Can of Corn???

[Foghorn]

I was at a baseball game the other day, and a long, lazy fly ball headed toward the outfield… I said “that’s a can of corn”, and most people understood that phrase to mean an easy fly ball. But it got us talking about the origin of the phrase. I remember hearing Bob Prince, the legendary Pirate announcer use it, but I doubt if he was the origin. Any ideas?

[tanstaafl]

From The Seattle Times online at http://seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/altjust_080497.html

Hey Johnston: We were at the Mariner game the other night and my husband, who is a big baseball person, said he didn’t know why they called an easily catchable fly in center field a “can of corn”. Why is that?
Answer: We put this question to Seattle Times sports writer Larry Stone who covers baseball like the morning dew. Thanks to thorough research, he came up with more explanations than you could shake a Louisville Slugger at:

1. Old-time grocers used a long pole to get an item, like a can of corn, off a top shelf and let it fall into an open apron for an easy catch.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Bob Prince liked to say, “It’s as easy as taking corn out of a can.”
3. The sound a “can of corn” ball makes when struck sounds like a can of corn being hit with a stick.
4. The term came from cornball, a ball made from popcorn and molasses, because popped corn flies wildly all over the place. It wasn’t a far leap to the “can of corn” thing to mean an easily caught pop-up to the outfield.

Ah loves the web…

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“You can’t run away forever; but there’s nothing wrong with getting a good head start.” — Jim Steinman

Dennis Matheson — Dennis@mountaindiver.com
Hike, Dive, Ski, Climb — www.mountaindiver.com

[Foghorn]

Thanks! I’ll by the first one, and maybe even the second… but the other ones sound pretty far-fetched. One thing that seems to be true is that the more theories there are about the origin of a phrase, the more likely it is that no one really knows the true origin. But at least for now, I have a couple of reasons to give to my friends!