Baseball Jargon Quiz: Can you translate into English?

by James Quinn on May 2, 2007 10:15 AM CDT

Baseball Jargon quiz: Can you translate into English?

With a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth and only one down the pale-hose skipper issued a four fingered salute to Teahen and called his southpaw out of the pen to face Mike Sweeney. Sisco started the KC DH off with some chin music to clear the far plate for his slider but Sweeney had croc skin and stepped right back into the bucket. Sisco tried to paint the black with his next two offerings but got no help from blue. With the count 3-0 Sweeney looked to Buddy and got the sign to shoot the cripple. With no room left in the inn Sisco knew Sweeney would be looking red and crossed him up by bringing Uncle Charlie. So keyed up was the KC captain that he lost discipline and made only "excuse me" contact. Fortunately the grounder had eyes and found the 6-4 hole after clearing the keystone sack. Two came home making it a one run affair.

With runners on the corners Emil Brown knew he only needed a can of corn to send this one into free baseball. Sisco tried to climb the ladder on Brown but the batter wouldn't go for the high cheese. On a 2-2 delivery Sisco got into Brown's hands and induced a 6-4-3 pitcher's best friend to close out the game and send the KC faithful home unsatisfied yet again.

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Very good

Did write that yourself? I've never seen that much baseball talk in one writeup before lol.

by BigCountry85 on May 2, 2007 1:33 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, I'm the author

Why don't you give the translation a try and post it here.

by James Quinn on May 2, 2007 3:57 PM CDT up reply actions

OK

Here it goes...
With a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the 9th and only one out White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called for an intentional walk of Teahen and called the lefthander out of the bullpen to face MS. Sisco started off the Kansas City Designated Hitter with a high inside fastball since he was crowding the plate and he dug back into the batters box. Sisco tried to hit the corner with his next two pitches but got no help from the umpire. With the count three balls and no strikes MS looked at Buddy(Buddy Bell, manager) and got the sign to swing away even though the count was 3-0(normally something not done). With the bases loaded Sisco knew Sweeney would be looking fastball and fooled him with a curve. MS was so fooled he barely made contact. Fortunately the grounder found the gap between the shortstop and second baseman after clearing second base. Two runs scored making them only down by one.

With runners on first and third Emil Brown knew he only needed a decently hit fly ball to score the runner from third and send the game into extra innings. Sisco tried to throw a rising fastball but Brown didn't chase the high fastball. With two balls and two strikes Sisco threw a fastball inside that Brown hit off of the handle of the bat to get a 6-4-3(shortstop to second to first) double play to end the game and send the KC fans home yet again with another loss.

by BigCountry85 on May 4, 2007 1:15 PM CDT reply actions

A reply hit with authority!

Almost perfect. Just a little tweaking needed. "Climbing the ladder," is a pitch sequence, not a single pitch. The pitcher starts in the strike zone, and then locates each subsequent pitch higher. Once he has the batter swinging on red he can get him to swing under a fastball above the zone. Croc skin just means an older experienced player (one with cracked old skin) and stepping into the bucket is more than just climbing back into the batters box. It is an open stance to give the batter better visibility and open up all fields. When a batter is being brushed back and he plants an open stance he is showing he is not giving in to the pitcher. When Sweeney stepped back into the bucket he was not assuming a stance that would better allow him to bail out if the next pitch rode in on him.

Everything else, thumbs up. Of the eight or ten people who have tried to break this down I think yours is the closest to a homerun.

by James Quinn on May 9, 2007 9:24 AM CDT up reply actions