gopher ball

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gopher ball

In baseball, a pitch that the batter hits for a home run. "Gopher" is an alteration of "go for," referring either to the batter "going for" extra bases or home plate, or the ball "going for" a home run. It's 3-2—if he could just hit a gopher ball, he'd tie the game. Look at how happy this kid is—he just hit the first gopher ball of his major league career. Man, I thought for sure that was a gopher ball, but it died at the warning track and was caught by the outfielder.
See also: ball, gopher
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

gopher ball

n. a baseball pitch that is hit as a home run. (When it is hit, the batter will go for home.) The center fielder did a dive over the fence trying to get the gopher ball.
See also: ball, gopher
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
"It was right down the middle, up in the zone," Shields said, shaking his head about the gopher balls. "They're good hitters over there, and they took advantage of it.
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Craig Breslow gave up a home run to Caleb Joseph and has served up eight gopher balls in 53⅔ innings.
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He has served up eight gopher balls in 26⅔ innings this year.
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Wakefield served up a total of 10 gopher balls during that streak.
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Of the 156 gopher balls served up by Sox pitching, 111 came with nobody on base.
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In contrast, John Lackey has served up 21 gopher balls but they have cost him just 25 runs.
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With 15 gopher balls served up, Dempster is third in the league.
Buchholz sent to DL
That was significant considering that in his previous three starts, he had served up six gopher balls.
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Masterson worked 21-2/3 innings between gopher balls.
Southpaw shows some frustration
Overall, 12 of the last 15 gopher balls off Sox pitching have come with nobody on base.
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It was only one game, but first-place Boston couldn't pull the trigger with men on base, gave up three gopher balls, and looked bad in the field - read Julio Lugo - in dropping a 5-4 decision to the St.
Sox are basket cases; Boston falls short to the Cardinals in series opener
Okajima went 689 pitches between gopher balls. The homer snapped his personal shutout streak at 17 innings.
Struggling Red Sox go down again; Matsuzaka walks six; no clutch in the bats
He went 672 pitches between gopher balls, then went 33 pitches between Sheffield's homer and Marcus Thames' in the fourth; 11 between Thames' and Carlos Guillen's later in that inning.
Six stars split for coast
It won't be a Boston pitcher, though the three starters Bonds will face here are all prone to serving up gopher balls. The trio of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Julian Tavarez and Tim Wakefield are three of the four most homer-prone Boston pitchers, surrendering 23 among them, with Matsuzaka giving up nine, seven of them to left-handed batters like Bonds.
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