Baseball 101
155 Baseball Terms
Every term you'll hear at the field — from dugout slang to pitching jargon to hitting terminology. The complete baseball glossary.
155 Baseball Terms
& Slang
Every term you'll hear at the field — from dugout slang to pitching jargon to hitting terminology. The complete baseball glossary.
Baseball is not just a sport — it's a language. From the creative slang players use in the dugout to the technical terms coaches bark from the third base line, knowing the vocabulary makes the game click in a way it never does when you're just guessing. This glossary covers all of it: general slang, pitching terms, hitting terms, and the stats and scoring language every fan eventually needs.
⚾ General SlangDugout slang — terms every true fan knows
5 Tool Player
A player with exceptional skills in all five key areas: hitting for average, hitting for power, running speed, fielding, and throwing arm strength.
Advance the runner
Getting a baserunner from one base to another — whether through a bunt, hit and run, or sacrifice fly.
Airmail
A wild throw that sails way over the head of the intended target. Common on relay throws and pickoff attempts.
Ate him up
When a ball is hit so hard the fielder has no time to react — the ball "eats up" the fielder.
Backstop
The fence or screen behind home plate that stops wild pitches and passed balls.
Bag
First, second, or third base.
Barehand
When a fielder makes a play on the ball without using their glove — usually on a slow roller near home plate.
Basket catch
A catch made at waist level with the glove palm facing upward — popularized by Willie Mays.
Bush league
Unsportsmanlike or unprofessional behavior. Doing something dirty or disrespectful that has no place in the game.
Cannon
A strong throwing arm. "He's got a cannon" means a fielder can throw with exceptional velocity and accuracy.
Circus catch
An acrobatic, highlight-reel defensive play — anything but routine.
Cut-off man
An infielder who positions himself between the outfielder and the target base to relay a throw and cut down runners.
Diamond
The square area of the infield formed by the three bases and home plate.
Eat it
A coach's instruction to not throw the ball when there's no play to be made — hold it and live to fight another batter.
Flashing leather
Making an impressive defensive play with your glove.
Flow
Great hair — usually long and flowing out of the back of a helmet. A badge of honor in baseball culture.
Free baseball
Extra innings. The game was so good they gave you more for free.
Get dirty
A coach's instruction to slide — stop standing up at second and commit to the bag.
GIDP / Giddy up
Grounded Into Double Play. When a hitter grounds into a double play — the worst offensive outcome short of a strikeout.
Have a day
When a player dominates completely — multiple home runs, a complete game shutout, a perfect game. "Have yourself a day."
Hot corner
Third base. Named for the hard-hit balls that reach the third baseman with very little reaction time.
Lay out
When a fielder fully extends into a dive to catch or knock down a ball.
Pepper
A pre-game warmup drill where a batter hits quick grounders to fielders standing about 20 feet away who field and throw it back rapidly.
Rally cap
A baseball hat worn inside-out or backwards as a superstitious way to will the team to score runs in a late-inning deficit.
Shag
Fielding fly balls during batting practice or outside of a regular game.
Short porch
An outfield wall that is closer to home plate than typical — making home runs easier to hit.
Small ball
An offensive strategy focused on getting runners on base and advancing them through bunts, steals, and hit-and-runs rather than swinging for the fences.
Tossed
Ejected from the game by the umpire — usually for arguing balls and strikes or showing up an umpire.
Web gem
A spectacular defensive play — ESPN's Baseball Tonight made this term famous with their nightly highlight segment.
Yips
A sudden and unexplained loss of ability — most often affecting throws. Usually mental rather than physical.
Pitching slang — from the bump to the bullpen
Ace
The team's best pitcher — first in the rotation and the one you want on the mound in a must-win game.
Balk
An illegal motion by the pitcher with runners on base — all runners advance one base. One of the most misunderstood rules in baseball.
Beaned
When a batter is hit by a pitch. Getting "plunked" or "drilled" means the same thing.
Bender
Slang for a curveball — especially a big, sweeping one that drops sharply at the plate.
Bread and butter
A pitcher's best and most reliable pitch — the one they go to in big situations.
Brushback
A pitch thrown intentionally close to a batter to move them off the plate — a warning shot.
Bullpen
The area where relief pitchers warm up before entering the game — also refers to the relief pitching staff collectively.
Bump
The pitcher's mound. "Taking the bump" means starting the game on the mound.
Caught looking
Striking out without swinging — the batter watches a called third strike go by.
Cheddar
A blazing fastball. Throwing cheddar with some hair on it means the fastball also has significant movement.
Cheerio
An umpire with an extremely small strike zone — like the hole in the middle of a Cheerio.
Chin music
A fastball thrown close to the batter's chin — meant as a message to back off the plate.
Closer
The relief pitcher who finishes the game for the save — typically enters in the ninth inning with a small lead.
Complete game
When a starting pitcher pitches the entire game from start to finish without being relieved.
Crafty
A pitcher who relies on deception, movement, and pitch variety rather than raw velocity. Often describes veteran pitchers who lost some speed but gained wisdom.
Deuces
The catcher's sign for a curveball — two fingers pointed down.
Filthy
A pitch with exceptional movement that is nearly unhittable. "His slider is absolutely filthy."
Gas
Pure velocity. A pitcher "throwing gas" is bringing serious heat on the fastball.
Hanger
A breaking ball that doesn't break — it hangs up in the zone and is very easy to hit hard.
Heater
A high-velocity fastball. "He sat at 97 with the heater all night."
Horse
A durable pitcher who can eat a lot of innings without wearing down — a workhorse.
Immaculate inning
Striking out three batters in a row on the minimum nine pitches. One of the rarest achievements in pitching.
Knee-buckler
A curveball so sharp it causes the batter's knees to buckle — the best compliment you can give a breaking ball.
Meatball
An easy pitch to hit — usually right down the middle of the plate with nothing on it.
No-hitter
A game in which the pitcher (or pitchers) allow no hits over the full nine innings. Walks and errors don't break a no-hitter.
Noodle arm
A weak throwing arm with little velocity or carry.
On the black
A pitch that catches the very edge of the strike zone — "painting the black" is when a pitcher consistently hits those corners.
Perfect game
A complete game with no hits, no walks, and no errors — 27 up, 27 down. The rarest achievement in baseball.
Southpaw
A left-handed pitcher. The term dates back to when ballparks were oriented so lefties threw toward the south.
Uncle Charlie
Slang for a big, looping curveball — typically one that starts high and breaks sharply down and away.
1-2-3 inning
A perfect half-inning — three batters up, three batters down, on the minimum number of outs.
Hitting slang — from bombs to bleeder singles
Baseball has more slang terms for a home run than almost any other play in sports. Big fly, bomb, blast, dinger, jack, tater, moonshot, going yard, salami (grand slam) — here's the full breakdown of hitting terminology.
Base hit / knock
When the batter hits the ball in fair territory and reaches base safely — a single, double, triple, or home run all qualify.
Bat around
When the player who led off the inning comes up to bat a second time in the same inning — a sign of a big offensive inning.
Bat flip
Tossing the bat after a home run as a display of emotion. Still divisive in baseball culture — perfectly normal in others.
Bleeder
A weak groundball that somehow finds a hole and results in a hit. Lucky — but it counts.
Bunt
A softly tapped ball placed close to home plate — used to advance a runner, catch fielders off-guard, or reach base on a surprise play.
Can of corn
A routine, easy fly ball to the outfield — a guaranteed out that requires minimal effort to catch.
Check swing
When a batter starts their swing but stops before completing it. Umpires determine if it counts as a strike.
Choke up
Moving the hands up the handle of the bat for more control — sacrificing some power for better bat speed and contact ability.
Cleanup hitter
The fourth batter in the lineup — typically the team's best power hitter, positioned to "clean up" the bases.
Cycle
When a batter hits a single, double, triple, and home run all in the same game. One of the rarest individual hitting achievements.
Daddy hack
A swing so hard the batter misses completely and nearly falls over. A wild, all-or-nothing cut.
Dinger / Big fly / Bomb / Blast / Jack / Tater
All slang terms for a home run. Use them interchangeably — baseball culture rewards creativity with home run vocabulary.
Ducks on the pond
Runners on base — especially with the bases loaded. Time to drive them in.
Frozen rope
A hard-hit line drive that travels in a straight, flat trajectory — like a rope frozen in the air.
Going yard
Hitting a home run — "going the full distance of the yard" (the ballpark).
Grand slam / Salami
A home run hit with the bases loaded — scores four runs. The most impactful single swing in baseball.
Hack
A big, aggressive swing. Also used as a verb — "he hacked at a slider in the dirt."
Hit and run
A play where the runner starts stealing as the batter swings — designed to advance runners and open gaps in the infield defense.
Moonshot
A mammoth home run that seems to leave the atmosphere — towering trajectory, maximum distance.
Rake
Hitting the ball hard and consistently all over the field. A player who is "raking" is on a hot streak.
Ribbie
Slang for an RBI — a "ribbie" is a run batted in.
Slump
An extended stretch of at-bats without a hit — every hitter goes through them, and how you handle one defines your mental game.
Snow cone
When a fielder barely catches the ball at the very top of the glove — the ball sticking out like a snow cone.
Solo shot
A home run with no runners on base — one run scores.
Spray hitter
A hitter who drives the ball to all parts of the field rather than pulling everything to one side.
Tee off
When hitters absolutely punish a weak pitcher — taking turns hitting the ball hard all over the park.
Defensive terms — leather, range, and range
Around the horn
Throwing the ball from third base to second to first after a strikeout — a celebratory tradition to keep infielders loose.
Double play
When the defense records two outs on a single play. The most valuable defensive play in baseball outside of a strikeout.
Error
A misplay by a fielder that allows a batter or runner to advance when they otherwise would have been retired.
Gold Glove
The annual award given to the best defensive player at each position in each league.
Range
A fielder's ability to cover ground and get to balls hit far from their starting position. Range separates good fielders from great ones.
Rundown
When a baserunner gets caught between two bases and fielders close in to make the tag — also called a "pickle."
Shift
A defensive alignment where fielders move from their standard positions based on a hitter's tendencies. MLB banned extreme shifts in 2023.
Squeeze play
A bunt with a runner on third — the runner breaks for home as the pitcher delivers, relying on the batter to make contact.
Wheel play
A defensive play where the third baseman charges on a bunt while the shortstop covers third base.
Baseball stats — the numbers that actually matter
AVG
Batting average — hits divided by at-bats. The most basic hitting stat. A .300 average is considered excellent at the MLB level.
ERA
Earned Run Average — the number of earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings. Under 3.00 is elite at the MLB level. Full ERA guide →
LOB
Left on Base — the number of baserunners who were still on base when the third out was recorded. Full LOB guide →
OBP
On-Base Percentage — how often a batter reaches base by any means (hits, walks, hit by pitch). More valuable than batting average alone.
OPS
On-Base Plus Slugging — OBP added to SLG. The most commonly used single-number offensive metric at the MLB level.
QAB
Quality At-Bat — a travel ball and youth baseball metric that rewards productive plate appearances beyond just hits. Full QAB guide →
RBI
Runs Batted In — the number of runs that score as a direct result of a batter's hit, sacrifice, or walk.
SLG
Slugging Percentage — total bases divided by at-bats. Rewards extra-base hits more than batting average.
WAR
Wins Above Replacement — an advanced stat estimating how many more wins a player contributes compared to a replacement-level player. The most comprehensive single-value player metric.
WHIP
Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched — measures how many baserunners a pitcher allows per inning. Under 1.00 is elite. Full WHIP guide →
Scoring & rules — how the game works
Bottom of the inning
The home team's half of each inning. The bottom of the ninth is the home team's last chance to win or tie.
Fielder's choice
When a fielder chooses to retire a baserunner instead of the batter — the batter reaches first but is not credited with a hit. Full guide →
Full count
Three balls and two strikes — the most loaded count in baseball. Both pitcher and hitter are fully committed on the next pitch.
Infield fly rule
An automatic out called on a pop-up in the infield with runners on first and second (or bases loaded) and fewer than two outs — prevents the defense from intentionally dropping the ball for a cheap double play.
Mercy rule
A run limit that ends the game early when one team has an insurmountable lead. Limits vary by league and age group. Full guide →
Passed ball
When the catcher fails to catch a pitch they should have — allowing runners to advance. Charged as a catcher's error.
Sacrifice fly
A fly ball out to the outfield deep enough for a runner to tag up and score. Counts as an RBI but not an at-bat.
Tag up
When a baserunner waits on their base until a fly ball is caught before advancing — legal as long as they don't leave early.
Top of the inning
The visiting team's half of each inning — they always bat first.
Wild pitch
A pitch so far outside the zone the catcher can't be expected to catch it — charged to the pitcher, allowing runners to advance.
Keep learning the game
Now that you've got the vocabulary down, go deeper on the stats and rules that come up most at the field.
→ What is a Good ERA? · What is a Good WHIP? · What is LOB? · Fielder's Choice Explained · Baseball 101 Hub →