living in a tree

[Laurence Horn]

At 12:28 PM -0400 4/19/01, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>At 12:10 AM 4/19/01 -0500, you wrote:
>>White Sox announcers John Rooney and Ed Farmer tonight noted that
>>ballplayers will say "He's living in a tree" about someone who is
>>going through a great fielding streak, gobbling up every ball
>>anywhere near them.  Rooney and Farmer were mystified as to the
>>metaphorical origin of the phrase--I would assume the ballplayers are
>>likening the streaking player to a squirrel, but of course I could be
>>wrong.  Anybody got any other ideas?
>
>A brachiating arboreal primate such as an orangutan or a chimpanzee, with
>very long, strong arms. Or maybe Tarzan.
>
I'm not sure, but I suppose if a player on a prolonged hot streak can
be (and increasingly is) described as "unconscious", one who is
fielding unusually well can be "living in a tree".  However, since
such a fielder (particularly an infielder) is also said to be a
"vacuum cleaner" (especially in the construction "He's a (regular)
____ out there"), this does bring up the question of what a vacuum
cleaner is doing living in a tree.

larry