[Ads-l] "take one for the team"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The website Idiom Origins asserts that "take one for the team"
originated in the baseball domain circa 1970. No citation is given

https://idiomorigins.org/origin/take-one-for-the-team

[Begin excerpt]
Take one for the team
This expression derives from baseball and dates from the latter half
of the 20th century c. 1970, and means that a player takes a pitch on
the body in order to move to first base . . .
[End excerpt]

After a quick search I found a 1972 citation from U.S. football. A
football player blocked a last-minute field goal attempt to clench a
victory. The player was hit in the mouth while blocking the football.

Interestingly, the journalist said that the football player "took one
for the team, as they say in baseball". So the phrase was already in
use in the baseball domain.

Date: November 13, 1972
Newspaper: St. Paul Pioneer Press
Newspaper Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Article: Bryant's Block Lifts Vikings Past Lions (Continuation title:
Vikings Come Out on Tp, 16-14)
Author: Ralph Reeve (Staff Writer)
Start Page 24, Quote Page 27, Column 5
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
Bobby Bryant got hit on the mouth in the last five seconds . . . and
the Minnesota Vikings thereby survived an afternoon of agony to defeat
the Detroit Lions for the 10th straight time.
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt]
On came Errol Mann, who said later: "The snap was perfect, the set was
perfect, my timing wasn't off . . . I was never so sure of a kick in
my life.

"Where did the guy come from? I never saw him."

"The guy" was Bobby Bryant, who took one for the team, as they say in
baseball . . . and it salvaged a mighty sweet Viking victory.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Mar 24, 2024 at 6:47 PM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The benefit of taking one for the team in baseball is clear -- batter goes
> to first base. Not sure what the benefit is if getting hit real hard when
> blocking in football.
>
> On Sun, Mar 24, 2024, 5:36 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I don't. I'd think a brutal block in football would be more likely.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sun, Mar 24, 2024 at 5:24 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Is there any evidence that it could have originated as a comment by hit
> > > batsmen in baseball, which is my guess?
> > >
> > > > On Mar 24, 2024, at 4:31 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Now a former RNC Chair, Ronna McDaniel has joined NBC News as a "news
> > > > analyst," saying she only supported false claims of a stolen election
> > for
> > > > three years because "sometimes you have to take one for the team."
> > > >
> > > > 1972 _Houston Post_ (May 19) 7B: I suggested to Channel 13's Ken
> > Johnson
> > > > that they "take one for the team" by putting Cavett on earlier, but he
> > > > wasn't familiar with the expression.
> > > >
> > > > The phrase seems to have taken off only in the 1980s.
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > truth."
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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