The Petoskey Mossback Base Ball Club
Est. In 2009 To Play In 1863
Base Ball At
The Castle.
VINTAGE BASE BALL HAS A LANGUAGE ALL ITS OWN
“"Any jelly bean with a pole can cork a meatball out of a dew drop.”
All right, it's hard to imagine anybody ever uttering such a sentence – not even Yogi Berra at his most eloquent. But hang around a vintage ball game long enough and you could hear a sentence something like that. Hang around a little longer and you may be
able to puzzle it out. In the distinctive jargon of what we call “our national pastime”, “Any jellybean (player) with a pole (bat) can cork (hit) a dew drop (slow high pitch) that comes right down middle of the plate (meatball).
Baseball definitely has a sound and a language all its own. Like any language it has developed and changed over time.
Here's a sampling of some early base ball terminology:
THE POSITIONS
Ballist - Player
Hurler - Pitcher
Behind - Catcher
Tender - Baseman
Short Scout - Short Stop
Scout / Gardener - Outfielder
Captain - Manger / Coach
Striker - Batter
Tally Keeper - Score Keeper
Muckle - Power Hitter
Wrong Way - Left Handed Hitter
THE GAME
Cranks, Bugs, Rooters - Fans
Match - Game
Ace - Run
Tally - To Score A Run
Hand Down - Out
3 Hands Dead - Side Retired
Round - Inning
Kicking - "Badgering The Ump"
Dew Drop - High Arching Pitch
Daisy Cutter - Hard Ground Ball
Banjo - Wreak Fly Ball
Cloud Buster - High Fly Ball
Knock, Hammer - Hit
Stinger, Stunner, Red - Hot, Brander - Line Drive
Fungo, Sucket - Bloop Hit
Muff, Boot, Juggle, Mug or Loose
Fielding - Error
THE EQUIPMENT
Pill /Apple / Onion – Ball
Ash / Willow / Timber – Bat
Dish – Home Plate
MISCELLANEOUS
Muffin, Milkboy, Boyo - Insult
Square, Hunky, having Pluck, Ginger
or Muckle – Compliments
“Stir your stumps” – Run Fast / Hustle
"Bottled in style" - Catch of hard hit ball
Club Nine - Team
Garden - Outfield
Three Hands Dead - The Side Is Retired
Leg It - Aggressive Base Running
Chafing - To Complain About An Umpire's Call.
Bull Pen - The Area Along The Foul Lines
Where The Cranks Sit
Jumjam - Wild Pitch
Murder's Row - Lineup Of Power Hitters
Over-Pitch - Baulk
Change Player - A Reserve Player
"Striker To The Line"
Batter Up
"Stir Your Stumps"
Run Faster
"Huzza! Huzza! Huzza!"
Job Well Done