The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-29

stances 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 OUTFIELD GARDEN"
The adjective Of position is used TO ad-
vantage, as it is in reference to the four
fields, which are referred TO as short
left" right" and center" These for
convenience. Not long ago some face
tious unknown named the territory out
side the diamond gardens and left,
right and center garden they now are.
Obscure as the origin of the term is. there
can be no mistaking its inference. 1t tells
of grassy stretches outside the dusty clay
and the feverish activity of the ''infeld,
Of the peaceful meadows where the happy
helders lounge at their ease. with I'm, only
pose.
The ingenuity of the baseball enthusiast
eXhausts itself upon that overworked man,
the pitcher. When he is IN form ana mold
ing down" the opposing team TO few scat
tered hits, he is a hero. But when his
curves fail 10 perpleX, or the sinew and
bone of his good right arm are weary and
refuse TO serve him, no opprobrium is too
strong, no sarcasm too cutting to convey
the opinion of the spectators. But the cpl
Ihets applied on such occasions are not
the distinctive coinage OF the bleachers;
they are the common, peaceful ones which
are used to express similar sentiments
wherever the English language is spoken.
When the pitcher tires, every one knows
what happens. He loses control of the
ball and gives the batsmen the passes
already referred to- In such cases he
hurls the ball too high far oftener than
too low, or too far 10 the left or right,
which may be the reason why the fans
say that he has gone up in the air"
A few years ago popular substitute was
the statement that he had made a bal
loon ascension" Now a love OF brevity
favors the single word "ascended." Brev-
ity is the soul of clear, as we'll as witty.
expression. On the other hand, when the
pitcher is equal to the occasion he ere
tires the batsmen. II he is steady enough,
but the batters find his curves TO their
liking and knock the ball all over the field
the newspapers tell their readers next
morning, with happy metonymy, that the
pitcher was pounded"
The dictionary is no limit to the number
OF words which describe what expert bats
men Go to the ball when ii comes as they
like it, The columns of a daily paper show
that they slug, bang, haste" pound"
SLAM" drive" put" hit crack"
connect" negotiate lift" blunt"
knock" lab, push" and so on through
an almost endless variety.
search through the back files OF New
York papers shows that many of the words
and phrases here mentioned are older than
one would imagine and by no means fads
of expression. During the seventies and
late sixties when the game was advancing
with rapid strides 10 national popularity,
slang was not uncommon in newspaper ac-
counts Some of these old words would
CRATE upon the practiced ear Of the modern
fan" but many which were born during
the infancy of the game still retain their
vitality. The pitcher "twirs the sphere"
now as he did twenty years ago when he
first astonished the college professors with
his curve, and players pounded" the pitch
er, flew out" and 'blanked" their op-
ponents punched their hits" and cap
tured" flies in games which were played
during the centennial year But that tri-
umph of modern baseball terminology, the
word fan had no equivalent
REPORTERS RESPONSIBLE.
The reporter who describes baseball
games for the patrons of his paper is re-
sponsible for much Of the slang which
creeps into popular use. He must be
fan" himself and as familiar with fads OF
expression with the latest changes in the
rules. To gain appreciation his description
must be served up hot from the diamond. ="
spiced with the latest verbal products CT
grand stand and leachers. If in addition
he can leaven his story with a judicfous
sprinkling OF the untechnical slang OF the
day, so much the better. If he is a con-
noisseur. he picks his words with a proper
regard for clearness, brevity and humor.
The dispatch quoted at the beginning OF the
article shows how much can be done with
forty carefully selected words.
The following extract from a typical
newspaper description OF a game shows a
few OF the words and phrases that have
been spoken of:
'Albany's solitaire was tailed in the sew
enth. Townsend flied out TO Ashenback
Sorber trotted a gift heat 10 first base and
Rhuland hit 10 Deadly. who played one
minute stand OF his great act entitled ST
lence and fun. while Sorber who had been
letting out coDious links while the act was
on the center of the stage, fell over the pan
Nugent went out-Mackey 10 Whistler
Hooker walked and Clayton popped up a
soft thing 20 Ashenback
a is a inc Ore
Cy Townsend flied out 10 Mccarthy, Sorber