Definition of earlier baseball term "shoot" (pt. 2)

[Gerald Cohen]

    This is a follow-up to my message of a few minutes earlier on the
definition of 19th century/early 20th century "shoot" (refers to a
pitch).

    Last month I published the first volume of _Dictionary of 1913
Baseball and Other Lingo_, vol. 1 (A-F), based primarily on the
baseball columns of the newspaper _San Francisco Bulletin_, Feb.-May
1913. The second volume is due out in 2002 and the final one in 2003,
but I already have most of the material prepared.

    Presented below are my notes on "shoot" (Note: Ed Walsh and Phil
Douglass were both spitball pitchers; hence "geyseric shoots" in
reference to Douglass' spitball pitches; Douglass applied lots of
saliva to the ball.)

--Gerald

SHOOT (nn.)  'pitch, esp. a fastball'--The March 19, 1913 quote below
likens pitching to the firing of artillery, although 'shoot' itself
doesn't appear in this quote.  And cf. the artillery metaphor
presented under 'hold down (e.g. third base)' : 'Willie Hogan held
down third base for Oakland...throwing with the speed of a rapid-fire
gun.'

Feb. 20,1913, p.19/4-5; 'Boots And Bingles'; col. 4: 'James nearly
put Buddy Ryan out of commission early last season by beaning him
with a wild shoot during batting practice in Chicago.'

March 11, 1913, p.18/3; 'Birthday Extra.' subheading:
'Congratulations to Bill James': 'James is a right-handed flinger and
carries a beautiful assortment of slants and shoots.'

March 19, 1913, p.17/7; 'Manager Howard Sharpening His Knife....':
'In the morning, the hurlesters of the company indulged in a little
light artillery fire,... "Flame" Delhi burnt up considerable speed in
whipping the spheroid around the country and appeared just about
ready to mount the position on the firing line, ready for anything
the opposition might have to offer.'

April 2, 1913, p.17/6-7; 'Though Beaten the Seals Put Up Game Fight....';
  col. 7: '...and the third succumbed to the speedy shoots of "Cactus".'
--(Full quote at out of the hole.)

April 3, 1913, p.15/1-2; 'Del Howard Loves Ball Players That Will Fight....':
'What matter that Del was supposed to be suffering excruciating pain
from an injury to his right hand, the result of intercepting a wicked
shoot
from Pitcher James of Portland?'

April 4, 1913, p.20/2-3; 'Seals New Pitcher Phil Douglass Spitball Artist.'
    (col. 3; over picture): 'Phil Douglass ("Old Faithful"), the
pitcher with the geyseric shoots.'
April 12, 1913, p.12/1-3; 'Successes of Seals Raise Hopes....'; col.
1:  'All the Tigers could do against the shoots of "Skeeter" Fanning
was to land safely on the ball six times, only once managing to send
a tally over the plate.'

April 24, 1913, p.16/1-3; 'Seals Show Some Improvement In Field Work';
  col. 1: '...they would have been able to connect with more of his
shoots and benders which hooked themselves around their necks.'

May 24, 1913, p.10/4; 'Umpire Sheridan Has Word of Sympathy For
Catchers': '"Maybe a catcher like Billy Sullivan of Chicago, who has
handled the shoots of Ed Walsh, the greatest of all spitball
pitchers, might be able to supply the best explanation."'

SHOOT (vb. trans.) 'fire, throw hard; throw'--March 1, 1913,
p.26/6-7; 'White Sox Favored by Weather....'; col. 6: 'It is very
true that the men have not rounded into form...but...a few of the
more venturesome outfielders are shooting it to the plate....' --
(Full quote at round into shape/etc.)

March 7, 1913, p.18/1; 'Big Leaguers Hit Little Pellet....': '...and
the way he flits about, grabbing off difficult flies and shooting the
pill across to first, is in itself a quick return on the fan's
investment.'

March 18, 1913, p.16/5; 'Ty Cobb Is Enjoying Special Privileges....':
'When [infielder Mickey] Lalonge is not shooting the ball around the
bags at the camp of the Phiadelphia Nationals,....'

May 24, 1913, p.10/4; 'Umpire Sheridan Has Word of Sympathy For
Catchers'; (subtitle): "Spitball Is Even More Difficult to Handle
Than to Shoot Over the Home Plate.'

SHOOT OVER A HOOK 'throw a breaking ball that surprises the batter'-
Feb. 27, 1913, p.17/3-5; 'Mitze Start Oaks off With Six Inning Game';
col. 4: '"Hey, look out for your skull, busher!" yelled Cy as he shot
over a hook.'--(Full quote at red juice)