"in the clutch (baseball)--query

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sun, 22 May 2005 21:34:41 -0400, Benjamin Zimmer
<bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:

>On Sun, 22 May 2005 21:01:21 -0400, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at NB.NET>
>wrote:
>
>>>Through the mid-'30s one can find both "in the clutch" and "in the
>>>clutches" varying freely in baseball reporting.
>>
>>I don't think these citations necessarily support free variation between
>>singular and plural: are there examples of "he got his single hit in the
>>clutches" or equivalent? If not, "clutch" may mean "tight moment" and
>>"clutches" may mean "tight moments" as expected ... which is a little
>>different from such cases as "a moment in the clutch of Fate" = "a
>>moment in the clutches of Fate".
>
>Here are some later cites for "in the clutches" (they're actually easier
>to find c. '34-'35 than "in the clutch"):
[snip cites]

Meant to add: yes, the cites do indeed show that "clutch" originally meant
'crucial moment in the game' with "clutches" simply the plural of that.
But by the late '30s, I think, the expression had become more generalized,
so that "clutch" was no longer considered a count noun.


--Ben Zimmer