DBO Glossary
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Bases Loaded |
Term indicating that there is a runner on every base. Also referred to as bases full. |
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Name applied to Rockies teams of the middle 90's because several players were "Bombers" or powerful men who hit a lot of home runs. The original group consisted of Vinnie Castilla, Andres Galarraga, Dante Bichette, and Ellis Burks, later joined by Larry Walker. |
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| Bonehead | A bonehead is someone who's head consists entirely of bone, with little or any brains in evidence. The term is ordinarily used as a modifier, as in "that was a bonehead (or boneheaded) play", indicating that whatever the player did, it was ill-advised, or stupid, like throwing to the wrong base, or running on a fly ball without "tagging up" first. |
| Chatter | Peculiar vocalizing traditionally used by players and fans to distract opponents or simply to amuse themselves. The most often heard example is "Hey batter, batter, swing batter!". It is also used to encourage the favored team with such phrases as "Good eye, baby. Ducks on the pond." |
| Delivery | The mechanical process that a pitcher uses to throw the ball. Usually preceded by a descriptor, such as "herky-jerky" or "smooth". |
| Dinger | Another name for a home run. |
| Ducks on the Pond | One or more runners on base. |
| Four Seam Fastball | |
| Give in | When it seems like a pitcher has no choice but to throw a strike, the most obvious time being when the bases are loaded and the next ball would walk in a run, the pitcher is said to "give in" when he throws a hittable pitch in the strike zone. |
| Golden Serape | When a batter strikes out three or more times in a game. |
| Good Eye | Used to refer to a batter who has show discretion in not attempting to hit a pitch out of the strike zone. |
| Gopher Ball | A pitch that is exactly in the right place and at the right speed for the batter to hit a homerun. |
| Grand Salami | Another name for a grand slam homerun, or a homerun with the bases loaded. |
| Grand Slam | See "Grand Salami". |
| Leading off |
Leading off actually means two things in baseball:
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| On Base | Standing on or near a base, having reached safely as a baserunner. |
| Pepper | |
| Pick-off move | |
| Picked Off | |
| Reached | Got on base. |
| Release Point | The point at which the pitcher lets go of the ball while throwing. If the release point is not correct, the ball will go too high or low. |
| Side Arm | Throwing the ball with the arm extended level with the shoulder. Middle ground between overhand and submarine. |
| Spitball | A ball containing some kind of wet or slick substance applied by the pitcher before delivery to make the ball behave erratically, causing the hitter to miss it. |
| Split-Finger Pitch | |
| Splitter | |
| Stolen Base | |
| Strike Out or Striking Out | |
| Strike Zone | The area in which a ball thrown by a pitcher will be called a strike by the umpire if the batter does not swing. Varies widely. |
| Stuff | A reference to a pitcher's repertoire of pitches. If all of them are working well, the pitcher is said to have "good stuff". |
| Submarine or Submariner | A submarine pitch is one that is thrown with the arm lower than side-arm, but not as low as underhand. |
| Tagging up | On a fly ball out, a baserunner cannot leave his base until the ball is caught, after which he can advance at his own risk. Runners normally take a few steps toward the next base (see "leading off") before the ball is pitched, so if the ball is hit in the air, they must go back to the bag, or "Tag up". |
| The BOB | Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks (Since had its name changed to something even lamer.) |
| Tools of Ignorance | |
| Whiff | Synonym for a strikeout. |