[Ads-l] Antedating of "Pinch Hitter"

[Laurence Horn]

> On Mar 25, 2025, at 11:12 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> 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.")

As we know, this definition is misleading in that the pinch hitter doesn’t necessarily remain in the game "for the remainder of the game". He may be replaced by a pinch-runner as soon as he gets on base, or even replaced by another pinch hitter before even getting up to the plate (typically after the opposing manager replaces the pitcher with one sharing the pinch hitter’s handedness orientation).  But I guess that qualifies as “inside baseball”.

So ==> “for the remainder of the game or until he is replaced in turn” or the like

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

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