I was at Camden Yards last night, watching the Orioles beat the Mets (finally!), and a question came up that has been bothering me for years . . . but now I can ask the SDMB!
When the infielders throw the ball around after an out, why doesn’t the first baseman get the ball?
BASEBALL TRIVIA: What was the only fielder NOT mentioned in “Who’s on First?”
Knighted Vorpal Sword:
I know the feeling, having listened to the Royals just sweep the Cardinals. Yay!
WAG: probably he was the one who started the throw-around, having made the putout to begin with?
The right fielder. I once worked up a pretty funny addendum to the routine in which the right fielder’s name was “Nobody.” But of course, there’s no tampering with the classics.
I was told that the first baseman doesn’t get the ball thrown to him it’s generally because he’s the one who throws the ball first (having tagged a man out on the trot). However, did you ever notice that someone from the dugout always throws a ball to the first baseman when he comes off the field? That’s because in the old minor leagues, they didn’t have that many baseballs around (these things cost money you know), and the first baseman was in charge of minding the ball.
As for the Abbott and Costello routine, was it the short stop?
No, Chaim is correct. The shortstop is “I Don’t Give A Darn.”
Zev Steinhardt
BTW, the complete routine (along with lots of other good A&C bits) can be heard here.
Zev Steinhardt
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*Originally posted by cmkeller *
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Not always. After a strike out, the ball goes from the catcher to the shorstop to the second baseman back to the third baseman to the pitcher. If the out is made in the outfield, the ball comes in and goes around the infield, but not to the first baseman.
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*Originally posted by zev_steinhardt ***
Did you know the original version of the shortstop’s name was "I Don’t Give a Damn? The wording was changed so Abbott and Costello could say it on the radio. My, how times have changed . . .
Well, there’s no “official” version of it, as A&C did the routine many times and there are several different versions around. The one on the page I linked to has Lou saying “I Don’t Care” at the end. A tape I have (somewhere) at home has “I don’t give a darn.”
Also, the name/city of the team change from routine to routine as well.
Zev Steinhardt
When I was playing, as the catcher, if we struck out a right-handed batter, I threw to first, then it went short, second, third-base. Lefties, threw to third, then second, short, first-base. Outs in the OF didn’t get an “around-the-horn” treatment.
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*Originally posted by BF *
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I seem to remember from last night that the ball went to the third baseman, even with a right handed batter - the catcher jumped up and threw behind the hitter to third. Do all major league teams throw it around the horn the same way?
I think it’s team-centric. Some always go to third first, some always go to first. The teams I played for (not major league, BTW, sorry if I misled anyone), it was up to the catcher. I liked to throw to either for practice.
Whever I played as catcher (in high school) we did it the way that BF described. Also, I believe that when I have watched the MU Tigers play they also did it that way.
That’s one possible explanation…another (and more likely) is that the first baseman throws the ball around the infield as a warmup everytime the defense takes the field. Since he’ll be needing a ball when he goes out, give it to him when he comes in, so he doesn’t waste time looking for a loose ball.
I’ve seen hundreds of Little League games, as a parent, coach and umpire, and every inning begins the same: fielders throwing the ball around, pitcher warming up. The plate umpire indicates it’s time to start, and the catcher shrieks (if an 8-year-old) or bellows (if 16) “BALLS IN! COMIN’ DOWN!”, meaning it’s time to throw the warmup balls in, and the next pitch will be thrown from catcher to second base.
The same ritual takes place in the majors, but I’ve never been close enough to the field to hear the catcher yelling. Do Mike Piazza and Pudge Rodriguez yell BALLS IN COMIN’ DOWN every inning? Or have they gotten more intuitive at that level?
I don’t know if they yell, but I think now the umpire tells the catcher that it’s time to stop warming up the pitcher. They are using stopwatches to time the interval between innings.
I’ve never payed enough attention to to see the first base around the horn. The reason I was always told about leaving the first baseman out of it was that he doesn’t need to throw as often. But the other infielders need to keep their arms loose since they throw more, A\and on a strikeout, they likely haven’t thrown for a little while. Thus throwing around the horn without the first baseman was one of those “how you play the game” rules to keep loose without showing up the guy who struck out.