Descriptionary

hesitation pitch a pitch in which the pitcher pauses momentarily after his windup in order to throw off the batter's timing.

home whites the home team's traditional uniforms.

horsehide slang for the baseball.

hot corner said of third base because balls are hit sharply there.

hot stove league whimsical name for any group of men who discuss, debate, and gossip about baseball during the off-season.

hummer slang for a fastball.

infield fly rule an automatic out called by an umpire when an infield pop fly is hit with two or more men on base and less than two outs. The auto­matic out prevents a fielder from intentionally drop­ping the ball in order to set up an unfair, double-play force situation.

inning one of nine rounds of play in which each team comes to bat once and is allowed three outs.

intentional walk deliberately throwing four balls outside the strike zone to intentionally walk a feared batter in order to pitch to a less talented batter. Inten­tional walks are also given in order to set up force plays.

knuckleball a ball held against the knuckles or fin­gernails and pitched without spin to make it more readily affected by wind and air currents.

laugher a game dominated by a team to a ludicrous degree.

loft one to hit a high fly ball.

lollipop slang for a slow or very easy pitch to hit.

lumber slang for the bat or bats.

minors the minor leagues.

moon shot slang for a long home run.

mustard velocity. A good fastball has a lot of mus­tard on it.

MVP abbreviation for most valuable player.

no-hitter a game in which a pitcher does not give up a hit to the opposing side.

no pepper the stenciled signs found in many ball parks prohibiting pepper games—the infield batting and fielding drill involving several players and fre­quently damaging the playing field.

nubber a weak infield hit.

off-speed pitch any pitch slower than a fastball; a slow pitch.

on deck batter the next player scheduled to bat after the batter at the plate.

opposite field hitter a batter who frequently hits a ball into the field opposite from the side he bats from, indicative of a late swing.

palm ball a ball held between the thumb and palm and thrown off-speed [with a pushing motion].

pennant title of a league championship.

pennant race race for the championship.

perfect game a game in which a pitcher gives up zero hits to the opposing team.

pinch hit to bat in place of another player.

pinch hitter a replacement batter, usually a better hitter than the one he replaces.

pinch runner a replacement runner, one who runs considerably faster than the man he replaces.

pine tar pine resin substance used on the batter's hands to improve grip on the bat.

pine tar ball a baseball illegally doctored with pine tar.

pitch around a batter to frustrate a batter by pitch­ing the ball outside, inside, low, high, and generally out of comfortable swinging range, a method of giving an intentional walk but with a chance of a strikeout.

pitcher's duel a pitcher-dominated game in which no or few hits are made by either team.

pitchout in a potential base-stealing situation, a pitch purposefully thrown high and outside to put the catcher in perfect position for throwing out a base stealer.

place hitter a hitter adept at hitting the ball in any direction he desires.

pop-up a high fly ball hit over the infield; a pop fly.

pull the ball to swing at the ball early so that it is hit to the same side of the field batted from.

quail a pop fly that drops in safely for a hit. Also known as a dying quail.

RBI runs batted in.

relief pitcher a pitcher who replaces the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher.

ride the bench/pine to sit out play until called in to substitute for another player.

rifle a powerful throwing arm.

rip one to hit the ball hard.

road grays traditionally, the uniforms used when a team is playing an away or road game.

rookie a first-season or first-year player.

rope a line drive.

roster the list of active players on a team.

Rotisserie League Baseball a game of imagina­tion and statistics in which enthusiasts draft players and monitor their statistics throughout the season to determine the best team overall.

rounders one of the old British games that baseball is descended from.

rubber the 6-inch by 24-inch rubber plate set on top of the pitcher's mound that must be toed or touched during an actual pitch.

rubbing mud the commercial mud (Lena Black- burne Rubbing Mud) used to rub the gloss off of new baseballs.

sacrifice any hit that gets the batter out but advances a teammate to the next base or home.