"be hit-and-run"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 11:18 AM, Arnold M. Zwicky
<zwicky at csli.stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> the baseball use of "hit and run" is very often pluralized as "hits
> and run", as in "two hits and run scored".  fewer hits for "two hit
> and runs", even fewer for "two hits and runs", but both are attested.

I wouldn't expect "two hits and run scored" to have anything to do
with the baseball usage of "hit(-)and(-)run". (MW def: "a baseball
play calling for a runner on first to begin running as a pitch is
delivered and for the batter to attempt to hit the pitch".) It usually
appears as "X had two hits and run scored", which is a terse way of
saying that X had two hits and scored one run in a particular game.
Likewise, I'd expect "two hits and runs" to refer distributively to
"two hits and two runs" rather than "two hit-and-run plays". "Two
hit(-)and(-)runs", on the other hand, works just fine in the relevant
sense, as in these online exx:

"Two hit and runs late in the game were smoothly executed."
"Neil gave me the sign for the two hit-and-runs and he told me to try to bunt."
"Another player is hitting at home plate (two bunts, two hit and runs,
10 swings)."


--Ben Zimmer

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