Richard: Here’s one for you. We were at the ballpark recently when a fly ball was hit into the outfield. The scoreboard flashed “can of corn,” and my daughter asked what that meant. I told her it was an easy fly ball into the outfield. She asked me, “why?” So I’m now asking you: Why is an easy fly ball into the outfield called a “can of corn”?

— Gloria Reams, Otay Mesa

Grocers of bygone days used a long pole or mechanical grabber (invented by Benjamin Franklin, by the way) to tip a can on a high shelf or at the top of a pile. The can would tumble into the grocer’s waiting hands or open apron, just as a soft fly ball settles easily into a fielder’s glove.

Baseball is one of our oldest sports, originating before the Civil War as a game called rounders. Abraham Lincoln played town ball, a local variant of rounders, and may have been playing that game when, in 1860, the news reached him that he had been elected president.

With more than a century and a half of American history, baseball evokes more nostalgia than any other athletic endeavor. No other sports poem is as beloved as Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s “Casey at the Bat” published in 1888; and no other sports song is nearly as famous as “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” first recorded in 1908.

In the early days of the 20th century, a college professor explained, “To understand America, you must understand baseball.” Baseball is not only America’s pastime, but also the source of the most pervasive athletic metaphors in the American language. Whether or not we’re fans, we speak baseballese just about every day of our lives.

So step up to the plate. Fill in each blank below with a common word or phrase that has its origins in baseball. Don’t worry. I won’t throw you any curveballs. I know that, right off the bat, you’ll be in there pitching.

Answers cross the plate at the end of the game.

1. We’re not making a bit of progress with this project. We can’t even get to _____ _____.

2. You are so out of it. You’re way out there in _____ _____.

3. Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, while others are born with _____ _____ against them.

4. Everybody’s so enthusiastic about your proposal. You just hit a _____ _____.

5. I know you can’t give me an exact price, but can you give me a _____ figure?

6. These people are really serious. They play _____.

7. On Broadway, the new musical comedy has been a _____ _____.

8. I promise I’ll consult you before I make any decisions. I’ll be sure to _____ _____ with you.

9. I can’t meet with you today, but I’d like to in the near future. May I take a _____ _____?

10. Before we submit the proposal, we need to _____ _____ a few ideas.

11. She’s such a wild and wacky woman — a real _____.

12. Throckmorton is away at a conference, so we’re going to have Gump _____ _____ for him.

13. That business presentation was great. It was a _____ _____ performance.

14. They’re inexperienced, and they’re incompetent. They run a _____ _____ operation.

15. Greg will stay single for the rest of his life. Rather than settling down, he prefers to _____ _____ _____.

Answers

1. first base

2. left field

3. two strikes

4. home run

5. ballpark

6. hardball

7. smash hit

8. touch base

9. rain check

10. bat around

11. screwball

12. pinch-hit

13. major league

14. bush league/minor league

15. play the field

Please send your questions and comments about language to richard.lederer@utsandiego.com