Good Field, No Hit (1927); Can't Steal First Base (1941); Can't Buy a Hit (1947)

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    Some more baseball terms from Paul Dickson's BASEBALL DICTIONARY searched in NEW YORK TIMES full text.

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GOOD FIELD, NO HIT

   2 September 1927, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 13:
   John McGraw once sent Don Miguel Gonzales out to inspect a minor leauge shortstop and Don Miguel reported in his very best Cuban accents:  "Good field.  No hit."

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YOU CAN'T STEAL FIRST BASE

   27 June 1941, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 23:
   He stayed around for some seasons but, for all his great defensive work, he drifted out because, as everybody knows, you can't steal first base on the diamond.

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CAN'T BUY A HIT

   Also used in basketball, when a poor-shooting player "can't buy a basket."

   19 March 1947, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 32:
   "I don't know why it is but Shibe Park is one place where I can't buy a hit to right."
(Spoken by Ted Williams, perhaps baseball's greatest hitter!--ed.)

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IRON MIKE

   10 March 1949, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 39:
   Supplementing this is a really talented mechanical monster which the ball players affectionately refer to as Iron Mike.

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HOLY COW!

   8 July 1942, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 15:
   The first test pilots to try her out landed, stepped out in amazement and said, "Holy cow, she's a pursuit ship!"

(A CONSOLIDATED ad.  I think the RHHDAS has the 1930s--ed.)

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IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER

   From 1973, but this is the earliest here.

   23 August 1979, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. B11:
   "It's never over until it's over," Yogi Berra once said.

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CUT-OFF MAN

   20 August 1929, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 34:
   "The second baseman is usually the cut-off man because he's in a better position to make the return throw to the plate if it's needed."

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TWIN KILLING

   Paul DIckson I think has 1934 for this term for "double play."

   19 May 1916, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 12:
   Fletcher, Doyle, and Merkle turned a twin killing in the first inning that checked the Cards before they knew the game was fully started.

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THE CYCLE; HIT FOR THE CYCLE

   18 August 1933, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 10:
   Averill's stick work completed the cycle, a single, a double, a triple, and a home run.  Cissell also hit for the circuit.
(Circuit=home run--ed.)

   25 December 1937, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 8:
   But where no hitter hit for the cycle (a single, double, triple and homer) either in 1935 or 1936, three did it last season.

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A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME

   It has to be earlier than this--a fishing article!

   14 January 1964, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 28:
   The first fish in constitutes a record and it's a whole new ball game.

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110 PERCENT

   I think I found earlier.  This is from John Niland of football's Dallas Cowboys.

   11 July 1971, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 52:
   "I sometimes get rapped, but I go onto my next endeavor and give 110 percent."

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BANJO HITTER

   This beats the Paul Dickson citation, found by Daivd Shulman and published in AMERICAN SPEECH many years ago.

   8 April 1941, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 39:
   "Fellows like Greenberg, Gehringer, York, McCosky, Higgins and Sullivan don't usually become banjo hitters all at once."

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"LET'S PLAY TWO"

   The TIMES is late here.

   20 January 1977, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 53:
   "It's such a beautiful day, let's play two."

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SOPHOMORE JINX

   28 December 1952, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 51:
   Not only did Mickey avoid the sophomore jinx which so frequently has floored rookie stars in their second year, but he increased his first-season's batting average by 44 points to achieve a feat that very few of the old masters ever supposed.

   8 January 1953, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 38:
   _The Sophomore Jinx._

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COVER JINX

   31 October 1966, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 63:
   The Green Bay quarterback also survived the magazine-cover jinx that has often spelled failure for sports figures who have appeared on the covers of national magazines.