The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-08-03

/ same name. He has a pleasing variety |
a wealth of expression from which he |
may choose to his taste. Yet he is con- |
| servative, and no word finds entrance |
/ into his store unless il be worthy. 1t /
must be a condensation OF meaning. an |
| epitOme which bears to the mind de-
| hghtful and thrilling associations. !
| Take, for example, the technical eX-
| preston took his base on balls" For
| these five words there are a number
or others more picturesque and full OF
| meaning. One may say, instead, that
! the batter walked contrasting the
care-free manner in which he trots
| away 10 first base with the agoniZlng
! rush when the ball is hit and it is a
question whether it or the player VIII
first reach the base. The monotOny OF
| walked" may be varied by -Strolled'
or ''sauntered." but the significance IS
| the same. Then one may assert that
the batter was given a pass. refer
| ring to the kindness of the pitcher in
letting him start on his way around
| the diamond without further exertion-
Just now all these expressions are
| popular. They may be heard on the
| field and read in the daily press, for the
sporting editor lets them pass his blue
pencil without question, and even en-
coura ges his reporters to use them be-
cause they make the description of a
game vivid where the choicest aSsOrt-
ment of dictionary words would fail.
He knows that the readers who love
the game will understand, and that
those for whom the terms bear no sig
| nificance never will see them.
| Sometimes picturesqueness and some
i times humOr is the LSsost striking char
! acteTistic of such words and phrases.
But most often their origin can be
| traced to an unconscious striving for
| terse expression, for a single noun
4 which Of
half a dozen ad5ectives or a verb which
equals string Of adverbs. This has
| brought into use a number of cOnven-
lent words. 1t is palpable waste to
say that a player "batted a ball which
enabled him TO reach first base when
the statement that he singled" means
| as much. The compounds wo-bagger''
AMI ''thfee-bagger' are equally useful
to indicate the performance with the
bat which sends the batsman to second
or third base.
Bag as a term for base needs no
explanation. 1t is one of the veterans
of baseball argot, and has enjoyed an
/ unofficial use since canvas bags filed
with sand and strapped to an iron sta
pie were used to mark the three points
of the diamond. Why the square piece
of cement at the fourth angle is called
the home plate or pan is equally
obvious. The fan" who prides him
self on his copious vocabulary will
sometimes vary the monotony of bag
by sack" or even cushion or pill
| low" Under no circumstance does he
say base" With the most common
!, | designations of the four angles of the
diamond-"first," second third" and
''home"-every one is familiar.
The adjective of position is used to
advantage, as it is in reference to the
{ four fields which are referred to as
z fsCbnTr IaF4 1far.
: These for convenience. Not long ago
some facetious unknown named the
territory outside the diamond gar
. dens;" and left, right and center gar
den" they now are. Obscure as the
= origin of the term is, there can be no
|. mistaking it's inference 1t tells OF
grassy stretches outside the dusty clay
y and the feverish activity of the lin
fleld,' of the peaceful meadows where
o the happy fielders lounge at their ease
. with only an occasional fly to worry
= ] their repose.
? The ingenuity of the baseball enthu-
siast exhausts itself upon that over
t worked man, the pitcher. When he is
: / in form and holding down" the OppoS-
A ing team to few scattered hits, he is
h hero. But when his curves fail Il
perplex or the sinew and bone of hi:
V good right arm are weary and refuse
= I to serve him, no opprobrium is toS
L strong, no sarcasm too cutting. to con
g vey the opinion of the spectators. Blu
s the epithets applied on such occasion;
i | are not the distinctive coinage of ths
: bleachers; they are the common. peace
d full ones which are used to expires:
: similar sentiments wherever the Eng
- lish language is spoken. When thu
e pitcher tires, every one knows VIVA
[; happens. He lcses control of the bal
and gives the batsmen the passes" al
h
# hurls the ball too high far oftener thar
N too low, or too far to the left or right
If which may be the reason why tn
l. fans say he has gone up into tn
re air. A few years ago a popular sub
IS stitute was the statement that he hat
n made a balloon ascension" Now
IS love of breYity favors the single wor,
lie "ascended-" Brevity is the soul 0
Is clear. as well as witty, expression. o.
= the other hand, when the pitcher
ID equal to the occasion he ''retires" tn
IF batsmen. If he is steady enough, bH
ID the batters find his curves to their Xix
n ing and knock the ball all over tn
e field. the newspapers tell their reader
= next morning with happy metonymy
q. that the pitcher was pounded"
L The dictionary is no limit to tn
20 number of words which describe VIVA
is expert batsmen do to the ball when
lie comes as they like it. The columns O
w a daily paper show that they slug,
he bang" haste pound ISLAM,
to drive" put" hit crack "con
re nect,' negotiate" Tiff blunt,
I'd knock" "jab.' push" and so D
ne through an almost endless variety.
A search through the back files c
New York papers shows that many c
a the words and phrases here mentione
n are older than one would imagine, an
i by no means fads of expression. Dun
Il ing the seventies and late sixties, whe
u the game was advancing with rapi
VI strides to national popularity, Sian
Ne was not uncommon in newspaper az
III counts. Some Of these old words woul
~ CRATE upon the practiced ear of III
~ modern fan" but many which WEI
born during the infancy of the gam
. still retain their vitality. The pitche
- "twirls the sphere" now as he di
- twenty years ago when he first aston
= ished the college professors with h
~ curve; and players pounded" II
u9 pitcher. flew outs and banked" the
= opponents. punched their hits, an
- captured flies in games which wei
- played during the Centennial year. b
= that triumph of modern baseball term
. nology, the word fam had no equivs
he lent.
he The reporter who describes baseba
games for the patrons of his paper
ma responsible for much of the slar
"a ! which creeps into popular use i
lie must be a fan" himself, and as fl