(A collection of goofy stuff baseball broadcasters say, with some technical baseball terms mixed in, not including most of the endless ways of colorfully stating, "home run.")
Across the body backhand ole: Quick backhand catch on line drive
Around the horn: Defense throwing ball from third base to second base to first base; often resulting in a 6-4-3 double-play
Airmail: Errant throw over everybody’s head
American Legion Play: Pitcher bluffs to third then looks to first: also called double-bluff
Annie Oakley: A walk (base on balls); also called a free pass
Around the horn: 6-4-3 double play
Around the world in 80 days: Slow runner circling the bases
Backup slider: Slider that doesn’t break; also called cement mixer
Backward K: Strikeout looking
Band Box: Small baseball park
Bags drunk: Bases loaded
Basket catch: Underhand catch with glove close to body about belt high
Batter's eye: Neutral backdrop beyond centerfield intended to prevent the hitter from losing the ball due to background clutter.
Battery: Pitcher and catcher
Bench jockey: Someone in the dugout effectively annoying the opposing team or umpires
Bettina Bunge backhand: Check-swing hit on low, outside pitch; a type of excuse-me swing
Bible thumper: Batter that swings at nearly everything
Big League Hang With ‘Em: Well hit ball but makes an out
(On the) Bingo Card: Batter that’s hitting less than .100 (intended to be polite)
Bloop(er): Ball that falls between infield and outfield; also called a Texas Leaguer or dying quail
Bloop and a blast: Bloop hit followed by a teammate hitting a home run.
Blue: Umpire
Boot: Error
Bucket: Horrible swing
Bugs Bunny change-up: A change-up so good it seems to stop on the way to home plate
Bump: Pitcher’s mound
Bunching (the outfield): Defense positions away from both foul lines toward center of field
Business Partner: Bat
Butcher Boy: Fake bunt, then swing
Cabbage: Player who’s out is inevitable; dead meat
Can of corn: Routine fly ball; also called room service
Camp Snoopy- The DL (disabled list)
Cannon: Strong throwing arm
Carve the turkey: Pitcher hitting all his locations
Catbird seat: Batter with pitch count/situation in his favor
Cement mixer: Slider that doesn’t break; also called backup slider
Check-swing: Swing that batter attempts to recant
Cheddar: Fast fastball
Cherry Picking: Hitting a fastball in a fastball count
Chin music: Very high, inside pitch
Clean Up: Forth hitter in batting order
Climbing the ladder: Pitching fastballs progressively higher in zone; also called Raising the ladder
Come-backer: Ball hit directly at pitcher
Commando: No batting gloves
Crooked number: Scoring more than one run in an inning
Daisy-cutter: Low line drive
Dead red: Hitter always looks fastball
Dog robber: Umpire (derogatory)
Double-bluff: Pitcher bluffs to third then looks to first: also called American Legion Play
Double-clutch: Hesitate before throwing ball
Double-switch: Two players enter game simultaneously so as to swap positions in batter order
Drag Bunt: Left-hander bunts ball past pitcher and out of reach of first baseman; see also push bunt
Drag Through Garden: An at bat with each pitch different and effective
Duck snort: Poorly hit ball that falls for hit
Dying quail: Ball that falls between infield and outfield; also called a Texas Leaguer or blooper
E 10: Spectator drops foul ball (E means error)
Earnie: Earned run
Elephant ear: Back pocket hanging inside-out
Excuse-me swing: Check-swing that makes contact with ball
Five hole: Between catcher’s legs (also fifth in batting order)
Five point five (5.5) hole: Area between third and short, coined by Tony Gwynn
Five tool player: Player that can hit for average, hit for power, run, throw and field his position well
Forced error: Baserunner causes distraction which leads to defensive error
Free pass: A walk (base on balls); also called an Annie Oakley
Four bagger: Home run
Gaylord Perry puff-ball: Put a ton of rosin on hand before throwing fastball
Generic signs: For bunt touch belt, for steal touch skin, for hit&run touch hat, for take hold up a finger
Get away day: Last day of a series between two teams; often a day game.
Go oppo: (Short for go opposite way) hit toward weak-side field; antonym of “pull”
Golden Sombrero: Strike out 4 times in a game; also called Silver Sombrero
Grab some pine, meat!: Go sit down on the bench (after that failed attempt), ambitious batter!; presumably coined by Mike Krukow
Grand salami: Grand slam
Handcuffed: Pitch causes batter to draw hands into body so can’t swing
Hanger: Breaking ball high in zone
Hat Trick: Strike out 3 times in a game
(Bringing the) Heat: Pitcher throwing fast
Hitch: A jerky motion during swing
Hitch in the giddy-up: A jerky motion in running stride
Immaculate inning: Inning in which pitcher strikes out three batters on nine total pitches
In The Hole: 2 batters away from current batter; after hitter on deck. Also phrased as in the hold
Inside-out: Knob of bat precedes barrel
(On the) Interstate: Batting in the .100’s
Jam: Pitch in on hands
Keyhole: Looking for one pitch in one location
Kitchen: Middle inside on a hitter
Knock: A hit
Lawrence Welk Double-Play: 1-2-3 (pitcher to catcher to first baseman)
LOOGY: Lefty one out guy; left-handed pitching specialist
Low bridge: Duck under ball
Lumber pile: Reserve bats
Mendoza line: Batting average right at .200
Mr. Spalding: Baseball
Never gets cheated: Always swings hard
Nickel slider: A slider with a loose spin so that the red seams form a nickel-sized circle in the ball from the batter's perspective
No dot slider: A slider without the tight spin forming a red dot in the middle of the ball from the batter's perspective
Nose to toes: Bad ball hitter
Nubber: Ball hit off end of bat; also called squib
Olympic rings: Batter that strikes out five times in a game; also called Platinum Visor
On Deck: Hitter after current batter
Off the fists: An inside pitch requiring arm strength to hit strongly
Ownage: Batter with good career stats vs a specific pitcher or vice versa
Pay-off: Pitch on a 3-2 count
Platinum Visor: Batter that strikes out five times in a game; also called Olympic rings
Peeling black/paint: Pitching right on the corners
(Play) Pepper: Stick bat out and let ball bounce off it
Perfect game: Game in which team allows no runners on base
Picked off: Runner thrown out while on base
Pie Thrower: Weak throwing arm
Pillow: Base bag
Pink hat: Bandwagon or fair-weather fan
Poached egg: Gently laid bunt
Pop-up dance: Fielder struggling to catch high fly ball in wind currents
Pow wow: Meeting at mound of coach and players
Pitcher’s best friend: Double-play
Punch and Judy: Weak but successful hit
Push Bunt: Right-hander bunts ball past pitcher and out of reach of first baseman; see also drag bunt
Rabbit ears: Umpire (or pitcher) who seems to hear everything said in dugout (or stands) and quickly takes exception (or gets unnerved)
Railroad: Baserunner plows into fielder at bag
Ribbie: Run batted in (RBI)
Rock Pile: A long meeting at the mound involving most of the players
(In the) Rocking Chair: Pitches alternatively being thrown inside and outside effectively
Rollover: Wrists rotate over top of bat on swing
Room service: Routine fly ball; also called can of corn
Round tripper: Home run
Rubber match: The final game of a three game series that will determine which team will win two of three
Rubberneck: Hitter looks at ump, surprised to hear called strike
Safety Squeeze: Runner breaks for home after ball is bunted
Salad: An easy to hit pitch
Scratch hit: Weekly hit ground ball base hit
Seed: Line-drive
Seeing-eye ball: Hit that finds the smallest of holes through the infield
Senior Circuit: National League
Set the Table: Get on base early in inning
(Getting) Shelled: Pitcher giving up a lot of hits
The Show: The Major Leagues; often expressed, “Welcome to The Show,” towards a rookie
Show-me pitch: A pitch thrown for a ball solely intended to set-up the next pitch
Signature call: Catch-phrase used by a certain broadcaster to celebrate a home run
Snow cone: A catch where half the ball is sticking out top of glove
Sparkplug: One player that motivates entire team
Squeeze: Bunt in attempt to score runner from third
(Getting) Squeezed: Umpire enforcing a small strike zone
Squib: Ball hit off end of bat; also called nubber
Stanza: Inning
Start the merry-go-round: Bases loaded & everybody will be running on contact (full count with 2 outs)
Station to station: Moving around the bases one at a time
Stepping in the bucket: Open batting stance
Straight-away: Normal defense
Strike-out the side: Get all three outs in a half-inning via strike-outs.
Suicide Squeeze: Runner breaks for home on pitch while batter bunts
Tater: Home run
Tenth man: Audience
Texas Leaguer: Ball that falls between infield and outfield; also called a blooper or dying quail
Texas Swing: A swinging bunt or long check swing
Three Hole: Third batter in batting order
Through the box: Hit back up the middle
Tomahawk: Desperate swing at high pitch
Tools of ignorance: Catcher’s gear
Ugly finder: Ball hit into dugout (and destined to hit someone ugly)
Uncle Charlie: Curve ball
Unintentional Intentional: Instead of intentional walk, throwing all balls and avoiding the strike zone
Waiting for express and caught the local: Batter strikes out looking, expecting fastball but gets something off-speed
Walk-off: Hit that results in game-ending win
Went fishing: Chased an outside pitch
Wheel Play: Shortstop covers third on pitch while third baseman defends against bunt
Wheelhouse: Natural bat path
Whirlie: Home run (reference to ump’s hand signal)
Window shopping: Batter strikes out looking
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