[Ads-l] "heat" = fastball (1967)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Great work Ben and Grant.
Here is a pertinent use of "heat" in June 1962. Baseball player Leon
Wagner used the phrase "he put some heat on us" to refer to the
opposing pitcher Earl Wilson of the Red Sox who had recently pitched a
no-hitter over Los Angeles at Fenway Park.

Date: June 28, 1962
Newspaper: The Boston Herald
Newspaper Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Article: Wilson Catching Up with Belinsky
Article subtitle: Syd Cohen Made Earl a Pitcher in Arizona-Texas League in '53
Author: Bud Collins
Quote Page 41, Column ??
Database: GenealogyBank

[End excerpt – please double check for typos]
Sal Maglie, the pitching coach who says the best single pitch Wilson
threw was "the slider on 3-2 that struck out Earl Averill in the
seventh," kept sniping at his illustrious protege. "We're still
running every day, Earl," he shouted into the dugout. "Would you mind
joining your fellow pitchers in a little trot if you can tear yourself
away from the microphones?"

Wilson knew he could expect a good zinging from everybody, but he rose
quickly from the bench and joined the rest of the horses in sprints
across the outfield grass. "Can't neglect my running—this ain't a day
off," he said.

As he ran, the Angels were hanging around the batting cage, sinewy
Leon Wagner leading the discussion. "Man, he put some heat on us, all
right," said Leon. "He earned that thing. I know I was goin’ for the
flag pole—I didn't want to be in no no-hitter.
[End excerpt]

Garson O’Toole
QuoteInvestigator.com

On Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 5:27 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Here it is in 1966, attributed to George Scott, then a rookie third baseman
> with the Red Sox.
>
> ---
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108694576/george-scott-heat/
> New York Daily News, June 5, 1966, p. 30, col. 3
> When asked what kind of a pitch he hit, Scotty laughed: "He tried to put
> some heat by me." That heat is a Scottism for fast ball.
> ---
>
> On Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 3:32 PM Grant Barrett <gbarrett at worldnewyork.org>
> wrote:
>
> > Nice. I took a brief look recently and found it in 1969, with several cases
> > in the early 70s of people calling "heat" out in quotes, probably
> > indicating it was new or slangy to them. GB
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 10:09 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Paul Dickson's Baseball Dictionary has an example of "heat" referring to
> > a
> > > pitcher's fastball from the Nov. 1974 issue of Baseball Digest. Here are
> > a
> > > couple of antedatings.
> > >
> > > ---
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108675569/heat-fastballs/
> > > Boston Globe, Nov. 30, 1967, p. 41, col. 2
> > > [Tony Conigliaro:] "When we get going I'm going to have some of our guys
> > > give me some heat (fastballs), and I'll know then if I'll have any
> > > problems."
> > > ---
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108675982/seaver-heat/
> > > Newsday, Apr. 23, 1970, p. 44, col. 1
> > > He was protecting a count of one ball, two strikes, and he knew the
> > > fastball was coming. "I knew he [Tom Seaver] was going to give me his
> > > heat," [Al] Ferrara said, "because he was really bringing it."
> > > ---
> > >
> > > OED, as is the case for so many baseball terms, has zero coverage for
> > > "heat," "heater," "high heat," etc.
> > >
> > > --bgz
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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