Vintage "base ball" lingo

[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

[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....

[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".

[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....