Catchers [was RE: the longest undefended border]
Baader, Cecilia (cbaader@casecorp.com)
Thu, 16 Dec 1999 14:43:51 -0600
> On Wednesday, December 15, 1999 3:11 PM kennedyp@toronto.cbc.ca
[kennedyp@toronto.cbc.ca] wrote:
>
> We have her own incontestable word for it:
[Ahem. Quoting out of context here deleted in an effort to remain true to
the actual originating post.]
> Cecilia useta be a BlueJay!
>
> HOORAY!
>
Blah, blah, blah. I was an Oriole, too. Big whoop. They named all the
teams after birds, more girly names for girly teams. A statement that can
be used to make a certain connection to certain other major league teams, if
you like.
>
> ... JDS definitely refers to "Old Allie's baseball mitt".... Now up here
in Canananada, we usually
> refer to fielders' gloves as just that--GLOVES.... Catchers' gloves are
usually
> either called "trappers" or "mitts".... (Just now, I forget what we call
that wierd
> contraption worn by first basemen....)
>
Where I come from, mitt and glove can be used interchangeably in casual
conversation. "Don't forget your mitt, or they won't let you play!" And
you'd grab your tattered glove/mitt out of the closet, pull on your gym
shoes, and go. (I've never heard the word trapper used before this week's
discussion.)
A Catcher's mitt, too, is a little unwieldy. More surface area, perhaps,
but if you're using a Catcher's mitt, you don't have a lot of time during
the course of a game to be writing in green ink. A fielder, especially a
right fielder, can spend a good deal of time dreaming, reading poetry. A
catcher though? A catcher has to be on the ball (pun completely intended)
all the time, alert and ready to grab for that wild pitch.
> Now, I know this is NOT conclusive,
> and I concede your point about dreaming outfielders
> (especially since you come from Chicago--where the outfielders have been
doing A
> LOT of dreaming recently),
>
Ha! Very good. (There's always, as the song goes, next year.)
> but I'd still like to keep the possibility open
> that Allie was a CATCHER!
But Allie wasn't a Catcher. I can't believe that. Holden I could see
catching, but Allie? No. I still hold to the outfielder theory. A fielder
without much promise, probably an excellent hitter, which is why they would
have kept him on the team. You see, he wouldn't have been trying to hit
it-- the ball would go exactly where he wanted it to go.
Yep, a right fielder, playing for a team called the... Tygers.
Regards,
Cecilia.