“What Did He Say?” – A Texas Rangers Fan’s Quick Guide to Baseball Jargon

R

rake: v. To get base hits by hitting the ball well; to get many hits, esp. off a given pitcher.

rally cap

: A baseball cap that has been turned inside out, put on backwards, or otherwise oddly displayed by the players on the bench and/or in the bullpen to invoke a rally. The superstitious notion began with the Texas Rangers in 1977-1979. *I haven’t seen too many players nowadays use the rally cap, I think it is primarily used by fans*

Fans believe in the Rally Cap so much that the Texas Rangers used it in a promo video:

RBI

: Run(s) Batted In

gets an RBI Single:

rubber

: The rectangular slab of whitened rubber, 24 inches long and 6 inches wide, set into and atop the pitcher’s mound so that the distance from the front edge of the rubber to the back point of plate is 60 feet, 6 inches.

This clip has a

BUNCH

of terms I’ve covered: Shin-Soo Choo hits a

grounder

into right field for a

double

, bringing home

for an

RBI

,

standing

(and somewhere I know Busby says ‘

rubber

‘)

S

single; double; triple:  Base hit on which the batter reaches first base safely; second base; third base respectively.

stand-up double: A double in which the batter is able to reach second base without sliding.

stand-up triple: A triple in which the batter is able to reach third base without sliding.

T

two-bagger: Syn. of a double