The Referee's Top Nine Popular English Baseball Idioms

Well, it's that time of year again, dear reader.  The time of year that The Referee begins to suffer from a highly personalised and specific ailment I have invented for myself which I like to call Baseball off-Seasonal Affected Disorder, or B-SAD.  This is a particular type of listless melancholy that sets in every year in November, as soon as the World Series ends, begins to lift slightly in March during spring training, but only disappears completely on opening day, usually in early April.

This year, I have decided to take action against my MLB-related malaise by sharing with you something remarkable that brings together two of my very favo(u)rite things: baseball and the English language.  And so, without further ado or preamble (only joking!), it is my pleasure, as well as my self-medication, to share with you The Referee's Top Nine Popular English Baseball Idioms.

We all like to use a good idiom.  In fact it's probably true to say that we each use multiple idioms every day without even noticing that we're doing it.

Do you want to chew the fat?  I've been burning the midnight oil.  You're barking up the wrong tree.  I'm under the weather.  He's pushing up daisies.  I'm all ears.

But how many of us ever stop and think about the origin of the idioms we use?  I'm amazed at how often they have their roots in sport(s).

We'll beat them at their own game.  The ball is in your court.  That's below the belt.  Keep your eye on the ball.  Don't jump the gun.  That was below par.

One sport, baseball, aka America's pastime, seems to provide many more idioms than any other.  And not just in American English, but also in British English and in English-speaking countries generally, despite the fact that baseball is not a major sport in most of those countries.      

In case you think I'm overstating this case, I'd like to present to you The Referee's Top Nine Popular English Baseball Idioms.  A top nine not because I can't think of 10 (there are many more than that) but rather one for each of the regular innings in a game of baseball.

But, to make it interesting (imagine that!), and to continue my long-standing commitment to both your education and entertainment, dear reader, I will not only list my Top Nine, but I'll also give you the original baseball meaning of each phrase, and demonstrate its popular (non-baseball) use in a helpful and highly realistic sentence.  I bet you already can't wait to get started.  Me too.

Just to make things easy to follow, each line is labelled a, b or c, as follows:

(a)  Baseball meaning
(b)  Popular meaning
(c)  Use in a sentence, or paragraph.

Got it?  Then let's play ball.  (Ooh, there's one).

1.  Touch Base
(a)  To touch, step on, or otherwise make contact with the plate, or "bag", to ensure that the runner is "safe" and can't be run out or tagged out.
(b)  To make sure one connects with or stays in touch with someone else; to arrange to be in contact.
(c)  Veronica was already sitting at a corner table when Hamish arrived. "Hi." she said sheepishly, "So glad we had chance to touch base while you're still in town."

2.  Ballpark
(a) A baseball stadium.
(b) A broad estimate, usually of something so large that a "more or less" approach won't make much difference.
(c)  "My pleasure" said Hamish, a little bemused by her tone. "So, what are we talking about? I mean, just give me the ballpark, you know."   

3.  Left field
(a)  Relating to the left side of the outfield, as seen from the point of view of the hitter and catcher, when facing the pitching mound.
(b)  Something unexpected, out of the blue.
(c)  Veronica looked down quickly at the delicate white table cloth, in order to disguise a rapidly advancing blush. "Well...". She hesitated before looking up again. "I'm worried that you might think it's a little, you know, left field."

4.  Big league / major league

(a)  Top-level professional baseball, as opposed to the minor, feeder leagues (AA and AAA).

(b)  Serious, professional, senior.  

(c)  "Bloody hell!" snorted Hamish, propelling a morsel of complimentary Italian bread out of his nose and into his empty wine glass. "Just tell me. I like to think I'm a big league kind of guy. I'm sure I can take it." 

5.  Cover all bases
(a)  To ensure that all the infielders are in position in terms of being ready to make contact with the base and so run out the hitter / runner.
(b)  To make sure one has thought of everything and/or is fully prepared.
(c)  "Well," continued Veronica, pretending not to notice the nasal projectile. "I just wanted to make sure we covered all the bases, so to speak, before you go back home." This time she looked him straight in the eye. 

6.  Get past first base / get to second base

(a) To achieve a base hit and run round at least to second base.

(b) To make more than basic progress; especially to get further in a romantic encounter than, well, first base.

(c)  "Oh, I see" said Hamish, hoping that he had got the drift, without being sure. "It's just that, at the party, it was pretty clear that you had no interest in getting past first base, so I didn't want to push my luck."

7.  Throw a curveball
(a)  A pitch thrown with topspin which dips dramatically before it reaches the strike zone.
(b)  Do something unexpected or out of the ordinary.
(c)  "I know, I know." Veronica sounded a little exasperated. "It's just that, you know, you arrived with whats-her-name..". "Elspeth" he interjected. "Yes, Elspeth" Veronica continued. "And so I didn't think I should throw you a curveball, in the circumstances".  

OK, hold that thought.  It's now time for the 7th inning stretch.  I realise that that occurs in the middle of the 7th inning, not at the end, but please bear with me.  There is a limit to how far one can take an analogy, you know.  

For the uninitiated, the 7th inning stretch is a break in the middle of the 7th inning when the crowd is encouraged to get up and stretch, and sometimes to do a little dance, etc.  This is often accompanied by some jaunty music, just to get you in the mood.  Those nice people in major league baseball are very careful to look after their crowds as well as their expensive players. 

Anyway, by way of our analogous 7th inning stretch, I send out kudos in the direction of the marvellous film "Zombieland", which I was re-watching recently with the Littlest Referee.  As a responsible parent, I think it's important from time to time to sit down with ones young children in front of a good zombie apocalypse movie.  

There is a splendid scene in the house of Bill Murray (played by himself) when Columbus (the nervous nerd male protagonist) and Wichita (the confident gun-toting female subject of his admiration) share a tentative first (and only) kiss.  The build up to the kiss goes like this:

Wichita: You know, between you, me and "What About Bob?"... you're actually kinda cute.
Columbus: You think so?
Wichita: Yeah. I mean, you've got the guts of a guppy, but I could hit that.
Columbus: Really?
Wichita: Or at least give you the intentional walk to first.

Now, an intentional walk happens when the pitching team, usually under imminent threat of conceding runs, decides that the next batter up is too dangerous to be allowed a regular "at bat" because he is likely to get a hit and allow his team to score.  Therefore, on instruction from the dugout, the pitcher deliberately throws 4 "balls" outside the strike zone to the catcher, thus allowing the batter (who just stands there looking bored and chewing) to take a walk to first, which is in any case the outcome when a pitcher throws 4 balls, including when not intentional.  I trust you're keeping up at the back.

In other words, the concept of getting to or past first base is so engrained in popular non-baseball usage that Wichita is able to mangle it by introducing the concept of an intentional walk, and any casual baseball fan, and I dare say almost all Americans, would know exactly what she meant.

OK, now that we have all stretched, and perhaps enjoyed a little dance (you know who you are), let's press on.

8.  Play hardball
(a)  Play baseball (which uses a small, hard ball), as opposed to softball (which uses a larger, slightly softer ball) (and is played principally by female teams, at least in the US) (and involves a frightening and bizarre underarm pitching technique which has to be seen to be believed).
(b)  Play or negotiate hard, in order to get exactly what you want.
(c)  "Oh, I see" said Hamish, again, starting to catch up. "And I thought you were just playing hardball with me. You know, because you weren't all that interested." "I know" Veronica blushed again. "But I invited you here today because I am interested. Very. In you."    

9.  Step up to the plate
(a)  Prepare for your "at bat", ie a batter's appearance at the plate.
(b)  Be ready to take on a responsibility.
(c)  "Well, in that case, I have no choice but to step up to the plate" beamed Hamish. As he was speaking, a waiter hurriedly arrived at the table, apparently to take an order for pre-lunch drinks. But Hamish didn't let him get a word in: "We'll be needing Champagne, please".

And so, gentle reader, there you have it. The Referee's Top Nine Popular English Baseball Idioms set out in nine innings.  I hope those of you who might have been sceptical about the impact of America's pastime on God's own language have been duly convinced.

And, as a major bonus, entirely free of charge, those who were able to string together the scene set out in the lines marked (c) have just enjoyed the opening salvos of my forthcoming debut romcom novel, "Hamish and Veronica Take Manhattan".  You might say it's a screwball comedy.