List of baseball jargon (J)

jack

:A home run or to hit a home run. "Hitting a jack" or "Jacking one out of here."

jake

:Half-hearted or lazy effort by a player, i.e. "He jaked that play."

jam

:*To pitch far enough inside that the batter is unable to extend while swinging. "The pitcher jammed the batter". The batter was "handcuffed" or "shackled" by the pitch.:*When runners are in scoring position with less than two outs and good hitters coming up. "The pitcher is in a jam.":*"Bases are jammed" means "bases are full." There are runners on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bases. Sometimes referred to as a "jam sandwich."

jelly legs

:When a batter is fooled by a pitch (normally an off-speed or curve ball heading at an unusual angle) and departs from a good batting stance. “His (Barry Zito) curve ball...it jelly-legs you.” - Phillies First Baseman Jim Thome, [ [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/barry_zito_quotes.shtml Barry Zito Quotes ] ]

jerk

:To hit the ball hard, typically used to refer to pulling the ball over the fence for a home run. "Lee jerked one of his patented doubles into the left-field corner against Minnesota lefty Johan Santana." [ [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/cs-050712allstargamer,1,3445034.story American beauty - ChicagoSports.com ] ]

Judy

:A Punch and Judy hitter who hits with little power.

jump on the ball

:A fielder is said to get a "good jump on the ball" when he anticipates or reacts quickly to a batted ball and is thereby able to make a good play by fielding or catching it. [See Allan R. Andrews, "A Good Jump on the Ball: Algorithm in the Outfield," [http://www.toad.net/~andrews/jump.html The American Reporter (8 October 1998)] .] Also see crack of the bat.

juiced

:*"Bases juiced" means bases loaded.:*A player who is said to be juiced is thought to be taking performance enhancing drugs. "It is now assumed, of course, that Bonds may well have been juiced on steroids at the time; the previous year he had set the all-time single-season record of 73 home runs, and his musculature was almost freakishly swollen." [Eugene Robinson, "Fans on the Juice," [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/17/AR2007121701597.html Washington Post, December 18, 2007] .] :*A baseball that is said to be juiced is doctored or manufactured in some way that makes it travel farther when a batter hits it. "Spectacular increases in home runs have often raised the question: Has the ball been juiced up to travel farther, in order to increase the number of home runs?" [ [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2001/12/30/was_the_ball_juiced Thomas Sowell :: Townhall.com :: Was the ball juiced? ] ]

Junior Circuit

:The American League, so-called because it is the younger of the two major leagues.

junk

:*breaking balls and knuckleballs, pitches that are difficult to hit due to movement rather than velocity. The term is also used to describe a "junk pitcher" or a junkball pitcher. "I couldn't believe he threw me a fastball because he had me down 1-2," Thames said. "He's usually a junk pitcher and he tried to sneak a fastball past me, and he left it up." [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270706106. ESPN - MLB Baseball Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings, Rumors - Major League Baseball ] ] See also: Eephus pitch

junkball pitcher

:A pitcher who throws predominantly junk, usually due to a weak (or slow) fastball. A junkballer or a junk artist: "Like all junk artists, Trujillo will have to prove himself at the higher levels before getting a shot at a major league job." [John Sickels [http://www.mastersball.com/sickels/services.htm "Baseball Newsletter" (June 15, 2001)] .] See also: Eephus pitch

References