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[Mullins, Bill]

strike zone (OED has 1948)

_Sporting News_,  25 Mar 1937, p. 6/2 [headline]
"15 Moundsmen in St. Paul Camp and All Can Locate Strike Zone"

starter (OED has 1967 (!))
"The Greatest Race in Baseball History," Wm. A. Phelon, Baseball Magazine,
November, 1916, No. 1, p. 52/2.
"Sturdy, steady pitching by Rudolph, and brilliant work by Hughes, both as a
starter and as a relief agent, carried the club."

relief pitcher (OED has 1914)
"Red Sox vs. Giants," Baseball Magazine, November, 1912, No. 1, p. 20/2.
"As a relief pitcher Hall has few equals."

reliever (OED has 1967)
"Observations" Frank G. Menke, The Sporting News 14 Sept 1933, p 4/7
"Hadn't he cast adrift Fred Mayberry, the great reliever?"

middle reliever (OED has 1981, Ben Zimmer just found a 1961 cite)
"Giel, Back From GI Hitch, 'Faster Than Ever' -- Rigney,"  Bob Stevens, The
Sporting News, 2 Apr 1958, p. 19/2
"Starting as a "middle-inning" reliver, Paul progressed rapidly enough to be
trusted with finishing jobs toward the end of the campaign."
"Vet Scribe Lieb Rubs Eyes at Whackiest Series of All," Frederick G. Lieb,
The Sporting News, 26 Oct 1960, p. 11/4
"The real patsy for the Pirate side was Middle Reliever Fred Green with a
22.50 ERA, which doesn't include the mileage of two of Mickey Mantle's three
homers, but then the Yankees' starter in the first and fifth games, Art
Ditmar, wasn't much better."


rhubarb (OED has 1943)
"Brookly Game Tribute to Larry's Promotional Genius," Tommy Holmes, The
Sporting News, 14 May 1942,
p. 7/6
"There was a bit of a rhubarb in procedure right up to six hours before the
twilight game started."

snipe hunt (not in OED)
"Baseball By-Plays," The Sporting News, 12 Apr 1928, p. 4/7.
"Sisteky had never heard of the snipe hunt so they entertained him. The
young man fell for it so hard he walked right through the lobby of the Hotel
Thelma with a lighted lantern and a gunny sack."