Baseball talk: hittin' and pitchin'

I know, I know. It's been a while. Sorry about that. But here it is -- a baseball-talk post for the millions who've been hungering for it. Your long wait is over! Rejoice!

I love the way baseball announcers talk about hitters and pitchers. There's a special set of words they use for these players. Here are a few of the things I've heard the announcers say:

"He's got some pop!" This simple phrase is high praise in baseball. If you're a hitter, you definitely want to have pop.

"Ramon got most of that one!" I don't even know what this means.

"Adam didn't get it all, but he doesn't have to get it all to get it out of the park!" This one made me laugh. It was "Stone Pony" talking about Adam Dunn. The name "Stone Pony" also makes me laugh.

Batter's standing in the box, covered in mud, and the announcer says, "He's playing right out of his uniform!" I don't think I get it but it's fun anyway.

After a hit right down the middle, one of the Mets announcers said: "And up the schneid is Nick Evans!" Up the schneid? (He pronounced it "shnide". Baseball-talk aficionados will also note the use of the ever-popular backwards-talk.)

But it's the pitchers who seem to attract the most mystical comments: "These pitchers are at the top of their game because of the quality of the stuff that they have." Thanks for clearing this up for me.

New phrase on the block: Lately I've heard the announcers say of a team, "They've got bullpen." Emphasis on the last word. It means they have great relievers. I heard this for the first time recently and then heard another announcer say it a week later. I'm not sure if it's new or just new to me. In any case, it's a phrase like "he's got game." Interesting.

I also like a phrase they use from time to time when someone is hit by a ball at the plate. They refer to the guy as a "hit batsman". It sounds grand, this talk of batsmen. (Note the unofficial use of backwards talk by this blogger. This may be a contagious disease!) In any case, batsmen sound like a breed above and beyond mere mortals. Oh, to be a batsman!

To close out today, I want to point out that Yogi-isms are not gone from the game. The other day I heard an announcer say, "It's a great curveball but you don't want to overuse it too often." Almost worthy of Yogi, no?

That's it for today. I'll try to pump out another one soon. Till then, this'll have to do ya.