Nice column, except that in item #2, Cecil mentions that the infamous Black Sox players were able to see a jail cell firsthand. Only if they were in jail before their trial, because IIRC they were found not guilty in court.
Kennesaw Mountain Landis was not fooled however, and instituted the lifetime ban for players found to be gambling on baseball or consorting with those who do.
Link to the column: Where does the baseball term " bullpen" come from?
EJsGirl, when you start a thread, it’s helpful if you provide the link, so that others will know what you’re talking about. Yes, it’s on the front page now, but in a few days it will vanish into the Archives. So, in future, please help everyone out by providing a link in the OP, ok?
I hate to burst Cecil’s bubble, but the origin of the term “bullpen” is right here in Durham, North Carolina, where play the (you guessed it) Durham Bulls. There is a giant bull, balls and all y’all, in left field, our equivalent of the Green Monster. He snorts smoke and his eyes flash red after a home run (the original bull didn’t do this, but they liked it so much when it was included in the movie that they copied it). The bullpen is the pen next to the bull, literally.
–A lurker in Durham.
This is hardly proof of how or why the term came about.
When was the first bull constructed in Durham’s stadium? WordOrigins.com cites the first use of “bullpen” in the baseball context as being from 1915:
The team history of the Bulls states that they played their first game as the Bulls in 1913, and (apparently) didn’t move into their own park until 1926. Thus, given that the term was in use in 1915, it seems unlikely to me that the term comes from a giant mechanical Durham Bull.
I don’t have anything to offer on the origin of the word bullpen, but Cecil’s assertion that “policemen were popularly called “bulls,” out of respect for their towering strength and masculinity.” has to be scutinized closely. In German, there is a similar appelation for the boys (and girls) in blue (who wear green and mustard in Germany) , “Bulle”. Translated to English this becomes “bull”. Most Germans do believe that this word is bovine in ancestry and derisive in nature but entymological research has shown it to stem from the Rotwelsch (thieves’ argot) word “Puhler” for the German “Polizist” (policeman). I would wager, though I can’t offer any proof, that “bulls” for “policemen” takes its roots from the German appelation and not from any assumption of virility.
My dad always told me that it was called a bullpen because the pitchers had plenty of time to sit around and “shoot the bull.” I don’t know if he made that up, but it’s no more or less ridiculous than any other explanation I’ve heard.
Zut,
It seems you’ve musted a myth I’ve been told my whole life. In my defense though, I’ve heard it repeated many times during baseball broadcasts, so apparently I’m not the only one taken in.
It seems pretty likely that they would have seen the inside of a cell or holding area since they were arrested.
I’m still reading contemporary account about the incident. I haven’t found anything yet that indicates anyone was arrested and spent the night in jail. But I’m still searching.
Just to update you, the earliest we’ve been able to find a print cite for “bull pen” as it is understood today, relief pitchers…etc., is now from 1913. Not earlier yet.
The Bull Durham signs were there for SURE before that.
Paul Dickson, in his latest (1999) version of his Baseball Encyclopedia cites that the Bull Durham signs were there in 1909. They were part of a promotion–hit the sign, win $50.
But these were major league parks. Not likely in Durham, but not impossible.
Dickson has a cite for an 1877 use of the term to indicate where spectators were allowed to view the game outside of the foul line.
I’ll try to give an update on that.
Hello everybody!
Does use of the term “bullpen” in relation to office workers (i.e. their general gathering place at work) pre-date or post-date its use in relation to baseball?
Probably post dates the baseball reference. I too have worked in offices where the sales department area was called a bullpen.
Sorry about forgetting the link, CK.
If the term “bullpen” in relation to office workers pre-dates its use in baseball, couldn’t the office term have simply been adopted into baseball?
office “bullpen” - office workers gathering place
baseball “bullpen” - pitchers gathering place
Anyhoo…
From WordOrigins.com again:
Note 1903 is before the 1913 data samclem cites. It seems plausible that the origin of the office bullpen and the baseball bullpen could have come from the same “generic waiting area” meaning, perhaps even at roughly the same time.
Zut
The 1903 O. Henry quote, from his Works is
I, unfortuntately can’t fill in the missing parts of the quote. The fact that it takes place in a prison leads me to suspect that it was the old “prison/cell” meaning of “bull pen.” NOT a general reference for a holding place. But, in fairness, the cite is from the excellent Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang. So perhaps it is correct.
The story is The Retrieved Reformation about a safecracker named Valentine. In the scene in question, the prisoner has been pardoned by the governor and is scheduled for release the next morning. It seems fairly clear that the bull pen and the warden’s outer office (waiting room?) are meant to be the same thing.