Help with abbreviations

[greymule]

Remember that acronyms are a type of abbreviation.

An acronym is an abbreviation pronounced as a word (AIDS, NATO) and not as individual letters (USA, ASPCA, HTBT). Offhand, I can't think of any baseball acronyms. In fact, as I look at the lists people have posted, I realize that most of the abbreviations are virtually never spoken, only written as useful shorthand.

I Googled "POV" and "MILF" together. Oh, my.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by greymule

Remember that acronyms are a type of abbreviation.

An acronym is an abbreviation pronounced as a word (AIDS, NATO) and not as individual letters (USA, ASPCA, HTBT). Offhand, I can't think of any baseball acronyms. In fact, as I look at the lists people have posted, I realize that most of the abbreviations are virtually never spoken, only written as useful shorthand.

I Googled "POV" and "MILF" together. Oh, my.

Good point. TASO is a sports acronym in Texas that comes to mind, but I can't come up with any more.

[MikeStrybel]

OOO = Overly Officious Official: someone who involves himself in a game where it is unwarranted

"Rat" is a term used by those who have never had the joy of coaching their son or daughter. When used, it speaks volumes about their insecurities and lack of respect for the game.

[greymule]

I haven't heard it in a while, but when I played, an umpire who reacted to every comment was a "rabbit ears" (no abbreviation that I know of). The term could also apply to a player (usually a pitcher).

A relief pitcher was commonly mocked as "short-order cook" (again no abbreviation), but I was never quite sure what that term was supposed to mean.

Remember "can o' corn"? Anybody know the origin?

I should say that decades ago, both teams would routinely spew a torrent of supposedly humorous insults at the other team from the first inning to the last. Players usually seemed to sense not to "cross the line" (e.g., no names, only numbers), but anything the opposition could get on you about, they would, and of course the worst thing you could possibly do was let them know you heard them.

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by greymule

Remember "can o' corn"? Anybody know the origin?

I believe this harkens back to the days when canned goods were stacked up high on shelves in general stores. Customers would indicate what they wanted and clerks would use some kind of pincers to pick the top can off the stack and catch it as it came down.

The part I was unaware of until I looked it up was: The reason a can of corn was considered the easiest "catch" is that corn was the best selling vegetable in the store and so was heavily stocked on the lowest shelves.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

"Rat" is a term used by those who have never had the joy of coaching their son or daughter. When used, it speaks volumes about their insecurities and lack of respect for the game.

Completely untrue. I have coached. When I coached, I was a rat too. If you can get a crumb, as a coach, you'll get the crumb. I respect the game tremendously, but also understand that coaches will use whatever they can to get an edge, and will profess to not know something if it benefits them... i.e. a rat.

[jophyal]

A ball is a ball and a strike is a strike... a RAT is a RAT.

[greymule]

Re: can o' corn

I heard basically the same story, Rufus, with the added detail that the grocer would use his apron to catch the can and thus couldn't miss.

The narrators in some of the old highlight films use the term "shoot a cripple," as in, "Musial shoots a cripple for a double to right center." I believe that the term originated with something Ty Cobb said.

Now the narrator would be instructed to say, "Shoots a differently abled."

[MikeStrybel]

I feel sorry for those of you who qualify all coaches as being less than you. Misplaced arrogance is in evidence with such posts.

If all you experience are coaches who have problems with your calls then you may want to invest in a mirror. If you are worried that a coach is trying to get an advantage over an opponent then you should hang up the gear. Considering the insecurity displayed towards other officials by some of you it is not surprising that coaches are a threat.

I learned long ago that the best compliment a coach gave me was worth exactly the same as when he barked after I made a call that went against his team. Coaches are only rats to those who blow calls consistently and need someone to blame.

I coach my son because I want him to revere the game, be safe and have fun. I umpire because someone taught me the same things long ago.

[MikeStrybel]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Completely untrue. I have coached. When I coached, I was a rat too. If you can get a crumb, as a coach, you'll get the crumb. I respect the game tremendously, but also understand that coaches will use whatever they can to get an edge, and will profess to not know something if it benefits them... i.e. a rat.

I'm sorry you considered yourself to be a rat when coaching your child(ren). I hope they didn't see you behave inappropriately towards an umpire, opposing coach or player.

I take great pains to separate my umpiring from my coaching. Harboring animosity towards another adult who is doing their job is a waste of time. I expect that the umpires I see working my son's 11U team will make mistakes. Hell, I worked a college game the other day; after the final out the catcher turned to me and said, "Nice game, Blue. You only missed three pitches. That's better than we've seen all year." I smiled and said, "Nah, I missed two. Thanks for keeping me safe." Coaches should be no more perfect than umpires. I keep trying but still haven't called a flawless game. I don't expect to coach one either.

[Simply The Best]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Completely untrue. I have coached. When I coached, I was a rat too.

Have you asked your son or daughter what they learned from you acting like a "rat"? Have you?

[briancurtin]

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

"Rat" is a term used by those who have never had the joy of coaching their son or daughter. When used, it speaks volumes about their insecurities and lack of respect for the game.

This made me laugh out loud. Thanks for that.