"Can
of Corn" and Other
Off-the-Shelf
Ballyard Jargon
by
Jamie Jobb
"Can
of Corn" is antique baseball jargon sprouting from dramatic
roots.
When
Mike Krukow says those words, he’s just repeating a catch-phrase
ballplayers have said hundreds of times in hundreds of dugouts around
the country for hundreds of years. The term is still used to
describe a routine fly ball to the outfield. Any outfielder who
catches a “can of corn” does so with
very little effort.
The
origin of the expression
comes
from an experience folks had
in grocery stories two
centuries
ago. It involved actual cans of corn!
According
to Major League Baseball’s
Official
Glossary,
when 19th century
grocery store clerks needed an easy
way to reach stacked
canned
goods in
high places,
they used long hooked sticks to knock
them down. As the cans fell, the clerks would
open
their aprons and
catch
them -- like an
outfielder
catching a fly
ball.
After
such
a
“basket
catch”,
other
nearby
clerks
would yell out:
“Can
of corn!”
It
must
be pointed out, however, that the most famous “basket catch” of
all time – Giant
center fielder
Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder
grab of
Vic Wertz’ 425-foot line drive in Game One of the 1954 World Series
– absolutely WAS
NOT a “can of corn”!
*
* *
Ollie
Pickering – Cleveland Blues
A
Texas Leaguer
Bloops
in Cleveland
by
Jamie Jobb
All
y’all may recall, a “Texas Leaguer” occurs
in a baseball game
when a batter knocks a short but
lofty lob that falls between
an infielder and an outfielder for a clean base hit.
Y’all may also know the
play is called
a “bloop single”
or a “blooper”.
Often,
the batter is off-balance when hitting a “Texas Leaguer”,
however many modern
major leaguers have developed
more solid-footed off-balance
swings which deliver blooper
base hits – consider Giants
Hunter Pence, who is from Texas, and Pablo Sandoval, who is not.
The
term dates back to 1901 when rookie Ollie Pickering left the Texas
League to join the Cleveland Blues, who
would later to be known as
the Cleveland Indians.
Swift afoot, Pickering
was a natural-born leadoff
hitter --- indeed he’s
known for taking the very
first at-bat in American League history. And in that first game,
Ollie
came to bat seven times, hitting bloop singles every dang
time! That
sure made an impression on Major
League Baseball, I tell ya
what!
Being
a game long on tradition and short on active
measures, baseball
recognized an historic moment as it happened, and Pickering’s
teammates were quick to name his hitting style after his "bush league" origins.
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