The Unofficial Guide to Baseball Slang
This will help you look like you know what your talking about.
Whether you’re heading down to see the Jays this summer, you have a kid in little league, or your heading out for some beer league softball you’re going to hear some baseball lingo, and it can get pretty confusing; even for some us that have been around the game for years. So I’ve put together this little reference guide to help make sense of it all so when you hear “sock a dinger” you can nod your head with vigor instead of staring back with a blank look on your face.
Dinger: home run. So if a player ‘socks a dinger’ they’ve hit a home run.
Four Bagger: Also a home run.
The Show: The big leagues or Major League Baseball.
Rhubarb: A fight or argument during a baseball game.
Bang Bang: Nothing to do with finger guns; it’s a play that happens very quickly.
Grapefruit League: Refers to spring training games that take place in Florida.
Frozen Rope: A really hard, very straight, hit line drive.
Room Service: A ball hit directly to a defensive player.
Lumber: A baseball bat.
Rally Cap: When a hat is worn inside out, backwards, or sideways by a player or fan to encourage a rally.
Goose Egg: A zero on the scoreboard
Sitting on a pitch: When a batter is waiting on a specific pitch to swing.
Slugger: A batter that hits with great power.
Aspirin Tablet: An especially hard thrown fast ball.
Big Bender: A curve ball.
Ribbie: A run batted in.
Can of Corn: A easy to catch fly ball.
Caught Napping: When a base runner is picked off because they weren’t paying attention.
Picked off: A quick throw from the pitcher to a base player to tag out a base runner. This takes place before a pitch is thrown.
Plunked: Hit by a pitch.
Mustard: Refers to the high velocity a ball is thrown at. If someone “put a lot of mustard” on a throw, it was thrown hard.
There are so many more terms to learn, but this list will get you started. Try practicing with yourself a few times and then before you know it you’ll be slinging baseball slang with the best of em! See ya at the diamond!
Some fun @Yankees–@Cubs facts:
– 583 pitches
– 42 players used
– 48 combined Ks
– Most innings played in an Interleague game (18)— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) May 8, 2017
