[Ads-l] pitchers=?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99_?=duel (UNCLASSIFIED)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Bill Mullins wrote:
> Related, and slightly earlier.
>
> New Orleans _Times-Democrat_ 5 Oct 1882 p 3 col 2 [newspapers.com]
> "Look out for a pitcher's battle on Sunday.  The club that wins will be
> the one that bunches the hits."

Below is a slightly earlier instance of the similar phrase "pitching battle"

Date: August 28, 1882
Newspaper: The Cincinnati Enquirer
Newspaper Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Article: Still Another
Article Section: Shamrocks vs. Favorites
Quote Page 8, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
It was one of the series for the ENQUIRER prize, and both nines fought
for all they were worth. It was a pitching battle so far as it went,
and but four hits were secured on each side.
[End excerpt]



>> The OED has this on the baseball term "pitchers' duel".
>> pitchers' duel  n. (also *pitcher's duel*, *pitchers duel*) *Baseball* a low-scoring game or part of a game in which the outcome is regarded
>> as dependent upon the pitchers' performance.
>> 1893    *Washington Post* 8 July 6/2   The two best left-handers in the
>> National League had a pitchers' duel in the game today.
>> ***
>>
>> Richard Hershberger, a baseball historian, has posted the following to a site devoted to 19th century baseball:
>>
>> The game at Sportsman’s Park yesterday... proved to be a pitchers’ duel, and a very interesting one, not a hit being made by the
>> Minneapolis giants off Davis, while St. Louis made but two during the game...
>> St. Louis Post-Dispatch April 16, 1884
>>
>> GAT
>> --
>> George A. Thompson
>> The Guy Who Still Looks Stuff Up in Books.
>> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998..
> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org