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31 replies

"Wanna Have a catch?"

hokieonehokieone5,000+ posts
A pet peeve:

I love the movie "Field of Dreams". Without a doubt, I've seen it at least 50 times, likely more. My wife cringes every time we flip through the on screen guide and it pops up as she just knows what's next. I've almost memorized the great James Earl Jones speech ("...the one constant is baseball..") I've learned tons of trivia about the movie.(ex: Jones actually wasn't a baseball fan prior to making the movie, in the scene at the end, most of the cars stayed stationary and simply blinked their high beams, etc.)

My pet peeve: I have always "played catch" with my sons and kids I coached. Nobody has ever said, "Wanna have a catch?"

Does anyone really use that expression? It bugs me every time I hear it. Why? Who knows, but Pitchers and Catchers Report Day is 34 days away, college practice starts next week, and high school practice starts in 6 weeks, so might as well stir up something.
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BeezerBeezer1,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by hokieone:
My pet peeve: I have always "played catch" with my sons and kids I coached. Nobody has ever said, "Wanna have a catch?"

Does anyone really use that expression? It bugs me every time I hear it.


I wonder what prompted this? Some buffoon probably used that as a signature??? noidea
itsinthegameitsinthegame5,000+ posts
I guess they dont mean any harm , but my pet peeve saying:
For a few years in Manhattan - alot of folks you barely knew would end a conversation by saying "Lets do lunch sometime" - or "We have to do lunch".

I cannot tell you how hard it was for me to control my initial reaction. LOL

I dont DO lunch - I eat the ******* thing. Whatever it may be.

LOL
Last edited by itsinthegame
C Coachric1,000+ posts
While we're on peeves, how about "come on 12 or lets go 15". For many that don't know it, that started when fans didn't know the players name and could only see his number. Now, and I'm sure we're all guilty of this sometime, I hear Parents calling their kids by his number. I always want to ask, don't you know your own kid? I don't care for doing lunch either, I have no problem eating it.
HeyBatterHeyBatter1,000+ posts
Actually, as a kid we sometimes would say "wanna have a catch". I grew up in Southern California and I think Costner did too, so maybe it's a SoCal thing.

I think I'm about the same age as Costner (probably a little older) so maybe it's just a saying from a different generation.

i also seem to recall that In a few old sit coms like Leave it to Beaver I think they use the term "have a catch" in episodes when the kids are playing ball.

It really doesn't seem to make sense though noidea
Lefty's DadLefty's Dad100+ posts
Here's some good regional dialect from the southern textile mill culture I grew up in. The restroom in the mill was called "the waterhouse". As in, "I'm fixing to go to the waterhouse." The lunch cart that was pushed around in the mill selling sandwiches, hotdogs, drinks, etc. was called "the dope wagon" because Cokes, Pepsis, etc. were known as dopes.
TRhitTRhit10,000+ posts
I dont think "wanna have a catch" is a particularly California thing--I grew up on LI and we used that phrase in many shapes and forms in our neighborhood as in " Mrs.Jones--can Johnny come out and play catch"---but then the neighborhoods have disappeared--kids don't knock on doors looking for enough kids anymore-- now it is all about playdates that are set up and arranged to suit Mommy and Daddy---we used to always knock on the doors of the kids on the street in an effort to get enough kids for a game of punch ball, stick ball or whatever

The times have truly changed
Last edited by TRhit
BBfamBBfam500+ posts
I grew up in So Cal and we never "had" a catch. We always went to play catch. Costner may be a little older than me but not that much I don't think. Although TRhit you will be glad to know that some kids do get out. Mine is constantly trying to organize brothers and neighbor kids in a game of stick ball. He's even so desparate he's taught the 4 year old to lead off!
URKillingMeBlueURKillingMeBlue1,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Coachric:
While we're on peeves, how about "come on 12 or lets go 15". For many that don't know it, that started when fans didn't know the players name and could only see his number.


SmileGood perspective Coachric. Had not looked at it this way. I am guilty on all counts of calling my son's team-mates, and even my son, by their numbers. I guess I thought that my son would rather me say, 'put him in the book 15', as opposed to 'get him out, honey' Big Grin. I'm aiming for the 'high participation/low son mortification quotient, and am probably not fooling anyone, particularly my son. pull_hair
RollermanRollerman100+ posts
tater
The guy who wrote "Field of Dreams" I believe is actually from Iowa! Imagine that.
Since the movie is not really about baseball but a father son relationship movie, the phrase "do you wanna have a catch" is more about the the depth of their feelings about playing catch.
Kinda like asking your wife if you "wanta have s**"
Rollerman
C CentralIL100+ posts
W.P. Kinsella was actually born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He lives in Calgary. He is the author of SHOELESS JOE, which the movie FIELD OF DREAMS is based on. I picked up the book off a bookstore budget table several years before the movie was made. The HAVE A CATCH phrase doesn't appear in the book. My recollection is that on the DVD, there is an interview in which the HAVE A CATCH phrase is discussed. When I get a chance, I'll try to find it.

The character that was played by James Earl Jones in the movie was actually J.D. Salinger in the book. The Kevin Costner character in the movie had a twin brother in the book. Just a couple of the differences between the two. I loved both the book and the movie. W.P. Kinsella has written several other novels and short stories involving baseball. I've enjoyed all of them that I have had the pleasure to read.
Last edited by CentralIL
RollermanRollerman100+ posts
tater
CentralIL,
I was not aware from where Mr. Kinsella was from Canada. I did recall that he wrote for an "Iowa Writers Workshop" or something of that sort.
I wonder why Salinger did not make the film or how popular the film would be if the author of "Catcher in the Rye" were one of the central charactors?
Central, have you been to Dyrsville? How about Galena? Fun stuff for those who love the movie. It's a strange feeling to walk out onto the field that the film was made on. Still has the farm house etc.
Rollerman

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