Baseball lingo in Michael Lewis' _Money Ball..._, #1: lingo from auto mechanics

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

I have before me Michael Lewis' _Money Ball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game_ (i.e. professional baseball). NY: Norton: 2003. I've read through about half and noticed various passages of lexical interest, which I'll now share with ads-l. Here's the first installment:

page 3 (start of the book): 'The first thing they always did was run you.  When big league scouts road-tested a group of elite amateur prospects. foot speed was the first item they checked off their lists.  The scouts actually carried around checklists. "Tools" is what they called the talents they were checking for in a kid.  There were five tools: the abilities to run, throw, field, hit, and hit with power.  A guy who could run had "wheels"; a guy with a strong arm had "a hose." Scouts spoke the language of auto mechanics.  You could be forgiven, if you listened to them, for thinking they were discussing sports cars and not young men.'

Gerald Cohen