Quiz: Do you know your baseball jargon?

From Spring Training through the World Series, Baseball Season occupies the minds of baseball fans. In early Spring there's talk about who's been traded and which team looks good for the season, on down through the final days of September as the Division races heat up and that 'Magic Number' for your favorite team dwindles down. These are all things that the seasoned baseball fan dwells on.

Are you one of those seasoned and knowledgeable baseball fans? Let's see how smart you really are. Do the baseball terms roll off your tongue like a professional auctioneer? If so, then you will have no trouble passing this baseball jargon quiz. If not, then you stand to learn a few of the essential terms of the game. After all, you want to know what the announcer is talking about, don't you?

The diamond has a language all its own;

If a player makes an error, it's a "bone";

If he attempts the "squeeze"

And strikes out, it's a "breeze";

A play at which the fans belch forth a groan.

A safe drive to the field is called a "bingle";

If good for one base only, it's a "single";

If the hurler throws a "cripple"

And the batter clouts a "triple,"

The swat will put the nerves of fans a-tingle.

When a runner's left on base, 'tis said he "died,"

If he goes out on a high fly, he has "skied";

A one-hand stop's a "stab";

The pitcher's mound, the "slab";

Successful plays are certainly "inside."

When a player's making good his work is "grand."

But let him boot just one and he's "panned";

If he comes up in a "pinch"

And he "whiffs"---well, it's a cinch,

The fickle fans will yell, "He should be 'canned.'"

---John H. Miller,

Baseball magazine,

October 1916

The influence of baseball on American English is impressive from the standpoint that certain terms and phrases which started in baseball (or at least were given a major boost by it) in many cases have gone on to have much wider applications. How many of the following examples have you used, or heard used, in everyday conversation?

Then we have the most famous of all baseball jargon -- Yogisms. One of the

most famous catchers in baseball history, playing nearly his entire 19 year

career for the New York Yankees, Yogi Berra will forever be known for 'fracturing

the English Language' and giving us baseball phrases we love:

I'm a huge baseball fan and talk & read about baseball all the time. I've taken the Quiz twice myself and STILL keep missing #6, so best I've done is 9 out of 10 correct. First time I only got 7 right -- and it's my own quiz!! :0)

A calendar in the shape of a Baseball.... with facts to test a fan's love of the game and the minutest detail of baseball knowledge. It doesn't need to be baseball season to enjoy baseball trivia! It can be enjoyed all through the year!