Need Help with baseball slang!

I think this only gives one answer but interesting anyway:

At 'em ball -- A ball hit right at a defensive player.
Baltimore Chop -- A ground ball that hits in front of home plate (or off of it) and takes a large hop over the infielder's head.

Bases drunk -- Bases loaded.

Bazooka -- Strong throwing arm. "He's got a bazooka."

Big show -- The major leagues.

Bush league -- Lesser minor-league teams in small cities or towns.

Catch napping -- To surprise a less than alert runner with the result that he is picked off or suddenly caught between bases.

Chin music -- A beanball or knockdown pitch that passes close to the batter's jaw.

Circus catch -- A spectacular catch, suggesting the moves of a circus acrobat.

Crackerjack -- Term used to describe a first-rate or spectacular player or team.

Curtain call -- The practice of a player coming out of the dugout to acknowledge the call of the fans, usually after a home run.

Deuce -- The curveball, usually signaled from a catcher to a pitcher by holding down two fingers.

Dying quail -- A batted ball that drops suddenly and unexpectedly, like a bird that has been shot on the wing.

Fence buster -- A heavy hitter.

Free pass -- Base on balls.

Friendly confines -- Descriptive of many home ballparks, but most often used to describe Wrigley Field.

Glass arm -- A sore throwing or pitching arm.

Golden Sombrero -- A batter who strikes out four times in the same game is said to wear the golden sombrero.

Goose egg -- A zero on the scoreboard.

Gopher ball -- A pitch destined to be hit for a home run; one that will "go for" a run.

Guess hitter -- Batter who tries to anticipate or out-guess the pitcher based on the situation at hand.

"Hit 'em where they ain't'' -- Rallying cry for batters through the decades since 1897, when Wee Willie Keeler hit .432. Asked how a man of his size could put together such an average, Keeler responded: "Simple. I keep my eyes clear and I hit 'em where they ain't.''

Hot stove league -- Term for the gab, gossip and debate that takes place during the winter months when baseball is idle.

Iron glove -- Sloppy fielding; prone to errors.

Lollipop -- A soft pitch or weak throw.

Mendoza line -- Figurative boundary in the batting averages between those batters hitting above and below .215, Mario Mendoza's career average.

Picasso -- A control pitcher; one who paints the black.

Platter -- Home plate.

Play by the book -- To play in accord with the conventional wisdom of the game.

Pow wow -- A meeting on the playing field, usually involving several players and a coach who has come on to the field to talk strategy.

Punch-and-Judy -- Said of a hitter who tends to hit well-placed but weakly-hit balls for singles. The first reference was made by former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Walter Alston when asked about a home run by Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants. "When he belts a home run, he does it with such authority it seems like an act of God. You can't cry about it. He's not a Punch and Judy belter.''

Rhubarb -- A ruckus with the umpires; confusion; a fight between players.

Right down Broadway -- A pitch that is delivered in the middle of the strike zone.

Room service -- Term describing a pitch or batted ball that comes right to a defensive player.

Shoestring catch -- A catch made by a running fielder just before the ball hits the ground.

Texas Leaguer -- A poorly hit ball that loops meekly over the infield and lands for a hit.

Tools of ignorance -- The catcher's paraphernalia: shinguards, chest protector, helmet, mask and glove.

Twin killing -- Double play.

Warning track power -- The ability of a batter with enough strength to hit a ball to the warning track, but not enough to hit a home run.

Whiff -- For a pitcher to strike out a batter.

Whitewash -- To shut out a team.

Worm burner -- Batted ball that moves across the ground hard and fast.

Source: Dickson's Baseball Dictionary

This site should help

a. Banjo Hitter - light-hitting
b. Baltimore Chop - hard hit grounder that takes a high bounce over an IF head
c. Big Bill - um....the cost of the after-game meal? Never heard this one
d. Butcher - completely mess up (butcher the play)
e. Collar - going hitless (wearing the collar)
f. Cousin - Your aunt/uncle's children (wha????)

Are c & f local terms? Anybody ever heard them?

Cousin: A pitcher who is easy for a batter or team to hit

I have heard of 'billed'....standing so close (say, to an ump during an arguement) that you hit him with the bill of your cap. Hence the turning the cap around action of some old school coaches while approaching the umpire --- and thus "announcing" his intention to get up close and personal.

OK, H3, that makes sense, like if it's a guy going 5 for 5 ---- "That your cousin out there?"

I remember GAylord Perry calling a "cousin" an individual who you dominated. David Ortiz might call the entire Yankee pitching staff his "cousin". It usually belies logic, a .220 hitter who hits .500 against a particular pitcher would call that pitcher his cousin.

There is ONE infamous "Big Bill" associated with baseball. That's Big Bill Devery, who started up the Yankees. A 350 pound Irishman who was reputed to be corrupt and a key link in the Tammany Hall political machine. He was also the Chief of Police for NY.

He and another Tamany Hall insider bought the team from Baltimore for 18,000. They moved them to NY and contracted to build the first stadium in a rocky dump named "Hilltop Park". It's estimated that they probably got more money in kickbacks on the construction contracts than they made when they sold the team in 1915 for $460,000.

Do a google search on:
NY Yankees: Liars, cheats & gangsters

Anyway ... it's the only reference I can find to any "Big Bill".

Since the posts above have pretty much answered correctly and with things being slow at work this morning I thought I'd throw out these definitions

a. Banjo Hitter - Earl Scruggs at the Grand Ole Oprey annual softball game
b. Baltimore Chop - Boog Powells' favorite meal
c. Big Bill - what the waiter brings to the table after eating with Boog Powell, CC Sabathia, John Kruk and Prince Fielder
d. Butcher - I'm not picking on Boog Powell any further and don't know why I started, but this would be a person in Boog Powell's favorite trade
e. Collar - what you don't pop as you circle the bases after a homerun or the next batter gets popped
f. Cousin - what spouses from ucla call each other (hey I'm a USC Trojan )

Sorry, couldn't resist

Thanks guys. I appreciate all of the help. This site is awesome.

H3, I just read a novel about that era (If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock). Bizarre, wonderful plot involving time travel, early baseball, Mark Twain, and the Irish in the NorthEast. My kind of book.

Orlando, I gotta read that one ... it sounds intriguing.

Here's a couple,
Going yard=Homerun
Two bagger=Double
Chin Music=High inside FB
Roll one=Double play
Inside Out=taking the pitch the other way.
Can of corn=Easy catch in OF.

EH=Extra Hitter

A banjo hitter hits a lot of dying quails, much like a punch and judy hitter who hits a lot of texas leaguers.
Early baseball lore said baltimore used to groom their area in front of the dish like cement. They would get high chopper base hits often. Maybe just lore, but hence the baltimore chop.
I have heard that a pitcher who has a high era or gave up a lot of runs, just got the big bill, or high era, and he can't pay it, he'll be removed. I'm old.
Butcher, or skillet muffs a lot of plays. Butcher boy is another term for the slash, fake bunt and swing.
Collar is an O-fer. Any player who gives his opponent an advantage or a good day could be referred to as a Cousin.

Here is a quote from Ty Cobb's autobiography. I found this quote by Ty cobb in the chapter on hitting. It describes the terms 'Baltimore chop' and 'Big Bill'. Here it is:

"I'll wager that almost no fans today can identify the terms 'Baltimore chop' and 'Big Bill'. The chop was made famous by Ned Hanlon's Baltimore Orioles before the turn of the century and this punch-style of hitting produced slow-hopping ground balls called 'Big Bills', which a fast man could beat out. You chopped the ball into the ground deliberately so infielders were forced to charge the lazy bounders and throw on the run, or lose their man"


That seems to be a pretty good description of those terms. The 'Baltimore Chop' is a type of swing used to produce a type of ground ball called a 'Big Bill'.

I know this is a little late, but it took me some time trying to find this site that I stumbled upon a few years ago.

Baseball Lingo

Add this one:
Dial 8= hit a home run. Comes from the days you had to dial 8 to get long distance on the phones in the hotels.

C'mon! They've got phones in hotels now...really?