad and the game was important.

[crispycards]

Not so much lingo as just part of the game were nicknames associated with players based on their upbringing, heritage or ethnicity. "Chief", "Heinie" and "Rube" come to mind immediately, none of which have really survived into the modern era !

[tachyonbb]

Yannigan for a scrub trying out for a team
Wagon tongue for a bat
bender for a curve ball
Jupiter pluvias for rain. "Jupiter pluvias prevented the cranks from going to the diamond today"

[The Detroit Collector]

"EE-YAH"- expression of excitement

-Hughie Jennings

[z28jd]

My favorite is salary wing, for the arm a pitcher threw with. That was popular for a time

A close second that was extremely popular back in the day was bingle. I always thought it was the original form of the word single, but the more I read, the more I saw it used for just the word hit in general, didn't have to be a single. A guy could have four bingles and hit for the cycle

[Keith H. Thompson]

the use of the word "Malarial" as a nickname to describe a player having a "hot streak." For example, I have a cabinet card of Sam Thompson identified only by the name "Thompson" written on the front and "Malarial Thompson" written on the back. I bought it from Terry Knouse some years ago who found it in a collection of Player's League cabinets. It is a unique pose and Terry asked me if my great uncle ever had a nickname. At the time neither of us could decipher the name, as it was written in nearly illegible cursive script. In fact, I did not think it was Sam Thompson at all, since he is posed in a fancy suit unlike any of the family cabinets I have, and I was suspicious of the Philadelphia Photo Studio.

I did some research and came to the conclusion that the card almost certainly was commissioned by the Philadelphia Player's League entry and was identified for their files only as "Malarial Thompson" Sounds strange for sure, but what other explanation is there? Digging deeper, I have found several contemporary newspaper articles (both Chicago and Detroit) wherein Thompson is accused of having "malaria," and I can cite other players as well.

[lumberjack]

Ping Bodie would use newspaper cliches in interviews. He would say things like,
I rammny-caked the old spheroid."

The press also referred to the owners as the "moguls."

lumberjack

[raulus]

Originally Posted by steve B

The goat wasn't the greatest of all time but rather the guy who messed up and cost his team the game. Especially if the mistake was really bad and the game was important.

Another option here: boner.

I suppose if you want to get technical, a boner is an action.

Most famously used to refer to my man Merkle. But for his boner, the Cubs would likely not have won in 1908, which would have further elongated their streak.

[Yoda]

Scrappy, like Willie Keeler.

[Belfast1933]

Maybe not vintage lingo but how about current lingo that started with “base ball” era rules?

“The batter hit that one right back through the box…”

Not many people understand where that expression comes from (though many here probably do!)

Before the pitcher had to pitch from the rubber, they actually had a 1 square foot box that they had to release the ball from…. Hence, a ball hit sharply past the pitcher on the mound, goes “through the box”

Here is a bonus to that - ever wonder why the mound if 60 feet six inches from the plate? The original pitchers box was 60 feet to the front and 61 feet to the back of the box - when the box was changed to a rubber, they simply split the difference and placed it in the middle of where the box was… 60 feet, 6 inches.

[Andrew T206]

Not necessarily lingo, but there are so many players named (or, typically, nicknamed) Rube during pre-War baseball. Not many, if any, after.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Belfast1933

Maybe not vintage lingo but how about current lingo that started with “base ball” era rules?

“The batter hit that one right back through the box…”

Not many people understand where that expression comes from (though many here probably do!)

Before the pitcher had to pitch from the rubber, they actually had a 1 square foot box that they had to release the ball from…. Hence, a ball hit sharply past the pitcher on the mound, goes “through the box”

Here is a bonus to that - ever wonder why the mound if 60 feet six inches from the plate? The original pitchers box was 60 feet to the front and 61 feet to the back of the box - when the box was changed to a rubber, they simply split the difference and placed it in the middle of where the box was… 60 feet, 6 inches.

And another bonus, Amos Rusie is credited with causing them to move the mound back.
From Wiki
"In 1897, one of his fastballs struck future Hall of Fame shortstop Hughie Jennings in the head, rendering him comatose for four days before recovery. Rusie's wildness had been a catalyst for officials to change the distance from the pitching rubber (the back line of the pitching box at the time) to home plate from 55 feet 6 inches (16.92 m) to the current 60 feet 6 inches (18.44 m). This ruling was made effective for the 1893 season, at the peak of Amos Rusie's pitching prowess. The distance change did not reduce Rusie's effectiveness, as he led the league in strikeouts for three straight seasons afterward, while also winning what later would be known as the pitching triple crown in 1894. For his accomplishments, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 by the Veterans Committee. "

[JustinD]

I know for myself, the first few times I saw an mid 1800's scorecard (with these used) I was dumbfounded by HL's and HO's.

For those that have not seen this, Hands down, Hands out, and Hands lost were used for outs in an inning. You would see it abbreviated to HL or HO on scorecards, not sure if I have seen one with HD yet that I remember. I had to use the old search engine to figure those out once.

[Keith H. Thompson]

was also the Superintendent of the School who dressed in a suit, tie and hat for every game. In his youth he had been a pitcher for the Kansas City Blues, and occasionally in a local game when the opposing team was up, he would yell from our bench exhorting our pitcher to

"stick one in his ear"

[Scocs]

1) Merkle’s Boner

2) Snodgrass’ Muff

3) “No Pepper Games Allowed”

[Leon]

Originally Posted by crispycards

Not so much lingo as just part of the game were nicknames associated with players based on their upbringing, heritage or ethnicity. "Chief", "Heinie" and "Rube" come to mind immediately, none of which have really survived into the modern era !

Not in today's world though they were innocent enough names in their times.
.

[SAllen2556]

I once did some research on Charlie Bennett and used old newspapers from the end of the 19th century. There were so many funny phrases I ended up writing them down. Here's my list:

salary flipper = pitching arm
the Jungaleers = the Tigers
the garden = the outfield or
the outer garden vs. the inner garden (outfield vs. infield)
the second defense = the outfield
moundsmen
bush leagues
rooters = fans
the battery line = pitcher and catcher
battery work
the circuit = the league
dented the home plate = scored
sacks = bases
round = inning
home guard = home team
society of swat
stick = bat
two-ply killings = double play
no reverses = no defeats
two big tent aggregations = two teams
flail and horsehide = bat and ball
middle cushion = second base
safety = base hit
two cleans = two hits
the pill = the ball
twirler = pitcher
the great peanut race = pennant race
As the seasonal pleasantries draw to a close....

[kcohen]

If you look at dead ball era schedules and publications, away games are termed "games abroad".

[Kawika]

You can add "starboard garden" aka right field to your list, Scott. Over the years I have perused numerous old articles in the NY Times archives and elsewhere and have encountered many examples of wordsmithing that tickle the eyes. Unfortunately I didn't have the prescience to keep track of them. The old-time sportswriters had it all over the bland crap we read today. Didn't bring my '57 Topps cards to Yankee games to be autographed either back in the day but that's another story. The agony of twenty-twenty hindsight! As an aside the instructional league in the northwest and British Columbia has a new team, the Kamloops Northpaws. I thought that was sorta cool.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Kawika

You can add "starboard garden" aka right field to your list, Scott. Over the years I have perused numerous old articles in the NY Times archives and elsewhere and have encountered many examples of wordsmithing that tickle the eyes. Unfortunately I didn't have the prescience to keep track of them. The old-time sportswriters had it all over the bland crap we read today. Didn't bring my '57 Topps cards to Yankee games to be autographed either back in the day but that's another story. The agony of twenty-twenty hindsight! As an aside the instructional league in the northwest and British Columbia has a new team, the Kamloops Northpaws. I thought that was sorta cool.

Wow! I visited Kamloops in the 80's while on the hunt for a Trophy King Salmon, never thought I'd see that name pop up in relation to baseball. Go Northpaws!

[Eric72]

"Daisy cutter" is the term old-timers used for what I called a "worm burner" as a youth.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Eric72

"Daisy cutter" is the term old-timers used for what I called a "worm burner" as a youth.

"Daisy Cutter" as a term was first referenced in 1918 by Jack Wilkinson describing an attack on RAF at Bertangles. "A bomb that seemed to explode before it buried itself in the ground so that bits and pieces flew horizontally in all directions".

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

"Daisy Cutter" as a term was first referenced in 1918 by Jack Wilkinson describing an attack on RAF at Bertangles. "A bomb that seemed to explode before it buried itself in the ground so that bits and pieces flew horizontally in all directions".

My understanding is that the term was 19th Century Base Ball lingo for a hard hit ground ball that skimmed along the ground.

It's not terribly surprising to learn the term was also used to describe other things, though.

[perezfan]

A "can of corn" was an easy out via pop-up.

A "worm pounder" was a sharply hit grounder.

And a "bingle" was a base hit or a single, as evidenced by this early piece...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTTXnYviDT8&t=29s

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Eric72

My understanding is that the term was 19th Century Base Ball lingo for a hard hit ground ball that skimmed along the ground.

It's not terribly surprising to learn the term was also used to describe other things, though.

Its very plausible that the term originated on the ball field and was adopted by the military .

[Leon]

+1 nice list....

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

I once did some research on Charlie Bennett and used old newspapers from the end of the 19th century. There were so many funny phrases I ended up writing them down. Here's my list:

salary flipper = pitching arm
the Jungaleers = the Tigers
the garden = the outfield or
the outer garden vs. the inner garden (outfield vs. infield)
the second defense = the outfield
moundsmen
bush leagues
rooters = fans
the battery line = pitcher and catcher
battery work
the circuit = the league
dented the home plate = scored
sacks = bases
round = inning
home guard = home team
society of swat
stick = bat
two-ply killings = double play
no reverses = no defeats
two big tent aggregations = two teams
flail and horsehide = bat and ball
middle cushion = second base
safety = base hit
two cleans = two hits
the pill = the ball
twirler = pitcher
the great peanut race = pennant race
As the seasonal pleasantries draw to a close....