The former. If there was a name for the base line between home and 3rd, that could be it… kind of like “home stretch” in racing. Since it’s going backwards, maybe a “reverse home stretch” type thing?
There are three people depicted: The batter (left-handed FWIW), who is looking almost in dumb surprise at the ump and looks like he hasn’t even swung his bat; the umpire, who is holding his fist over his shoulder with a thumb out in what I think of as the classic “You’re out!” sign; and the pitcher, who is depicted in the distance without much detail, as if he’s not really important.
This is all in cartoon form, similar in style to the Jumble.
The “…” you referred to – are they colored dots, circles, periods? Some scoreboards use lights to indicate the number of balls, strikes, and outs. Could be what that’s indicating?
If the cartoon were trying to depict a hit or something I would expect the ball to be featured at the terminus of the arrow and it probably wouldn’t be exactly down the line. This is probably something else.
The arrow, is it pictured as being in the air indicating a path of travel or dotted to indicate the direction of sight? Is it on the ground being one and the same with the base line? Is it possible that it’s not an arrow and that the “pointer” at the end is the ball or the base?
Also, are we sure we’re talking about a baseball “diamond” and not a baseball field? The diamond is the area either confined by the 4 bases or the area defined by the dirt area inside the outfield. The entire field obviously runs all the way to the wall. Is it possible that the arrow is pointing at the outfield wall/foul pole and not 3rd base?
How would you know when you solved the puzzle? Are there any similar puzzles? Do they all have the mysterious 3 dots? Do dots usually represent letters or words? Are the solutions usually puns or in any other way distinctive beyond just a literal description of what’s depicted?
The hand gesture could either be a “strike” or an “out” gesture. It’s possible that the cartoonist isn’t familiar with baseball either and some of the things represented could be misleading if taken too literally. Tough to judge, can you scan the image and upload it to SkyDrive and share it here?
I don’t believe the batter can appeal a strike call; only the catcher can ask for an appeal if the pitch is ruled a ball. (I just Googled around on this a bit and couldn’t find a definitive answer, although I might take a look at the Rulebook.)
Both the batter and catcher will often point to the ump down the line but that has no merit and they are essentially urging the home plate ump to initiate the appeal.
If it’s a left handed batter hitting to the third base side of the field, the slang term for it is “hitting the opposite way” or “going backside”, if that’s any help…
Skott, is there any way you can post this puzzle somewhere for us to see? Seems like there’s some confusion over just what is being depicted. I’m also not entirely sure what this whole exercise is for in the first place. Is it a rebus like these? Or something else? What are we trying to guess here?
Sorry for all the confusion. I found out what bit of trivia I needed from a friend. Apparently, the picture is depicting a famous strikeout, with all the other information - including the arrow and three dots - either being accidental artifacts or red herrings. I’ll put the answer in a spoiler box:
“Casey At The Bat”, a poem from 1888 which I had never heard of.
