List of baseball jargon (W)

wallop

:A home run. "What a wallop!":Also used as a verb: "Pujols walloped that pitch."

walk-off home run

:A game-ending home run by the home team. So called because the losing team (the visiting team) then has to walk off the field. The term "walk-off" can also be applied to any situation with two outs or less in the last at-bat of the home team (such as the walk-off single, wild pitch, etc.) where the game ends as the winning run scores. For example, a bases loaded bases on balls in the bottom of the last inning has been described as "a walk-off walk". In reference to a home run, the older term is "sudden death", or, as touted by national broadcaster Curt Gowdy, "sudden victory".

warning track

:The dirt and finely-ground gravel (as opposed to grass) area bordering the fence, especially in the outfield. It is intended to help prevent fielders from inadvertently running into the fence. 1950s and 60s broadcaster Bob Wolff used to call it the "cinder path". The first "warning tracks" actually started out as running tracks in Yankee Stadium and Cleveland Stadium. True warning tracks did not become standard until the 1950s, around the time batting helmets came into standard use also. Rather than having a warning track, some early stadiums had sloped mounds where the warning track would be. The change in pitch was similarly intended to prevent fielders from running into the wall.

waste a pitch

:*When a pitcher gets ahead in the count he may choose to throw a pitch that is outside the strike zone in hopes that the batter will chase a pitch he can't hit. "Waste a pitch" is the opposite of attack the strike zone. An example of this usage drawn from a Q & A session: "Basically, it's the preference of pitchers on the mound about wasting pitches. Tigers hurlers choose to attack opposing hitters." Wasting a pitch is the pitching counterpart to the batter "taking" a 3-0 pitch in the hope that the pitcher will throw another one outside the strike zone and result in a base-on-balls.:*The phrase is sometimes applied also to hitters who deliberately foul off a pitch that's a strike but that the hitter can't get good wood on.

wave

:*To swing and miss a pitch, usually with a tentative swing.:*When an umpire signals to a runner to take a base on an overthrow into the dug-out or in case of a ground rule double or a balk, he waves the runner to the next base.:*When a third-base coach signals to a runner advancing toward the base to continue toward home plate he is said to wave the runner home.:*"Doing the wave" in the stands.

Web Gem

:An outstanding defensive play. Refers to the webbing of the fielders’ gloves. Popularized by Baseball Tonight on ESPN.

went fishing

:When a batter reaches across the plate trying to hit an outside pitch, perhaps one that he can't reach, he "went fishing." "Burres racked up his fourth strikeout of the game with a nice change-up that Byrnes went fishing on." [ [http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/gamecenter/gamelog/MLB_20070617_ARI@BAL# MLB Baseball Glog - CBSSports.com ] ] Akin to chasing a pitch.

wheelhouse

:A hitter's power zone. Usually a pitch waist-high and over the heart of the plate."Clem threw that one right into Ruben's wheelhouse. End of story."

wheel play

:Upon a bunt to the left side of the infield, the third-baseman runs toward home to field the bunt, and the shortstop runs to third base to cover. The infielders thus rotate like a wheel.

wheels

:Legs. A player who runs the bases fast has wheels.

whiff

:A term used to describe a swinging-strikeout (referring to the bat whiffing through the air without contacting the ball). The phrase has even been immortalized by ESPN's Dan Patrick, who uses it by saying "The "whiff'.

whip

:A curveball. Just as a bullwhip may snap, so may a pitch when it breaks.

=WHIP=

:A measurement of the pitcher's ability to keep batters off base. Calculated as (Bases on Balls + Hits allowed) / (Innings pitched). WHIP is one of the performance statistics that is commonly used in fantasy baseball.

whitewash

:A shutout.

wild card

:In Major League Baseball, the wild-card playoff spot is given to the team in each league with the best regular season record among divisional second-place teams. MLB was the final sport (1994) to adopt the wild card and to this day has the fewest wildcards (two) of the four major US team sports.

wild pitch

:A wild pitch (abbreviated WP) is charged to a pitcher when, in the opinion of the official scorer, a pitch is too high, too low, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to catch the ball with ordinary effort, and which allows one or more runners to advance; or allows the batter to advance to first base, if it's a third strike with first base unoccupied. Neither a passed ball nor a wild pitch is charged as an error. It is a separate statistic.

=win=

:The following illustrates how pitchers are credited for a win — the W — when two or more pitchers have participated on the winning side, some who may have only faced a single batter, and some who may have faced two dozen or more batters.

:*A win (W) is generally credited to the pitcher for the winning team who was in the game when it "last" took the lead. A starting pitcher must generally complete five innings to earn a win. Under some exceptions to the general rules, the official scorer awards the win based on guidelines set forth in the official rules (see MLB Official Rule 10.19). The winning pitcher cannot also be credited with a save in the same game.:**An example of the allocation of credit for a win: Pitching for Detroit against Boston in Boston, Bonderman allows 2 runs on 5 hits, with 8 K's and 1 BB in 7 and two-thirds innings, throwing 103 pitches; he leaves the game with the score tied 2-2. Rodney relieves Bonderman, throws 3 pitches and faces 1 batter to end the 8th inning with the game still tied 2-2. In the top of the 9th the Tigers score 1 run to take the lead, 3-2. In the bottom of the 9th Jones "closes" and retires the Red Sox in order. Tigers win the game. Rodney gets a Win. Jones gets a Save. Bonderman receives a "no decision."

:*A loss (L) is charged to the pitcher for the losing team who allows the run that gives the opposing team a lead they do not relinquish for the remainder of the game. The pitcher who gives up a hit to score the "go-ahead run" does not necessarily receive the loss; instead the L goes to the pitcher who allowed the run-scoring player to reach base. A pitcher (including the starter) need face only one batter to be charged with an L.

:For further discussion see Win (baseball).

windup

Main article: Pitching position

In baseball, there are two legal pitching positions: the windup, and the set. The choice of pitching position may be tactical, as the windup has a generally slower execution than the set and is thus at greater risk of allowing a stolen base. However, some pitchers, particularly relief pitchers, are more comfortable pitching from the set position, and thus use it regardless of the situation.

winning streak

:A series of consecutive wins.

Winter leagues

:Currently, five minor leagues with seasons that happen during the "off-season" of major league baseball: the Arizona Fall League, the Dominican Baseball League, the Mexican Baseball League, the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League, and the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The winter leagues used to include the Cuban League. A new winter league in Hawaii is scheduled to begin in 2006.

wire-to-wire

:A phrase borrowed from horse racing; it refers to a team leading a game from the first inning to the end of the game, or a team leading their division (or league) from the beginning (or at least from the first two or three weeks) of the season to the end of the season. Also sometimes used to refer to a pitcher throwing a complete game win, especially referring to a shut-out. "The Sox lead wire to wire in a 14-2 drubbing of the Orioles yesterday." "The Mets looked like they were going to take their division and win it wire-to-wire in 2007, but the wheels really fell off for them in the last three weeks and the Phillies took advantage of that". "The Blue Jays' Roy Halladay took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and lead wire-to-wire in a 3-0 win today, tossing a two-hit complete game gem at the Rogers Centre."

wood

:The baseball bat. See "get good wood."

work the count

:When a batter is patient in his at-bats and tries to get "ahead in the count" or to get a pitch that he can hit hard, he's said to "work the count" or to "work the pitcher." "Working the pitcher" also implies that the batter should not make the task easy for the pitcher; make the pitcher throw good pitches to get the batter out. Tigers Manager Jim Leyland: "We tell our hitters to be aggressive all the time, and at the same time we tell them, ‘Work the pitcher.’“

worm burner

:A hard hit ground ball that "burns" the ground. A daisy cutter.

WW

:Scoresheet notation for "wasn't watching", used by non-official scorekeepers when their attention has been distracted from the play on field. Supposedly used frequently by former New York Yankees broadcaster Phil Rizzuto.

References