# baseball term "can of corn" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2000, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-term-can-of-corn/6905 "2000-02-07T02:43:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adunk23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90db22/32.png) [@adunk23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adunk23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-term-can-of-corn/6905/1 "2000-02-07T02:43:00Z")
where did the baseball term "can of corn"come from ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-term-can-of-corn/6905/2 "2000-02-07T04:55:00Z")
According to the ‘official’ Major League Baseball website, a ‘can of corn’ is ‘an easy catch made by a fielder.’ Try: [http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com/u/baseball/mlbcom/archives/baseballexpressions\_62899a.html](http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com/u/baseball/mlbcom/archives/baseballexpressions_62899a.html) ## As to where it came from, I dunno. One story has it that the term refers to the practice of grocers (many years ago) of storing canned goods on high shelves. A customer who wanted canned corn would have the treat of watching the grocer prodding loose a can of the stuff with a long stick and catching it as it fell. An easy catch, I suppose, although I’m wondering what happened to the long stick during this whole thing. _I don’t know why fortune smiles on some and lets the rest go free…_ T ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-term-can-of-corn/6905/3 "2000-02-07T06:18:00Z")
TBone’s answer and three other possible orgins can be found [here](http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/altjust_080497.html) (scroll down). Most sites I’ve found seem to favor TBone’s explanation. * * * I used to rock and roll all night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I’m lucky if I can find a half an hour a week in which to get funky. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-term-can-of-corn/6905/4 "2000-02-07T16:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by TBone2: > \*\*An easy catch, I suppose, although I’m wondering what happened to the long stick during this whole thing. > \*\* An easy catch, and also a one-handed (and left-handed) catch. The stick stayed in the right hand while the left was used to pluck the can from midair. Alternately, both hands could be used to make the catch, in which cases the stick is dropped and lands painfully on the toe. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-term-can-of-corn/6905/5 "2000-02-07T16:34:00Z")
Oh, my! Where are my manners? Welcome, adunk! 🙂 * * * _I don’t know why fortune smiles on some and lets the rest go free…_ T ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-term-can-of-corn/6905/6 "2000-02-07T20:22:00Z")
I too have read (somewhere – I really gotta start remembering all my cite sources) the “canned goods on a high shelf” explanation. I assume the alliterative quality of “can-o-corn” chose this particular veggie to become enshrined in the lexicon. “Popped up on the infield grass. Looks like a can of asparagus spears!” * * * The Dave-Guy “since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-term-can-of-corn/6905/7 "2000-02-08T02:38:00Z")
Ike: Would you be right-handed, perchance?