The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-15

ple, the technical expression took his base -on balls" For these i've words turesoue and full of meaning One may say, instead, that the batter walked; contrasting the care-frec manner in which he trots away to first base with and it is a question whether 1t or the player will first reach the base. The mo- notony of walked may be varied py "strolled' or. sauntered. ,. but the sas sert that the batter was given pass. referring 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 pop ular. They may he heard on the nei1 and read in the daily press: for the sport, ing editor lets them pass his blue rencil without question, and even encourages 'as reporters to use them because they make the description of a game vivid where the choicest assortment of dictionary Words would fail He knows that the readers who love ths game will ,inderstand,l ana, | that those for whom the terms bear no significance never will see them. l Sometimes pictures1ueness and some | times humor .s tie most striking char acteristid of such words and phrases | to an unconscious striving for terse eX, | pression. for a single noun which Will condense the meaninh of half dozen | adjectives or a verb which equals string of dverbs. This has brought into use a number of convenient words. It Is a palpable waste to say that player ''batted ball which enabled him to reach first base when the statement that he singled means as much. The | compounds two bat gger" and 'three-bag- ger are equally useful to indicate the performance with the bat which sends the | batsman to second or third base
 l Bag" as a term for base needs no explanation. It isl one of the veterans of baseball argo. and has enjoyed an
 unofficial use since canvas bags nileo
 with sand and strapped to an iron staple | were used to mark the three points or the diamond. Why the square piece of cement at the fourth angle is called | the home plate" and the pan" is equal iy obvious. The fan" who brides him. self on his copious vocabulary will some | times vary the monotony Of bag by
 sack" or even cushion or or pillow
 base" With the most common designa. tlons of the four angles of the diamond ~"frst.' "second." third" and nome" l-every one Is familiar | The adjective of position is used to ad- vantage, as 1t is in reference to the four fields which are referred to as short. left right" and centre" These for
 convenience. Not long ago some face
 side the diamond gardens and left, right and centre garden they now are. Obscure as the origin of the term is. there can be no mistaking it's inference. It tells of grassy stretches outside the dusty clay and the feverish activity of the Tn field" of the peaceful meadows where the happy felders lounge at their ease | with only an occasional "fy" to worry their repose.
 The ingenuity of the baseball enthusiast exhausts Itself upon that overworked
 man, the pitcher. When he is in form and holding down the opposing team
 to a few scattered nits. he is a hero.
 But when his curves fail to perplex or
 the sinew and bone of his good right arm
 are weary and refuse to serve him no
 opprobium is too strong, no sarcasm too cutting to convey the opinion of the spec tators. But the epithets applied on such
 occasions arc not the distinctive coinage
 of the bleachcrs; they are the comm on.
 peaceful ones which are used to express
 similar sentiments wherever the English
 language is spoken. When the pitcher
 tires everyone knows what happens. He
 batsmen the ''passes'' already referred
 to. In such cases he hurls the ball too
 high, far oftener than too low or too
 far to the left or right. which may be
 ''has gone up into the air." A few
 years ago a popular substitute was the
 statement that he had made a "balloon
 ascension" Now 3 love of hrevlty favor
 the single word "asc ended" Brevity IS
 the soul of clear. as well as witty. ex-
 pressions. On the other hand when the
 pitcher is equal to the occasion he re
 tires" the eatsmen If he, he IS h,s steady steady
 
 to their liking and knock the ball all
 over the field. the newspapers tell their
 readers the next morning. with happy
 metonomy, that the pitcher was pound
 ed."
 The dictionary Is no limit to the num-
 Der of words which describe what expert
 batsmen do to the ball when it comes as
 they like 1t. The columns of daily pa
 per show that they slug" bang
 nit crack" connect" negotiate '
 lift" "bunt," knock" ''jab," push, and so on through an almost endless va
 riety.
 A search through the back files of New
 York papers show that many or the
 words and phrases here mentioned are
 older than one would imagine: and by nc l means fad of expression. During the seV'
 enties and late sixties. when the game was advancing with rapid strides to ma
 tional popularity. slang was not uncom
 mon in newspaper accounts. some oi
 these old wor1s would grate upon tht
 practiced ear of the modern ran; but
 many which were born during the in fancy of the game still retain their vi tality The pitcher 'twirls the sphere now as he did twenty years ago wher he first astonshed the college professors
 with his curve; and the players pound
 their opponents punched" their hits ant
 "captured'' flies in games which were , | played during the centennial year. Bu
 that triumph of modern haSepaH termf l nOlOEy lHt WOid Aoli' t'NN @"S N1NH'N The reporter who describes baseball games for the patrons of his paper IS re 5 sponsible for much of the slang Whicf , creeps into popular use. He must De { fan" himself and as familiar with fad of expression as with the latest changes in the rules To gain appreciation, his de l scription must be served up not iron e the diamond" spiced with the latest verb
 al nroducts of grand stand and bleachers
 If, in addition. he can leaven, his stor' r with a judicial sprinkling of the untech r nical slang of the day so much the bet d ter. If he is d connoisseur ne picks III : words with a proper regard for ciearness @ breyity and humor. The dispatch quote ,, at the beginning of this article shows hoy k much can be done with forty careful ' selected words. e. +,o,oo e newspaper description or a game sh1w t,'S Il a few. of the words ana p"f"SI' '"' l. have been spoken or ,,,, l.. Al, # "Albanys solitaire was tallied in tn h seventh. Townsend flied out to Asher
 hack, Sorber trotted gift heat to hrs
 base, and Rhuland hit to Deady' m WI 2. pnt entitled silence and fun.' while Sol it her who had been letting out copiou s- links while the act was on the center ( ,e inc stage. fell over the pan. Nuger 'S n,ont oIt-Mackey to Whistler: liooke
 walked, and Clayton popped up soi
 "The story of the ninth is a touchin eI one: Cy Townsend flied out to McCai e thy. Sorber fouled ont to ponoyan an fl Rbuland plunked one into ORourke'
 init For Dorp, O Rourke was out--shor
 to first. Deadly got life nn Nugent , | tumble and Whistler was presented wit a base. Ashenback forced Deadly a