Grammar Less Than Perfect
Some baseball announcing they have did
Bygone baseball by C. Philip Francis
Although Yogi Berra’s many malaprops have put him into a lingual league of his own, he is not alone in verbal madness. A number of other well known baseball personalities have entertained their fans with the misuse of words, mangled speech, and non sequitur such as Dizzy Dean, Danny Ozark, Jerry Coleman, and others.
Here is a look at a few of their famous or infamous grammatical gems:
---Dizzy Dean was not only tough on the hitters, but also an expert in murdering the English language. Right-handed hurler Dean so dominated the National League in the 1930’s that he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1953 with only 150 victories that included a 30 and 7 record in 1934. The colorful Diz spent 20 years in sport broadcasting where much of his unconventional wordage became legendary.
Often criticized by grammar purists, Dean was addressing a group of schoolteachers when he said, “A lot of folks that ain’t saying ain’t, ain’t eatin’”
“The game was closer than the score indicated.”
“I’m through talking about things folks ain’t seeing.”
“It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”
Referring to the high-class oration of Branch Rickey, “He must think I went to the Massachusetts Constitution of Technology.”
After a thrown ball bounced off his head in the 1934 World Series, Dean happily reported, “The doctors X-rayed my head and found nothing.”
When discussing the use of his invented verb “slud”, Dizzy commented, “And as for saying ‘Rizzuto slid into second’ it just ain’t natural. Sounds silly to me. Slud is something more than slid. It means sliding with great effort.”
Following his broadcasting career, the picturesque Dean did some lecturing. When Dizzy spoke at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, his subject was titled, “Radio Announcing I Have Did.”
Due to his Hall of Fame credentials and the use of such words as “slud” and “ain’t”, Diz never did have to worry about “eatin”. Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean died in 1974 at the age of 64.
---Jerry Coleman is another former Major Leaguer who moved from the diamond to the radio booth. Jerry spent nine years as the New York Yankees second baseman in the 1950’s, and also had one year as manager of the San Diego Padres. He then became a play-by-play announcer for the Padres and a “master of the malaprop” as indicated my these treasured “Colemanisms”.
“Grubb does back, back, he’s under the warning track.”
“Benedict may not be hurt as much as he really is.”
Rich Folkers is throwing up in the bullpen.”
“Enos Cabell started out here with the Astros. And before that he was with the Orioles.”
“He slides into second with a stand-up double.”
“George Hendrick simply lost that sun-blown pop-up.”
“McCovey swings and misses, and it’s fouled back.”
This is Coleman’s most famous twisted call, and may be seen in one of several versions. “Winfield goes back to the wall. He hits his head on the wall, and it rolls off. It’s rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres