The baseball season hasn't even started for real yet and longtime Cardinals radio color man (and he's REALLY colorful) Mike Shannon is already in mid-season form. To wit: The Cardinals are playing two exhibitions against their Memphis minor league team this weekend. During tonight's game, Mike remarked that two players had reached base "via the Annie Oakley."
WHAT??
I couldn't believe my ears as I pulled into the YMCA parking lot! What the heck was he talking about?
Turns out he wasn't kidding. From the Baseball Lingo blog:
"Annie Oakley is a base on balls or a WALK.
Complimentary tickets to the theater or to sporting events have traditionally been punched with holes to designate that the tickets are free. During the late 1800s, these freebies were called "Annie Oakleys" in honor of the famous riflewoman whose feats included shooting holes in small cards. Baseball observers quickly adapted "Annie Oakley" to mean a base on balls, which was and still is also known as a "free ticket" or "free pass" to first base."
I'd never heard that term used before tonight. Thanks, Moon Man!
1 comment:
i live in fear that the Cardinal organization will decide they need a new team and give ole Mike the heave ho. that will be a terrible day in Cardinal history.
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