The Ultimate Baseball Lingo Test

Baseball fields are built with home plate facing west (so the sun doesnt set in the batters eyes). When a lefthanded pitcher is on the mound, his throwing arm (or paw) faces south.

When a player is taken out of the starting lineup and benched, he is riding the pine.

In a fielders choice, the batter reaches base while one of his teammates is tagged out by an opposing fielder. In the other plays, the batter makes an out but allows a teammate to score or advance to the next base.

A pickoff occurs when a runner is caught leading off a base and gets tagged out before he can return safely.

A knuckleball is thrown without any rotation. A slurve is a combination slider/curveball. A screwball is thrown with the arm twisting outward.

A player hits for the cycle when he gets at least one single, double, triple and home run in the same game– not necessarily in that order.

For a player to win the triple crown, he must lead the league in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average. Its only been done 13 times between 1900 and 1967– and hasnt been done since!

When a pitcher makes a sudden move designed to deceive a baserunner, he is called for a balk. Each runner on base is allowed to advance one base.

Sometimes called a shoestring catch, a snowcone is when the ball peeks out from the top of a players mitt, like the ice on the top of a snow cone.

A player who bats fourth is the cleanup hitter– he cleans up after the three players ahead of him (hopefully) get on base to score.

A curveball is a kind of pitch that, when thrown correctly, will curve downward or across the plate.

A pitcher will sometimes throw a ball close to a hitter intentionally, usually to get him to back off the plate.

Also known as the power alley, its the area where the outfielders cant reach a batted ball.

A routine fly ball is considered as easy to catch as a can of corn is to open.