Vintage "base ball" lingo

[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”