[Ads-l] Antedating of "Pinch Hitter"

[Ben Zimmer]

On Tue, Mar 25, 2025 at 9:21 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> pinch hitter (OED 1899)
>
> “Dowd’s judgment in sending Douglas to the bat instead of Breitenstein is
> open to question. Doug is a good ‘pinch’ hitter, but Breit is hitting the
> ball as hard as any of them.<
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/138258991/?terms=%22pinch%2Bhitter%22>”
> St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 23, 1896, p5
>
> NOTE: This antedating was found by Ken Liss.
>

Fred originally shared this cite with the list a few years ago:

https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2022-August/161952.html

Here's what I wrote at the time:

[begin quote]

On Tue, Aug 9, 2022 at 12:39 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

>
> pinch hitter (OED 1899)
>
> 1896 St. Louis Post-Dispatch 23 July 5/3 (Newspapers.com)  Doug is a good "
> pinch" hitter.
>

The OED's 1899 cite (added in a 2006 update) is one that I shared on the
alt.usage.english newsgroup in 2003 and on ADS-L in 2005:

---
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.usage.english/c/h78qvfAQq9Y/m/4xxIP3-_PpcJ
https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-May/049854.html
DECIDED BY ONE SCORE; Senators Win a Ten-inning Game from Orioles.
Washington Post, July 8, 1899, p. 8
La Chance, who is one of McGraw's best "pinch" hitters this season, was
permitted to walk, a clever move in strategy by Winnie and Kittridge.
---

As we discussed back in '05, an early meaning of "pinch hitter" (as used in
the 1899 cite) is equivalent to what we'd now call a "clutch hitter," i.e.,
one who can deliver a timely hit in a high-pressure situation, based on the
expression "in the pinch(es)" (equivalent to "in the clutch"). Even though
the 1899 cite has been added to the OED entry, the definition hasn't been
revised to reflect this historical usage. (The definition given is "a
substitute batter, esp. one who (once substituted) replaces the scheduled
batter for the remainder of the game.")

Dickson (relying on Edward J. Nichols) has the now-familiar "substitute
batter" meaning attested from 1902. The 1896 cite shared by Fred involves a
substitution at the plate, so it's a bit ambiguous as to which meaning
applies. Here's the full context:

---
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107268194/pinch-hitter/
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 23, 1896, p. 5, col. 3
Dowd's judgment in sending Douglas to the bat instead of Breitenstein is
open to question. Doug is a good "pinch" hitter, but Breit is hitting the
ball as hard as any of them. Then, if the game had been but tied, a new
pitcher would have to go in. As Breit was warmed up and pitching good ball,
he was the best man to put In the box.
---

(That's St. Louis Browns player-manager Tommy Dowd substituting Klondike
Douglass for the pitcher Ted Breitenstein.)

[end quote]

I see the Baseball Almanac site puts the 1896 cite under Dickson's
"replacement" definition rather than the "clutch hitter" definition, but
I'm still not entirely convinced it belongs there, despite the fact that it
describes a substitution.

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/dictionary-term.php?term=pinch+hitter

--bgz

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