The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-29
BASEBALL VERNACULAR
DEvOTEEs OF THE NATIONAL GAME
HAVE A PECULIAR LINGO.
Ordinary Language Does Not Suffice
for the Requirements OF
Enthusiasts.
New York Letter in Philadelphia Times.


is the story of one inning taken from his
account which appeared next morning in
print:
I'm the eighth, with one out, Jones
dropped McBride's fly. and then Corcoran
tripled. McJames walked, Smith and Dab
len threw low on Beckley's bounder, scor-
ing Corcoran. Smith then stole third and
scored while Beckley was being put out"
These three sentences would have made
Lindley Murray cover his face and Noah
Webster gasp; but neither the grammarian
nor the photographer knew and loved the
game of baseball. To one familiar with the
national sport of the United States they un-
roll panorama of that eighth inning vivid
and satisfying to the last detail Although
they may defy the rules of grammar al
though they seem to be carelessly thrown
together, every word was chosen with pains
and with a fixed object in view. Fifteen
minutes Of intense actvity-and epitomized
in twice as many words. To secure such
condensation without sacrifice OF clear
ness the writer had 10 call to his aid that
tersest and subtlest medium of expression
slang. Not the ordinary, familiar slang
of the streets. but the peculiar language
Of the baseball field; and he has made it
serve him well.
Every line of activity has it's own mode
of expression. Every kind Of work, study
or play gathers it's own particular vocabu-
larry. The terms Of science are Latin and
Greek compounds, called technical. The
language of everyday life, of our common
tasks and pleasures is English; and when
a new expression is born out of It's restless
activity, it takes a place in the wide vo,
cabulary of slang. The words employed
| by the electrician, the mathematician and
| the logician are invented deliberately TO
/ meet the exigencies of new discoveries;
! and they are rooted deep in classic etymol-
| ogy. When mankind plays he forgets his
! learning and remembers only his race. His
expressions are short: sharp and vivid.
! Old games have rich Saxon vocabulary
| which was ripe generations ago and seldom
| changes. When new sports grow in favor
we do not thumb the classical dictionaries
TO pick out new Technology for them We
! play the game, and when terms are needed
/ to describe its novel situations they are not
wanting. word here and word there
and in an incredibly short time the new
sport is fully clothed with a crisp, vigorous
! language Of its own.
A WIDE SCOPE.
In no tongue does slang enjoy wider
use than in the English spoken on this
side of the Atlantic. In its effort 10 keep
pace with the swift development of the
race it serves, our language throws out
running tendrils of popular speech,
which sometimes live to become stout
branches of the parent stem, but more
often wither and drop off as the fad which
gave them birth is forgotten. Baseball is
purely an American sport, and it is not
| surprising that its vocabulary is unusually
rich in the racy idioms of the language.
| In the atmosphere or the national game
| the rank plant of language buds into
! hundred strange forms-words which catch
| the significance of a sentence, expressions
Ill r1l L. LII
| in the light of their picturesque origin.
Every variety of emotion enters into their
composition. and to comprehend their full
significance one must be STEPPED in the
! spirit of the "bleachers," as well as the
knowledge of the diamond.
| The lover of baseball, the genuine enthu-
| siast, is described by word which is one
| ulary. He is a fan Fan is merely a
contraction for fanatic" a term which ap-
| plies truly to the man, woman or child who
! is wrapped up in the fascinations of the
| game. The fans" are the faithful sports
! men who know no greater joy than may be
drinking deep draughts of delirium at the
| baseball grounds. To see him standing,
| coatless and hstless and waving both gar
! ments aloft while the air pulsates with his
! paean Of victory or defiance. is TO realize
| that he is fan" in more ways than one.
| The name was unknown few years ago,
| but IL has taken a firm hold and If it stays
! until better supplants it its life will be
| long.
"Bleachers" is a much older word What
| better description of the bare board seats
| where the fans" sit during the long. glar-
| ing afternoons in blissful frenzy? The
| effect, perhaps. is anything but bleaching,
and 1.-The tannery" would be nearer the
| strict truth, for the city man who stays at
| home and spends his summer afternoons at
| the ball grounds meets his friends return
! ing from mountain and shore with face
as brown as theirs. But "beachers'' they
| have been and ''bleachers" they will be in
all probability as long as the game is
| played.
The fans vocabulary is not a stiff un-
wieldly one like that of his more aristo-
cratic brother, the golfer. He need not al
ways call the same thing by the same
| name. He has a pleasing variety wealth
of expression from which he may choose
to his taste. Yet he is conservative. and no
word finds entrance into his store unless 1t
| be worthy 1t must be a condensation of
| meaning an epitome which bears to the
| mind delightful and thrilling associations.
| Take for example, the technical expression
| took his base on balls For these five
words there are a number Of others more
| picturesque and full of meaning. One may
| say, instead, that the batter walked" con-
! trasting the care-free manner in which he
rush when the ball is hit and il is a ques-
ton whether ii or the player will first
reach the base; The monotony of .'walked"
| ed" but the significance is the same Then
one may assert that the batter was given
a pass" referring to the kindness of the
around the diamond without further exer-
| ton.
VIVID DESCRIPTION.
Just now all these expressions are pop
ular. They may be heard the field and
read in the daily press. for the sporting edi-
tor let's them pass his blue pencil without
question and even encourages his reporters
TO use them because they make the descrip-
ton OF a game vivid where the choicest
assortment 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 significance never
| will see them.
Sometimes picturesqueness and sometimes
! humor is the most striking characteristic
| of such words and phrases. But most
often their origin can be traced TO an I'M
conscious striving for terse expression, for
| single noun which will condense the
| meaning of half a dozen adjectives or
verb which equals a string Of adverbs. This
| has brought into a number OF con-
| venient words. 1t is a palpable waste 10
| say that player 'batted a ball. which en-
| abled MIN TO reach first base" when the
statement that he singled" means as
! much The compounds "two-bagger" and
! "three-bagger" are equally useful 10 indi-
/ cate the performance with the bat which
/ sends the batsman to second or third base
| Bag" as a term for base needs no ex-
! PLANTATION. It is one Of the veterans of
/ baseball argot. and has enjoyed an un-
official use since canvas bags filled with