# Who said:   (baseball question)...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-baseball-question/116032>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 26, 2002, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-baseball-question/116032 "2002-06-26T14:00:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-baseball-question/116032/1 "2002-06-26T14:00:28Z")

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OK who started saying at major league baseball games:

“_HEY BATTA, BATTA, BATTA, BATTA, SUH-WING BATTA, KENNEDY, KENNEDY, KENNEDY, SUH-WING BATTA!!!_”

I am aware that they said this in the movie Ferris Buellers Day Off but I have heard it at several major ball parks in the past. Any one know where this comes from?

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**Author:** ![Mystery\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mystery\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystery_Dog)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-baseball-question/116032/2 "2002-06-26T14:44:50Z")

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I don’t know the origin, but I’m pretty sure the “Kennedy” part is actually “he can’t hit, he can’t hit” repeated so fast that the words run together.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-baseball-question/116032/3 "2002-06-26T15:37:06Z")

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I heard it on the playground and at tee-ball games long before I ever heard it at a major league park.

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**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-baseball-question/116032/4 "2002-06-26T15:48:41Z")

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I don’t know the origin, but I’ve heard it used in a Bugs Bunny cartoon from the late 40s-early 50s, so it’s got to be at least 50 years old.

Zev Steinhardt

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_B.Goode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Johnny\_B.Goode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_B.Goode)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-baseball-question/116032/5 "2002-06-26T16:04:25Z")

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I believe what are referring to is called “infield chatter”. I have heard (though I have no reliable cite) that it was invented by Arlie “The Freshest Man on Earth” Latham, a major league player from the 1880’s to 1909. (He was also the oldest to play second baseman in MLB history at 49).

Read about him here:

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