Congratulations – You May Already Be A Weiner

Tags

baseball, can of corn, Catbird seat, National Pastime

No more calls.  The response to the “Can of Corn” riddle has been underwhelming.  I’ll give the straight and short answer.

When used in a baseball sense a ” Can of Corn” refers to a pop up that goes straight up and straight down making the catch an easy one for the fielder.

Where does it come from?  How did the phrase originate?  Here’s what I think I know and I think I’m on base ( heh, heh, ahem) with the answer.

In my youth and in the days before there was supermarket every few miles the public was served by a host of Mom and Pop corner grocery stores.  We had one in our neighborhood known as ” Harry’s Deli.”

When I was a kid I would often be sent on a mission armed with a note from my Mom and a few bucks to buy whatever was needed.  I would trudge the two blocks to Harry’s, hand him the note and return home with whatever my Mother had specified in the note.

In those days with these small stores the shelves sometimes went clear up to the ceiling meaning a normal person couldn’t reach the top shelf without a ladder or a device that I don’t think really has a name.

It’s similar to one of those hand held litter picker up devices except the grocery store variety was about six feet long.  If you wanted a top shelf item you took the device and opened the grabber at the top by squeezing the handles at the bottom.  Seems ingenious – no?  But as with all great minds and inventions a slight shift occurred over time.

One could also get an item, say a can of corn, from the top shelf by just flicking the top of the grabber at the can gently knocking it off the shelf where it would fall straight down like an up and down pop up or like a Can of Corn.  It’s trajectory was  true.  But it had to be a one handed catch as your other hand was still holding the grabber.

In a future issue we’ll examine the phrase ” Sittin’ in the Catbird Seat.”

In the meantime, as the 2014 Major League regular season winds down I think it’s always fun to examine the wonderful language of the National Pastime because as you know ” Words is My Business.”  Especially Baseball.

Congratulations !

 

 

 

The Baseball Radio

Tags

am radio, baseball, can of corn, front porch, imagination, on deck circle

For almost as long as I can remember I have spent summer evenings on my front porch listening to baseball games on the radio.  The radio makes it’s appearance sometime in May and provides play by play until the evenings get too chilly and dark to sit outside listening to the National Pastime.

Due to my geographic location the only team I can follow on the air is the Philadelphia Phillies.  If you know the game you know that this season has been a long and slow painful slog.  Similar to the fortunes of my first love baseball team – those New York Mets.

I’ve had plants swiped from the porch but the radio seems to hold no value to the thieves.  It holds value for me.

Baseball was made for radio just as it seems football was made for tv.  I can see a ball hit in the gap and I can clearly imagine a close play at the plate.  If you love baseball tell me you can’t see a 4 – 6 -3 double play.  The double play – a pitchers’s best friend.

Baseball’s unique terms, a little nubber in front of the plate, dying quail, frozen rope, Uncle Charlie, cheese in the kitchen, right in his wheelhouse.  How can you not use your imagination?

I’m borrowing this line and it’s true – Baseball is the only game you can see on the radio.

Listening to a radio broadcast may be a passive exercise on face value but “upon further review” as the say in the NFL it’s really not.

Now matter how old I get the sound of the crack of the bat on a tinny little am radio speaker always take me back to when summer lasted forever and ever.

I brought the radio in this afternoon.  The Phillies aren’t going anywhere this year except home.  It’s 7:30 pm and darkness has already taken hold.

Speaking of baseball’s wonderful lexicon – Can anyone tell me what the baseball expression ” Can of Corn ” means?  Extra credit if you ever actually witnessed a real     ” Can of Corn.”

I’ll be over here waiting in on deck circle.  I love this game.