[Ads-l] Idiom: right off the bat

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

I was asked during a family gathering about the idiom "right off the
bat". Here is an analysis from Grammarist:
https://grammarist.com/idiom/right-off-the-bat/

[Begin excerpt]
Right off the bat means immediately, right away or from the very
beginning. The phrase right off the bat is assumed to have come from
the American game of baseball. In baseball, when a batter makes
contact with the ball with his bat, he must quickly run to first base
before the opposing team can get that ball to first base. The term
right off the bat was first used in the 1880s, with literal and
figurative usage.
[End excerpt]

The OED has some citations.

[Begin excerpt]
3. d. In baseball, the implement used to strike the ball or the act of
using it; esp, in phrases at bat, hot (or right) off the bat, to (the)
bat; also figurative. North American.
. . .
1914   Maclean's Feb. 135/2   Get one that chums-up with your spirit
right off the bat, natural like.

1955   New Yorker 21 May 76/3   You can tell right off the bat that
they're wicked, because they keep eating grapes indolently.
[End excerpt]

I would be interested in seeing early literal and figurative uses. How
did the meaning "immediately" evolve?

Garson

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