MASARYK UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Education

Department of English Language and Literature

Lifelong Learning - Upper Secondary School Teacher Training

English Sports Terminology – Baseball

Final Thesis

Brno 2021

Supervised by:

doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová,

Ph.D.

Written by:

Mgr. Kateřina Lišková

Declaration:

I declare that I have written this final thesis by myself and used only the sources listed in

the bibliography.

Acknowledgement:

I would like to express my thanks to doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Ph.D. for

her kind help, comments and guidance.

CONTENTS

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 6

2. Theoretical part .............................................................................................................. 8

2.1. Sports jargon .......................................................................................................... 8

2.1.1. Dictionaries and publications focusing on sport .......................................... 9

2.2. Basic linguistic terms ............................................................................................. 9

2.3. Lexicon and its sources ........................................................................................ 11

2.3.1. Native vocabulary ...................................................................................... 11

2.3.2. Foreign borrowings .................................................................................... 12

2.3.3. Changes in lexical structure ....................................................................... 13

2.4. Word formation .................................................................................................... 13

2.4.1. Conversion ................................................................................................. 14

2.4.2. Abbreviations ............................................................................................. 15

2.4.3. Baseball abbreviations ............................................................................... 16

2.5. Changes of meaning ............................................................................................. 17

2.5.1. Metaphorical phrases ................................................................................. 17

3. Empirical part .............................................................................................................. 20

3.1. Game principle and history .................................................................................. 20

3.1.1. Principle of the game ................................................................................. 20

3.1.2. Baseball in the world ................................................................................. 20

3.1.3. Baseball in the Czech Republic ................................................................. 21

3.1.4. Members .................................................................................................... 21

3.2. Survey methodology ............................................................................................ 22

3.2.1. Aim and hypotheses ................................................................................... 23

3.2.2. Questionnaire ............................................................................................. 24

3.2.3. Respondents ............................................................................................... 26

3.3. Survey results ....................................................................................................... 27

3.3.1. Processing questionnaire data .................................................................... 27

3.3.2. Actual results arising out of the questionnaire ........................................... 28

3.3.3. Vindication/refutation of the hypotheses ................................................... 41

4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 43

References ......................................................................................................................... 45

Appendixes ........................................................................................................................ 49

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1. INTRODUCTION

Baseball originates from the United States where it is very popular and belongs to the top

three most popular spectator sports to watch, and along with softball it also has one of the

highest numbers among active players in the United States. However, in the Czech

Republic it is not so well known by the general public. It is overshadowed by football

and ice hockey. When watching football or ice hockey, the majority of Czech citizens

know what the match is about. However, if a newcomer attends their first ever baseball

game, they might be completely lost and puzzled. The same applies to baseball

terminology. If there is a football term mentioned, the Czech general public understands,

as football words are around us even if we are not fans of the sport. We can hear about it

unintentionally every day on TV news, at work from colleagues, boys and men of

different ages use them when talking to each other on a daily basis. Football pitches can

be found in almost every small village of the Czech Republic. Baseball has this

prominent position in the States and baseball fields can be found in the majority of

American neighbourhoods. It is an essential part of American culture.

Logically, the terminology of baseball is based on English and contains a large number

of anglicisms in other languages. The rules are quite complicated with many exceptions,

and the terminology itself is quite sophisticated. It also includes a vast number of

abbreviations which we will just briefly mention as it makes sense to professionals and

people who are deeply involved in the statistical analysis of baseball games.

This work deals with baseball terminology, its development, expansion and the word-

formation processes used in the coinage of baseball terms. It mainly focuses on finding

out whether we have the corresponding Czech equivalents in the Czech environment and

whether we prefer those or the original English expressions in common everyday use.

The theoretical part introduces some basic linguistic terminology along with types of

word-formation processes relevant to baseball terms that came to English through

borrowing from different time periods and were influenced by other languages.

In the empirical part, first, the sport will be briefly introduced, its principle, history and

number of people involved in baseball clubs. Then the survey methodology will be

introduced, including details about survey respondents. Finally, the use of Czech words

and anglicisms will be analyzed based on a questionnaire survey. The official rules of

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ČBA served as a source of the Czech equivalents, and the aim was to find out which of

the variants would be more likely used within the community. Terms which are not

present in the official rules will be mentioned too as they are important for understanding

the sport.

The appendix section features glossary of the most frequently used terms along with their

Czech equivalents, the list of commonly used statistics abbreviations, a sample of the

questionnaire used for the survey, and a spreadsheet with detailed survey results which

was used for vindication or refutation of the hypotheses.

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2. THEORETICAL PART

2.1. Sports jargon

Sometimes it might seem that people do not speak the same language. When listening to

professionals talking vigorously about their subject, it is proof that there might be certain

barriers in communication even within a language. These may depend on racial, regional,

cultural, social or occupational backgrounds. In recent times, we frequently come across

new areas of expression connected to computing, broadcasting, law, politics, press,

science, medicine, and of course the Internet. We can talk about a language for specific

purposes or even jargon. Crystal (2019:186) states two rather contradictive definitions of

jargon: “the technical vocabulary or idiom of a special activity or group” and “obscure

and often pretentious language marked by a roundabout way of expression and use of

long words”. It is true that jargon is hardly ever described in positive terms. However, it

makes communication of professionals much easier. As Jackson (2007:149) points out it

is frequently impenetrable to outsiders, often deliberately. If you want to become a

member of a particular group, you have to learn their language, and use it appropriately.

“Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the various sports that we may be involved

in, either as players, or more often as spectators” (Jackson 151). Baseball fans are

familiar with a common jargon that is used in the game, involving the extension of the

meaning of core vocabulary or compounding of familiar words. Here is a selection of

baseball jargon divided under a number of headings:

- general: bat, spikes, runner, inning, umpire, batting order,

- field positions: pitcher, catcher, shortstop, first baseman, center fielder,

- types of ‘out’: strikeout looking, strikeout swinging, caught stealing,

picked off, tagged-out, dropped third strike, flyout, groundout, lineout

- types of pitches: fastball, changeup, curveball, knuckleball, slider, cutter

- types of hits: fly ball, ground ball, line drive, pop up

Currently, there is a huge surge of new expressions from the field of medicine in

connection with the covid-19 pandemics, which are presented to the wide public through

media, and this original vocabulary for specific purposes becomes standard for all of us

as it concerns all of us.

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As well as science, medicine, law have their own terminology, or occupational jargons,

individual sports have developed their own leisure jargons and term banks. This

international unification of terminology helps understand their fields of activity. Over the

years there have been attempts at creating various banks of terminology using

computational techniques. However, with the constantly rising use of the Internet, and

collaborative open-source tools like Wikipedia, those banks have lost their uniqueness

and significance.

2.1.1. Dictionaries and publications focusing on sport

There are several dictionaries and publications that focus on sports terminology:

- Daňhelová’s dictionary of sports terminology features only two expressions

connected to baseball, namely the words ‘baseball’ and ‘bat’. Although the

expression ‘runner’ can be found in the dictionary, it concerns track and field

disciplines.

- Heřmanský’s dictionary of sports terminology features more baseball items but it

is still very brief, it mentions equipment and position players, but does not

contain expressions concerning the game situations.

- Süss’s publication is the most comprehensive and aims at introducing the game

and its rules to readers.

2.2. Basic linguistic terms

We can study a language through many linguistic disciplines, such as lexicology,

morphology, semantics, phonology, etymology and syntax.

“Lexicology is the study concerned with the properties, usage and origin of words, and

regularities and relations in the vocabulary of a language. Traditionally it includes the

study of proper names (onomastics); the study of meaning (semantics); history of words

(etymology); word-formation (lexical morphology), and as its specific part the study of

multi-word expressions (phrases, collocations, idiomatics)” (Kvetko 13).

An important notion of lexeme (also called a lexical unit) was introduced. The term itself

can mean two things which Peprník (8) categorizes as follows:

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- the word realized by several morphological words, e.g. do, does, did, done, doing are

taken to be five ‘versions’ of the one verb do. In dictionaries, only the infinitive

appears as a main entry; in case of nouns, it is their singular form.

- the word composite in structure, e.g. throw out, stamp collector, take part (i.e. word-

formation clusters) and such clusters as know a thing or two, be in the know, know

the ropes, and other idioms.

Lexemes can be also described as headwords in dictionaries. “A dictionary contains

(among other things) an alphabetical list of the lexemes of a language. We shall

characterise a lexeme as a family of lexical units“ (Cruse 76).

Crystal (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language 210) defines

morphology as the study of the structure of words. A widely recognized approach

divides the field into two domains: lexical morphology studies the way in which new

items of vocabulary can be built up out of combinations of elements (e.g. in-describ-

able); inflectional morphology studies the way words vary in their form in order to

express a grammatical contrast (e.g. ‘s’ at the end of words marking the plural). Then

morphemes are elements out of which words can be constructed.

Semantics is concerned with meaning. There are several branches of semantics. “The

linguistic approach aims to study the properties of meaning in a systematic and objective

way, with the reference to as wide a range of utterances and languages as possible.”

(Crystal 2010: 104) This approach can contribute for example to describing the polysemy

of lexical items, or collocations. The amount of ambiguity needs to be also taken into

consideration. The word depression bears various meanings depending on the field in

which it is used (e.g. medicine, economics, meteorology, science).

Phonology is the study of the sound systems of languages. “By contrast with phonetics,

which studies all possible sounds that the human vocal apparatus can make, phonology

studies only those contrasts in sound (the phonemes) which make differences of meaning

within language” (Crystal 2019: 248). Phoneme is the smallest contrastive unit in the

sounds system of a language. When we listen to individuals saying words, we might

recognize slight differences in the way they pronounce particular sounds.

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Ethymology is defined “as the study of the whole history of words, not just of their

origin” (Jackson 7). It investigates the origins of individual lexemes and how they

change in meaning and form. As suggested in the definition, etymological information

makes reference to other languages. In the case of borrowed words, it tries to find the

source language and place the borrowing on the timeline.

2.3. Lexicon and its sources

According to various linguistic theories, languages consist of two main components – a

system of rules that we call grammar, and an inventory of lexemes that is called lexicon.

By lexicon in linguistics we also mean “the total stock of meaningful units in a language

– not only the words and idioms, but also the parts of words which express meaning,

such as the prefixes and suffixes” (Crystal 2019: 128). Although in the past centuries this

term referred to a physical book with words and their meanings sorted alphabetically,

nowadays it is used in a rather abstract sense. The term itself comes from Greek lexis

which means ‘word’. “Vocabulary is the Everest of a language. There is no larger task

than to look for order among the hundreds of thousands of words which comprise the

lexicon” (Crystal 2019: 127).

The individual items of the lexicon come from different sources and time periods.

2.3.1. Native vocabulary

According to Eckersley (417-430) the native vocabulary of English comprises of several

elements:

- the Celtic element: contemporary English took practically nothing from the old

Celtic language, but something of Celtic has been fossilized in numerous place

names, e.g. The Celtic dun (= a protected place) can be seen in the names of

Scottish towns like Dundee and Dunbar,

- the Anglo-Saxon element: Germanic invaders Angles, Saxons, Jutes influenced

the language, and brought into it inflections, five cases of nouns, declensions of

adjectives, and a system of grammatical gender (e.g. hand was feminine, foot

masculine). However, most of that impact has changed, and has not survived to

the present,

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- the Danish element: with Danish raiders the inflectional endings were dropped,

and numerous vocabulary contributions were made (e.g. skin, sky, knife),

- the Norman element: Norman invaders adopted French as their language, and

brought striking and revolutionary changes to the language, numerous words

from the areas of politics (e.g. state, government, parliament, chancellor,

minister) and architecture (e.g. arch, castle, palace),

- the classical element: Latin and Greek words enriched the language mainly in the

areas of technical and scientific terms (e.g. index, equivalent), but also in the

fields of other new ideas or branches such as medicine, physics and chemistry

(e.g. psychology, antiseptic, nitrogen).

2.3.2. Foreign borrowings

Languages in general borrow words from each other, or we can say that they use better

words to express certain concepts. Borrowed words are also called loanwords and might

be adopted from almost every language in the world. Even before becoming a world

language, English has been in contact with many other cultures and languages which

have massively borrowed English vocabulary. However, a huge wave of borrowings

from other languages has also influenced English. The borrowing process in English

could be tracked back to Anglo-Saxons period and over the centuries English has been

influenced mainly by Latin, Greek and French, but also other languages. Thousands of

new lexemes have been generated in the areas of inventions, politics and institutions,

leisure, gastronomy, and many more.

Italian language contributed with vocabulary of music and architecture (e.g. piano,

opera, balcony, corridor), Spanish with words like mosquito, guitar, hacienda.

Loanwords from Portuguese feature buffalo and verandah, people of Holland brought the

words yacht and cruise. From Asian regions we can find Persian words like bazaar and

caravan, from India there are expressions pyjamas and shampoo. Aborigines, native

Australians, enriched the English vocabulary with words boomerang, kangaroo and

wombat. Words bongo, voodoo and harem were borrowed from local African languages.

Even Greenland has its share in that, words like anorak, igloo and kayak come from the

world’s largest island.

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Among newer expressions we can find example from Russia (e.g. perestroika and

glasnost), and Japan (e.g. karaoke, anime and emoji).

If we focus on the two main lexemes that the name of the sport is comprised of, we will

find out that they are of two different origins. The word ‘ball’ is of Germanic origin, and

came to English from Old Norse, whereas the word ‘base’ stems from Greek and was

borrowed through Latin and Old French. The latter applies to expressions like ‘defence’,

‘offence’ and ‘error’.

The words ‘fly’, ‘ground’ and ‘home’ are of Germanic origin and came to English

through Dutch. ‘Roster’ is purely Dutch and stems from the Dutch ‘rooster’ which

means ‘list’. It is true that in baseball we also use the expression ‘line-up’ in the same

sense which is based on Latin ‘linea’.

2.3.3. Changes in lexical structure

Most English vocabulary comes into existence by creating new lexemes out of existing

ones, either by adding affixes to already existing words, by altering their word classes, or

by combining lexemes to create compound words. The importance of word formation to

the development of the lexicon is fundamental; therefore the next section is devoted to

the process of forming new words.

2.4. Word formation

There are four usual processes of word formation in English and many other languages:

- Prefixation: an affix is placed before the base of the word, e.g. disobey. As Vogel

(2007:17) points out, some prefixes have more than one meaning, which may lead to

ambiguity (e.g. prefix ‘un’ can either be negative as in ‘unfair’ or ‘uncertain’, or

reversive as in ‘unpack’ or ‘undo’.

- Suffixation: an affix is placed after the base of the word, e.g. kindness,

- Conversion: a word changes its class without any change of form, e.g. (the) carpet

(noun) becomes (to) carpet (verb),

- Compounding: two base forms are added together, e.g. blackbird. According to

Vogel’s classification (2007:18) based on the formal (word-class) criteria, there are the

following types of compounds: adjective + noun = noun (e.g. ‘wild pitch’, ‘backstop’,

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‘grandslam’ and ‘shortstop’ in baseball terminology), noun + noun = noun (e.g. ‘home

plate’, ‘ballpark’, ‘baseline’ and ‘bullpen’ in baseball terminology), adjective +

adjective = adjective (e.g. bittersweet), and adverb + verb = adjective (e.g. ‘caught-

stealing’ in baseball terminology).

There are also less usual ways of making new words:

- Reduplication: a type of compound in which both elements are the same, or only

slightly different, e.g. ‘goody-goody’, ‘teeny-weeny’,

- Clippings: an informal shortening of a word, often to a single syllable, e.g. ‘ad’,

‘gents’, ‘telly’, ‘homer’ and ‘sac fly’ in baseball terminology.

- Acronyms: words formed from the initial letters of the words that make up a name,

e.g. NATO, UNESCO, radar (=radio detection and ranging); a sub-type is a

alphabetism, in which the different letters are pronounce, e.g. VIP, DJ,

- Blends: two words merge into each other, e.g. brunch (from ’breakfast’ + ‘lunch’),

telex (‘teleprinter’ + ‘exchange’).

The latter three ways all belong to certain types of abbreviations. As abbreviations are

vital for understanding baseball, we will classify them according to types in the following

section.

2.4.1. Conversion

Lexemes can change their word classes without the addition of an affix. In baseball

vocabulary, we can observe this functional shift especially from nouns to verbs. The

senses of the lexemes are usually maintained also in the derived form. In the Glossary of

baseball terms (see Appendix 1), there are many nouns which have been shifted into

verbs, and in the form of verbs are used especially in play-by-play broadcasts of baseball

games:

- the noun ‘a single’ is used as the verb ‘to single’ as in the sentence “Miguel Rojas

singles on a line drive to center fielder Cedric Mullins.”

- the noun ‘a double” is used as the verb ‘to double” as in the sentence “Max

Muncy doubles on a sharp ground ball to right fielder Josh Reddick.”

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- the noun ‘a triple” is used as the verb ‘to triple” as in the sentence “Corey Seager

triples on a sharp line drive to left fielder David Peralta.”

- the noun ‘a fly-out’ or ‘a flyout’ is used as the verb ‘to fly out” as in the sentence

“Justin Turner flies out to center fielder DJ Peters.”

- the noun ‘a strike-out’ or ‘a strikeout’ is used as the verb as in the sentence

“Stevie Wilkerson strikes out swinging”.

- the noun ‘a walk’ is used as the verb ‘to walk’ as in the sentence “Kevin

Kiermaier walks.”

- the noun ‘a homer’, which is an informal expression for homerun, is used as the

verb ‘to homer’ as in the sentence “Randy Arozarena homers on a fly ball to left

center field.”

However, we can also observe the shift the opposite way, it means from verbs to nouns

as in the case of the verb ‘to steal’ which is used in baseball either as a verb as in the

sentence “Phillip Steering steals second base”, but also unusually as a noun in the

sentence “It counted as a steal.” In connection with the stealing bases process, we can

also observe the usage of another non-standard noun - base stealers.

2.4.2. Abbreviations

Crystal (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 130) points out that

abbreviations are one of the most noticeable features of present-day English linguistic

life, and would form a major part of any superdictionary. Although it is often considered

to be an exclusively modern habit, the fashion for abbreviations can be traced back over

150 years. “In 1839, a writer in the New York Evening Tatler comments on what he calls

‘the initial language… a species of spoken short-hand, which is getting into very general

use among loafers and gentlemen of the fancy, besides Editors, to whom it saves much

trouble in writing…’ (Crystal 2019:130). In this comment, Crystal was referring to an

abbreviated form of ‘OK’ which stands for ‘all correct’.

The trend of abbreviations comes and goes in waves, and is often connected with special

fields, including baseball and sports as such. The reasons for using abbreviated forms are

quite clear – briefness, precision and sense of social identity. If we use the abbreviated

forms form a certain area, we are the ones who are the knowledgeable and omniscient.

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Nowadays we can find specific sets of abbreviations in all fields, and we have to get

familiar with them to be able to get along, even within a particular company. The same

abbreviation might mean different things throughout company’s departments - logistics,

accounting, marketing, human resources, production, etc.

Crystal (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 130) divides

abbreviations into the following types:

- Initialisms (also called alphabetism): items which are spoken as individual letters, the

vast majority of abbreviations (including baseball ones) fall into this category. Not all

use only the first letters of the constituent words: PhD, for example, uses the first two

letters of the word philosophy, and TV takes a letter from the middle of the word,

- Acronyms: initialisms which, such as NATO, laser, UNESCO. Such items would

never have periods separating the letters – a contrast with initialism, where

punctuation is often present,

- Clipping: a part of word which serves for the whole, such as ad and phone. Two types:

the first part is kept (more common as in exam, pub), or the last part is kept (as in bus,

plane),

- Blends: a word is made out of the shortened forms of two other words, such as brunch,

heliport, smog, Brexit, phablet,

- Awkward cases: mixed types (CD-ROM), some used only in writing (Mr, St – always

pronounced in full in speech).

2.4.3. Baseball abbreviations

Unlike any other sport, baseball is obsessed with detailed statistical analysis. For the

purposes of statistics, it is necessary to use abbreviated forms of baseball terms. The

number of abbreviations is an overwhelming experience even for those who follow

baseball games regularly. “Baseball without statistics would be like chocolate milk

without chocolate. The thousands of numbers that swirl around baseball like confetti are

the lifeblood of the game” (Kelly 36).

In the middle of the 19the century, Henry Chadwick, a reporter from New York, was

credited with developing the box score as well as the system of scoring with symbols and

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abbreviations still used today. Traditional player stats have been collected from the

beginning of Major League Baseball history. These numbers tend to focus on a single

element of an individual player’s performance. In recent decades, advanced formulas and

calculations have been implemented into baseball statistics, so that they can attempt to

capture detailed insights about player performance and game scenarios. Baseball

statistics can be considered an independent discipline which is known under the name of

sabermetrics. It was created to allow baseball fans to learn about the sport through

objective measurements.

There are traditional baseball statistics abbreviations for batting, pitching and fielding.

This work features only the most commonly used abbreviations in the glossary of terms,

and it gives rather an extensive list of abbreviations according to the player’s position in

Appendix 2.

The vast majority of the baseball abbreviations fall into the category of initialisms, so

they are pronounced as individual letters (e.g. RBI, OBP and ERA), although there are a

few newer statistical items whose abbreviations belong to the group of acronyms, which

means they are pronounced as single words (e.g. FIP, WHIP and SIERA).

2.5. Changes of meaning

The vocabulary expands either by integrating new words or by giving a new, additional

meaning to already existing lexical forms; it means that the older meaning can be

replaced completely or partly, or most frequently the old and the new meaning coexist

side by side, and the word or phrase becomes polysemic.

According to Peprník (39) the change of meaning can be approached from the aspects of

logic or motivation.

From the aspect of logic, there are the following processes registered: widening,

narrowing, branching, and transfer (metaphor).

2.5.1. Metaphorical phrases

New phrases in English stemming from baseball have become common since the early

1970s, when Tristram Potter Coffin wrote in his book called “The Old Ball Game:

Baseball in Folklore and Fiction” that there was no other sport or occupation which have

introduced so many phrases, so many words, and so many twists into the language as

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baseball have. He demonstrated the fact on a few theoretical examples of two old ladies

who have never been to the ballpark, coquettes who do not know or care who is on first,

men who think athletics begin and end with a pair of goalposts, but each of them knows

and widely uses a great deal of baseball-derived terminology, mostly in the form of

metaphors, in their everyday lives.

There are a few examples of metaphorical phrases clearly originating from baseball, but

used in a completely different context.

- to cover all the bases, meaning to deal with every possible thing that could

happen or that people could want (Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced

Learners 321). The phrase appeared, for example, in an article “Grading the

Oscar Speeches: Patricia Arquette Gets an A+” by Michael Schulman published

in The NewYorker on 23rd February 2015 where he mentioned Julianne Moore’s

speech given upon received the Best Actress award: “Her speech was a cover-all-

the-bases sort, probably because, as a shoo-in, she had months to prepare.”

- to hit it out of the park, meaning to do or perform something extraordinarily well,

to produce or earn an exceptional achievement according to the online Free

dictionary, and which is derived from the phrase hit the ball out of the park

meaning to do something extremely well according to the Cambridge dictionary.

An opinion article was published in Washington Post on 3rd November 2019

under the title “Several Democratic candidates hit it out of the park”.

- right off the bat, meaning immediately, without delay according to the online

Oxford learners dictionaries, which appeared in a Washington Post article on 29th

April 2021 called “Biden’s address to Congress proves we have an adult back in

the presidency” with a sentence “President Biden struck an optimistic tone right

off the bat.”

- to step up to the plate, meaning to take responsibility for doing something, even

though it is difficult according to the online Macmillan dictionary, which

appeared in The Times article “We can look forward to a brighter future on the

other side of lockdown” by Penny Mordaunt on 8th January 2021 in the sentence

“ Why am I writing about it? It is because this is when the British people step up

to the plate.”

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The fact that baseball terminology in English language is enormous and still expanding is

proved by several times updated edition of “The Dickson Baseball Dictionary”. Its first

edition, published in 1989, had 5,000 entries; the second edition, 10 years later, had

7,000 entries; and in the most recent edition published in 2009 there were over 10,000

terms and 18,000 definitions.

The following empirical part will be mainly grounded in the section concerned with word

formation process as the survey is predominantly comprised of compound nouns. The

glossary of terms contains not only compounds, but also lexemes converted into different

word classes, mostly nouns shifted into verbs. A significant part of the theoretical section

was dedicated to abbreviations which are included in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2.

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3. EMPIRICAL PART

The compilation of the glossary of baseball terms, which is included in Appendix 1,

represents a crucial part of this work. The most important glossary terms were used in the

subsequent survey.

3.1. Game principle and history

3.1.1. Principle of the game

Baseball belongs to a rather modest group of bat-and-ball games (along with softball,

cricket, and a few not mainstream local games) where two opposing teams take turns in

batting and fielding. The defending team starts the action by throwing a ball by the

pitcher at a dedicated player of the attacking team - the hitter, who tries to hit it with a

bat. If he succeeds, he becomes the runner and tries to hit it with a bat and run between

safe areas in the field to score points, while the defending team can use the ball in various

ways against the attacking team’s players to prevent them from scoring.

Baseball is a team sports game where the individual performance of players can have a

greater effect on the result of the game than the performance of the whole team. The

dominance of individual defence performance very often involves the pitcher’s and the

catcher’s cooperation, but they both must work with other players to resolve game

situations, gain points, and win the game. As in other team sports games, team

relationships and the overall attitude of all players cannot be underestimated.

3.1.2. Baseball in the world

It is difficult to trace the beginnings of baseball precisely. The common roots of bat-and-

ball games could be found in the 18th century in England where children played the

game called ‘rounders’. However, if we go even further into history, to the 14th century,

we will find out that English country milkmen spent their free time hitting a ball with a

stick, and then circling around stools placed nearby. The stools were later replaced by

wooden pegs which subsequently developed into bases we know nowadays.

“In 1845, Alexander Cartwright and Daniel “Doc” Adams, leaders of the Knickerbocker

Base Ball Club, developed the first set of rules for the game. Though those rules changed

rapidly over the next few years and continued to evolve into the 1900s, they were close

enough to what baseball is today to mark the ‘birth’ of baseball” (Kelly 6).

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In 1876, the National League of professional baseball clubs was established. They started

hiring paid referees and created management of clubs which had been organized in a very

simple way by then. It did not take long for a rival American League to appear, which

was based mainly on the countryside clubs. Other competitions and leagues continued

being created and dismissed, but only the National League and the American League

achieved such popularity and strength that it allowed them to survive in the competitive

environment. At present, the two leagues together comprise the so-called Major League,

which is followed by millions of fans from all around the world.

3.1.3. Baseball in the Czech Republic

The beginnings of bat-and-ball games in the Czech Republic can be found in the YMCA

organization. The pioneer of bat-and-ball games is undoubtedly Antonín First who

completed a course for sports instructors in the early 1920s and in the late 1920s studied

physical education and pedagogy at Springfield College in the United States. Later he

organized large summer YMCA camps in the Sázava region where he taught outdoor

life, tramping, canoeing, swimming, archery, tennis, but of course new ball games like

volleyball, basketball and baseball.

One thing that contributed to the development of bat-and-ball games in the Czech

Republic after World War Two was the fact that due to the political situation, it was

‘cool’ to play an American sport. The first competition games were played in the 1960s

when there was also a boom in the creation of university clubs. The regular competition

has been played since 1970.

The Czech Baseball Association (CBA) started its activities in 1993, with the

establishment of the independent Czech Republic, and since then they have been

organizing the Czech Extra League competition, the First League competition and also

regional and youth competitions.

3.1.4. Members

It has already been mentioned that baseball does not belong to mainstream sports in the

Czech Republic. However, the number of its members has been steadily rising. Based on

the information system of the Czech Union of Sport, there are 4 984 registered members

in Czech baseball clubs. However, according to the official yearbook published annually

by ČBA (Czech Baseball Association), 4987 members were registered in the year 2012.

22

We must assess these data with caution as we do not know about the frequency of

updates. I tried to search a particular sportsperson according to their birth number and

discovered that they still appear on the lists of two sports clubs, baseball and football

ones, although they have not been playing football for over three years.

The database data of the Czech Union of Sport have been used for comparison of

individual sports played in the Czech Republic, even though they probably do not reflect

the current state. According to the above-mentioned database, not surprisingly the most

numerous is the membership base of football (over 368,000 members), and above-

mentioned ice hockey features only a little over 41,000 members. There are over 55,000

organized tennis players in various Czech clubs. There are also quite a few sports sectors

that occupy higher positions with member numbers around 45 thousand (e.g. athletics,

volleyball and floorball), and sports such as basketball and table tennis state

approximately 21,000 members. In comparison with the above-mentioned sports,

baseball would fall into the category with about 5,000 registered members, and would be

surrounded on one side by badminton (with about 7,600 members) and football tennis

(6,000), and on the other side of the list by rugby (with about 3,800 members) and

softball (3,400).

Since 2012, when the official ČBA yearbook stated approximately 5 thousand members,

the numbers have been steadily rising, up to 8,003 members - ČBA official number from

the 2019 yearbook.

3.2. Survey methodology

The empirical part of this thesis is concerned with a survey. The main aim of the

empirical part is to find out the preferred choice of terminology within the Czech

baseball community. The following part provides a description of the survey

methodology. Firstly, survey aim and hypotheses are formulated. Secondly, there is a

description of a survey instrument, namely a questionnaire. Furthermore, the process of

data collection, its analysis and interpretation is outlined. The last section deals with the

survey findings, and it also reveals whether the findings comply with the initially stated

hypotheses.

There are different ways how to collect data; an interview and a questionnaire were

considered. Interviews are very time-consuming and might contain biasing errors caused

23

by the interviewer’s interests; therefore this option was ruled out. A written questionnaire

that respondents fill in by themselves seemed to be the most appropriate option. “Self-

completion questionnaires have the advantage of being cheap, but are more suited to

issues where there are only a few questions that are relatively clear and simple in their

meaning, and the choice of replies can by limited to fixed categories” (Seale 183).

Seale’s description summarizes the main characteristics of our survey. However, there

are different of questionnaires – postal, web-based or email ones. Firstly, I considered

sending the questionnaire by email to members of our baseball club. The disadvantage is

that it is necessary to possess a list of email addresses which might not be in compliance

with GDPR. Moreover, many people dislike unsolicited emails, and thus might ignore

the questionnaire. Secondly, the group of respondents would be rather compact, and their

close relationship may affect their choice. Finally, I decided for the web-based

questionnaire which is cheap to administer, allows for a larger geographical coverage,

provides greater anonymity for respondents, and is extremely fast. Most of the responses

were collected within the first two days after posting the link on a Facebook profile.

Of course, there are also certain disadvantages. The internet access is not universal, so

this form of a survey does not reflect the population as a whole. As my survey concerns

relatively small and compact group of people, and is not intended for the general public, I

do not consider this being an obstacle. Unfortunately, there is no control over who replies

and how many times unless the software is set to accept only one reply which cannot be

performed if the survey is anonymous.

3.2.1. Aim and hypotheses

The aim of this survey was to find out how Czech speakers deal with baseball

terminology that originates in the English environment, whether they incline to use the

Czech variant or keep the English ones.

The creation of the questionnaire was preceded by several hypotheses that influenced the

choice of initial general questions.

- Hypothesis 1:

People of the older generation will tend to use Czech words as their knowledge of

English might not be good while the younger generation will use English expressions

24

more often as they have been learning English all their lives and their exposure to the

language is much higher (Internet, experience from stays abroad).

- Hypothesis 2:

Knowledge or ignorance of English could be a deciding factor between choosing the

Czech or the English term. For students or graduates, the choice of English terms

might predominate. Beginners will tend to use Czech expressions.

- Hypothesis 3:

Respondents' relationship to baseball will play a vital role when choosing the term.

Since there is a considerable number of foreign coaches and players who have no

need to use the Czech expressions, we can expect that the respondents from the group

of professionals will tend towards using English.

- Hypothesis 4:

Overall usage of the selected terms will be in English. Baseball terminology is very

specific and even though the official rules operate with Czech variants, it is easier

and more natural even for Czech speakers to use English terminology.

3.2.2. Questionnaire

To be able to vindicate or refute the above stated hypotheses, a questionnaire was

designed to collect data. Questionnaire is the most frequently used method for data

collection which enables researchers to get a large amount of responses within a short

period of time. Both, questions and answers in the questionnaire, were in written form.

The entire questionnaire was created in the Czech language as the level of respondents’

English knowledge was unknown. Google forms online tool was used for creation of the

questionnaire, and subsequently it was administered by posting a link to the questionnaire

on a Facebook profile of a website ‘Milujeme-baseball.cz’ which describes itself as “the

best Czech website about baseball” and is updated daily. The Facebook profile was

founded in 2014 and is followed by over 3,284 baseball fans. The link for the

questionnaire was published on 21st February 2021, and the deadline for data collection

was set for 14th March 2021.

25

The official Czech rules of baseball for the year 2021, published by ČBA, were used as the

source for the choice of terms quoted in the questionnaire. In the official document, the

selected terms appear exclusively in the Czech variant. It is an official document, and

therefore it is obvious that it tries to use as many Czech words as possible to be widely

understood in the Czech environment. However, we wanted to find out which of the

variants would be more likely used by baseball community in the given sentences as some

of the Czech expressions seem to be slightly artificial, used only to maintain the majority

of the official text in Czech language. Twenty terms have been chosen which have both

adequate variants, English and Czech one, available. All example sentences were inspired

by the above-mentioned official ČBA rules.

The terms were not arranged alphabetically as it seemed more logical to arrange them

according to their meanings. The first group of six terms refers to players’ positions on the

field, one item is connected to the field itself, and the rest concerns game situations.

Although “respondents are often unmotivated, slapdash, hasty, and insincere, yet it is also

an established fact that careful and creative questionnaire construction can result in an

instrument that motivates people to give relatively truthful and thoughtful answers“

(Dörnyei 11). If we do not want to discourage respondents from completing a

questionnaire, it is crucial to follow a series of steps and procedures explained by Dörnyei

(2010:12) such as: deciding on the length, the format, and the main parts, writing

appropriate instructions, piloting the questionnaire, and conducting item analysis. The

main components of a questionnaire are the title, instructions (general or specific),

questionnaire items, additional information, and the final “thank you”.

The “Baseball terminology” questionnaire was initiated by a brief introduction where the

respondents were familiarised with the fact that it was comprised of 25 questions divided

into two sections: five general questions concerning respondents’ gender, region, age,

relationship to baseball and knowledge of English, and twenty questions concerning

terminology. Both individual sections were accompanied by specific instructions

introducing each task. All the items in both sections were closed type of questions where

the respondents chose their answers from provided fixed options – a Czech term and an

English term – as the aim was to discover what is the preferred variant and which

language predominates when using baseball terminology. It was possible to choose just

one option.

26

Before the beginning of the data collection for the survey, I piloted the questionnaire in

my household where there are three persons involved in baseball in various roles (i.e. an

active player, a parent, a fan)

3.2.3. Respondents

The survey was conducted within the Czech baseball community and aimed at finding out

what is the preferred form of certain baseball terms used among baseball professionals

(active players, retired players, coaches) and fans (parents, family members, etc.).

The questionnaire was anonymous which motivated the respondents to answer truthfully.

Over the course of three weeks 134 responses have been collected which corresponds to

approximately 4% of followers of the Facebook profile. All respondents were Czech (or

Slovak) native speakers. The questionnaire was filled in by 112 men, remaining 22

respondents were women. All the collected responses were valid, although the correctness

of individual answers cannot be proved.

The majority of respondents (76 persons) fall into the age group between 20 and 40 years,

there were 37 respondents from the category between 40 and 60 years, and the remaining

21 respondents belonged to the age group between 10 and 20. There were no responses

collected among children under 10 years old as well as seniors over 60 years old.

More than three quarters of respondents (105 persons) considered themselves baseball

professionals, whereas the remaining 29 respondents regard themselves as baseball fans.

A comparable number of respondents stated their knowledge of English language either as

advanced (65 persons) or (pre)intermediate (60 persons), and only 9 respondents selected

the beginners category.

27

3.3. Survey results

3.3.1. Processing questionnaire data

The questionnaire produced two types of visualisations of data. Firstly, very obvious

results were observed from pie charts generated by the self-completed Google form

itself. The pie charts illustrate numerical proportion, and they were very helpful in

analyzing especially the particular language variant selected by the respondents for each

individual terminology item. Secondly, the questionnaire results were transformed into a

spreadsheet where each line represented a respondent’s answers (Appendix 4).

Conditional formatting of the spreadsheet was used for more convenient orientation in

the collected data. Dörnyei (2010:84) labels this process as coding procedures, his

procedure nonetheless involves converting the responses into a numerical score. He

suggests using numerical values for particular variables. Having all the items closed-

ended, and also relatively low number of responses, colour coding was sufficient for the

analysis of our data collection.

28

3.3.2. Actual results arising out of the questionnaire

- Result 1

The majority of respondents fall into the age category between 20 and 40 years (Graph

1).

The results indicate that children and teenagers in the group between 10 and 20 years

tend to use English expressions almost exclusively. However, the results of the oldest

response group (40-60 years old) did not fully confirm the initial hypothesis. Czech

expressions were equally used in both groups, over 20 years old and over 40 years old

respondents.

Graph 1: Age

29

- Result 2

The majority of respondents stated at least some knowledge of English. Fewer than 7

percent of respondents stated very low (or no) knowledge of English (Graph 2).

Even a respondent who stated being a (false) beginner would use all the expressions in

English. It was definitely influenced by the fact that this respondent considers herself to

be a professional who tends to use English expressions.

There were more beginners in all age groups, and all of them used only 4-6 Czech terms.

It seems that the level of English does not have an impact on using English terminology.

Even beginners have no problems with acquiring terms unknown to them.

Graph 2: Knowledge of English

30

- Result 3

Not surprisingly, the questionnaire has been answered mostly by respondents who are

very closely involved in playing baseball. Over 78 percent of the respondents count

themselves among professionals (Graph 3).

It seems that amateurs tend towards using Czech a little more, but it cannot be stated as a

rule, it might be more of personal sympathy for certain words.

Graph 3: Relationship to baseball

31

- Result 4

The overall percentage of using a particular type of terminology falls in favour of the

original English terms; more specifically, the distribution is 75.45% of English terms,

24.55% Czech terms.

Below we can find results for the individual items of terminology surveyed.

‘Catcher’ or ‘zadák’, ‘pitcher’ or ‘nadhazovač’

It is rather interesting that the two perhaps most important field positions (pitcher and

catcher) - and therefore the most frequently referred to - do not share the same choice of

the preferred language variant. For catcher, the vast majority of respondents (over 93%)

would use the English term, regardless of their knowledge of English, or their age (Graph

4).

Graph 4: Catcher or zadák

However, for pitcher, the substantial majority of respondents (over 93%) would use the

Czech term, regardless of their knowledge of English, or their age (Graph 5).

32

Graph 5: Pitcher or nadhazovač

In both cases, this might be caused by pronunciation resemblance of the less preferred

term to a not really polite Czech words, and in case of the word chytač also the fact that

for some reason no sport really uses this Czech word and there is no point in inventing a

special Czech expression. Even the Czech term zadák is not widely used. The

explanation may again be found in the Czech term’s pronunciation that is very similar-

sounding to the expression zaďák used in Czech to denote outfield, the rear part of a

ballpark.

‘Outfield’ or ‘zadní pole’, ‘infield’ or ‘vnitřní pole’

There was a discrepancy between infield and outfield in usage. It would be expected the

respondents will use both terms of one language as they are very similar. However, in 31

cases people used the combination of both languages, favouring to a slight extent the

English variant (Graphs 6 and 7).

33

Graph 6: Outfield or zadní pole

Graph 7: Infield or vnitřní pole

34

‘Dugout’ or ‘hráčská lavička’

In the case of the field item dugout/hráčská lavička, the result is absolutely convincing,

over 95% of respondents used the English term (Graph 8). However, three respondents

with a very good level of English used the Czech term which is surprising. It might be

explained by the fact that they all fall to the amateur category where it could be

influenced by mainstream sports such as football and ice hockey.

Graph 8: Dugout or hráčská lavička

‘Lineup’ or ‘pořadí pálkařů’

Only two occurrences of the Czech expression pořadí pálkařů were recorded,

surprisingly marked by professionals. Although they selected rarely used and long

expression pořadí pálkařů, they did not select the Czech term for hráčská lavička which

is also hardly ever used (Graph 9). As for pronunciation, both Czech expressions are

twice as long as their English counterparts.

35

Graph 9: Line-up or pořadí pálkařů

‘Base on balls’ or ‘meta zdarma’

Although the majority of respondents selected the Czech variant (Graph 10), the English

one - or more precisely its abbreviation (BB) used with a Czech inflection - is also

widely used.

Graph 10: ‘Base on balls’ or ‘meta zdarma’

36

‘Bunt’ or ‘ulívka’

For this type of a hit Czechs strongly prefer the Czech term ulívka (Graph 11), even

though it is a longer expression than the English one. The reason might be its colloquial

character.

Graph 11: Bunt or ulívka

‘Passed ball’ or ‘nechycený nadhoz’, ‘wild pitch’ or ‘nechytatelný nadhoz’

The terminology items passed ball and wild pitch were both predominantly used in

English variants (Graphs 12 and 13). They are compound noun phrases which both

consist of two syllables. However, the Czech expressions are pronounced with six and

seven syllables respectively, which make it too long for instant calls.

Graph 12: Passed ball or nechycený nadhoz

37

Graph 13: Wild pitch or nechytatelný nadhoz

‘Rundown’, ‘obranný trojúhelník’ or ‘honička’

This was the only term where there was a choice of three variants - an English term, and

two Czech ones (Graph 14). The expression obranný trojúhelník has not been used by

any respondent. Even though it is not used by baseball community, surprisingly, it is the

term used in the official ČBA material.

Graph 14: Rundown, obranný trojúhelník or honička

38

‘Slide’ or ‘skluz’

Almost 98% of respondents used the English expression for this term which makes the

Czech variant almost insignificant (Graph 15).

Graph 15: Slide or skluz

‘Double play’ or ‘dvoj aut’

Only six out of 134 respondents would use the variant double play that cannot be even

considered Czech one (Graph 16). Half of this compound is comprised of a Czech lexeme,

and the second half of an English one. This might be the reason for the inclination to use

the all-English variant.

Graph 16: Double play or dvoj aut

39

‘Foul ball’ or ‘chybný odpal’, ‘hit’ or ‘dobrý odpal’, ‘ground ball’ or ‘míč po zemi’

All three items would be predominantly used in their English variants. A very similar

explanation as for the above-mentioned passed ball and wild pitch could be applied for

foul ball, hit, and ground ball (Graphs 17, 18 and 19). Even though the pronunciation

length difference is not so significant, still the Czech terms bear twice as many syllables

as the English variants, which might cause the immediate calls rather incomprehensible.

Graph 17: Foul ball or chybný odpal

Graph 18: Hit or dobrý odpal

40

Graph 19: Ground ball or míč po zemi

‘Error’ or ‘chyba’

Usage of the English variant dominates the respondents choice, even though both

expressions are rather short. The term error and its abbreviation (E) also appear on

scoreboards since this item belongs among the most crucial game numbers, along with

runs and hits.

Graph 20: Error or chyba

41

‘Homerun’ or ‘čtyřmetový odpal’

For this item, not surprisingly, all the respondents unanimously selected the English

variant (Graph 21).

The term homerun is so closely and inseparably associated with baseball that it might

even be the only expression a total amateur or uninterested person would connect with

this sport. The term appeal in titles of specialized magazines, podcasts and TV

programmes. Hitting a homerun has been the ultimate goal of all baseball players since

they started playing the game, regardless of their age.

Graph 21: Homerun or čtyřmetový odpal

3.3.3. Vindication/refutation of the hypotheses

Result 1 has partially vindicated Hypothesis 1. Not only young generation prefers

English terminology, but also members of the older generation tend to favour English

baseball terms.

Result 2 has refuted Hypothesis 2. The level of English language knowledge does not

have a considerable impact on preferred variant, and even beginners prefer using English

terminology.

Result 3 has vindicated Hypothesis 3 to a large extent. Although professionals would

definitely give priority to English terminology, we had expected lower number of

amateurs selecting English terms.

42

Result 4 has fully vindicated Hypothesis 4. Three quarters of all selected terminology

item would be used in English variant.

In conclusion, neither age, knowledge of English, nor allegiance to baseball play a key

role in the preference of English/Czech baseball terms. The most probable reason is the

American origin of the sport, and also the fact that close relations with the USA are still

maintained, either in the form of foreign coaches or import players. The top-level

baseball, and also the main goal of every active player, is the MLB competition, which

can be watched only in English. In order to enjoy baseball games properly, fans’

awareness of the English terminology is absolutely crucial.

43

4. CONCLUSION

The final thesis “English sports terminology - baseball” aims at describing the most

frequently used baseball terms and abbreviations.

The theoretical part introduces basic linguistic concepts and sources of the English

lexicon - processes of borrowing and word-formation. The thesis also points out semantic

changes and gives examples of the metaphorical use of baseball terms in everyday

language. The theoretical part includes quotes mainly from The Cambridge Encyclopedia

of the English Language (Crystal), Words, Meaning and Vocabulary (Jackson, Amvela),

and English Lexicology (Peprník).

The empirical part briefly introduces the game and its origins in the Czech Republic, and

mostly deals with the results of a survey conducted among members of the Czech

baseball community. The survey itself was performed with the help of a questionnaire,

and its aim was to find out what the preferred form of baseball terminology is. The

terminology part was mostly compiled from Oficiální pravidla baseballu (Kulhánek),

Softball a baseball (Süss), Baseball for dummies (Morgan), and numerous internet

resources as it is hard to find literature about baseball in the Czech language.

The glossary of terms is in the form of an appendix, and the lexical items are listed in

alphabetical order. Each term is provided with a Czech translation (if there is any), an

English definition, and information about a word class. The appendix also contains a list

of abbreviations used for statistics in baseball.

The English language has undoubtedly a very strong influence on Czech, not only in the

area of sports terminology. Despite the fact that English is not inflectional, Czech

speakers do not hesitate to add inflections to English terms thus creating blended

expressions. Although baseball does not belong to mainstream sports in the Czech

Republic, recently it has gained in popularity. The numbers of members are rising, new

clubs are being created, the original ones are improving their facilities. There are not

many sources for newcomers that could explain the main rules and terminology.

The tendency to use English terminology could be observed even in mainstream sports,

such as football and ice hockey, which also provide fans with elaborate Czech

terminology. A player’s position always referred to as ‘útočník’ has recently been

replaced by the expression ‘forvard’ which stems from the English lexeme ‘forward’.

44

The same can be observed with the expression ‘stoper’, which has substituted formerly

used term ‘střední obránce’.

In baseball, it has always been different. There has never been the need to create

sophisticated Czech terminology as the few enthusiasts used their professional sports

jargon and made themselves fully understood. Even after 60 years of playing baseball in

the Czech Republic, English terminology drastically prevails, and the tendency to using

English terms over the Czech ones will continue.

45

REFERENCES

Bauer, Laurie. English Word-formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

Cruse, D.A. Lexical semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language – Third edition.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language – Third edition. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Daňhelová, Šárka. Anglická sportovní terminologie. Brno: Paido, 2003.

Dörnyei, Zoltán. Questionnaires in Second Language Research. New York: Taylor &

Francis , 2010.

Eckersley, C.E., J.M. Eckersley. A Comprehensive English Grammar. London:

Longman House, 1960.

Heřmanský, Jaroslav. Moderní anglicko-český slovník sportovních výrazů. Brno:

Barrister & Principal, 2003.

Jackson, Howard, and Etienne, Zé Amvela. Words, Meaning and Vocabulary. London:

Continuum, 2007. Print.

Kelley, James. Eyewitness Baseball. New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 2005.

Kulhánek, David. Oficiální pravidla baseballu. Praha: Česká Baseballová Asociace,

2021.

Kvetko, Pavol. English Lexicology In Theory and Practice. Trnava: FF UCM, 2009.

Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners. Londo: Bloomsbury Publishing

Plc, 2002.

Morgan, Joe, and Richard Lally. Baseball for dummies. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons,

Inc., 2014.

Pecušová, Anna. Softbal, či softbol? Naše řeč, volume 70 (1987), issue 5, p.271

Retrieved from http://nase-rec.ujc.cas.cz/archiv.php?lang=en&art=6735#_ftnref1

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Peprník, Jaroslav. English lexicology. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, 2006.

Rejzek, Jiří. K formální adaptaci anglicismů. Naše řeč, volume 76 (1993), issue 1, pp.

26-30. Retrieved from http://nase-rec.ujc.cas.cz/archiv.php?lang=en&art=7106

Richterová, Lenka, at al. Manuál k programu iScore pro zapisovatele ČSA a ČBA. Praha

2018.

Seale, Clive. Researching society and culture – Third edition. London: SAGE

Publications Ltd, 2012.

Svobodová, Diana. Anglická a hybridní kompozita v současné češtině a jejich adaptace.

Naše řeč, volume 82 (1999), issue 3, pp.122-126. Retrieved from http://nase-

rec.ujc.cas.cz/archiv.php?lang=en&art=7515.

Süss, Vladimír. Softball a baseball. Praha: Grada Publishing, 2003.

Süss, Vladimír, a Jiří Votinský. Příručka pro zapisovatele softballu. Praha 2005.

Táborský, František. Sportovní hry II. Praha: Grada Publishing, 2005.

Vogel, Radek. Basics of Lexicology. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2007.

Votinská, Evženie. Český baseball 2019. Praha: Česká baseballová asociace, 2020.

47

Internet resources

www.dictionary.com

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/

http://m.mlb.com/glossary

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/

https://coachingkidz.com/baseball-terminology-the-ultimate-guide-to-terms-used-in-

baseball/#-_S

https://baseballrulesacademy.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Baseball_terminology

www.baseball-encyclopedia.com

https://www.glossophilia.org/2021/01/outside-baseball-20-words-expressions-that-came-

right-off-the-batting-field/

https://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/how-baseball-has-changed-english-

language

https://iscus.cz/

https://www.baseball.cz/

https://abbreviations.yourdictionary.com/articles/basic-baseball-stats-abbreviations.html

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/grading-oscar-speeches-patricia-

arquette-gets

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hit+one+out+of+the+park

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/02/several-democratic-candidates-

hit-it-out-park/

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/bat_1#right_idmg_25

48

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/28/bidens-address-congress-proves-

we-have-an-adult-back-presidency/

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/step-up-to-the-plate

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/we-can-look-forward-to-a-brighter-future-on-the-

other-side-of-lockdown-lw76mg0kn

49

APPENDIXES

Appendix 1: Glossary of baseball terminology

Appendix 2: Baseball abbreviations

Appendix 3: Questionnaire – Baseball terminology

Appendix 4: Spreadsheet questionnaire results

50

Appendix 1:

A

at-bat (AB) - start na pálce

(n) a player's turn at batting, as officially recorded

(adv) when batting.

B

backstop - zadní síť, backstop

(n) a high fence or similar structure behind the home plate area

balk (BK) - “balk”; nesprávný pohyb nadhazovače

(n) an illegal motion of the pitcher on the mound that the umpire deems to be deceitful to

the runner(s)

(v) to stop in the act of throwing the ball to the batter, in a way that is against the rules

ball - “ból”, špatný nadhoz

(n) a pitch that doesn’t cross the strike zone or the umpire deems to have not crossed the

strike zone

(n) short for baseball

ball four (BB) - meta zdarma

See base on balls

51

ball park - stadion, hřiště

(n) a stadium used for baseball games

base - meta

(n) any one of the four corners of an infield, marked by a bag or plate, that must be

touched by a runner before a run can be scored

base coach - kouč na metě

(n) a coach of a batting team on 1st and 2

nd base; their job is to relay signs and support

base runners by telling them what to do

base hit (H) - metový odpal

(n) the successful act of striking a baseball in such a way that the batter reaches base

safely

base line or baseline - pomezní čára

(n) a line that extends out from home plate; there are two of them which extend through

1st and 3

rd to the outfield wall

base on balls (BB) - meta zdarma, bébéčko

(n) an advance to first base by a batter who receives four balls

bases empty - prázdné mety

52

(n) there are no runners on bases

bases loaded - plné mety

(n) there are runners on 1st, 2

nd and 3

rd base at the same time

bat - pálka

(n) baseball equipment used by batters to hit balls that are pitched to them; professionals

use wooden bats, while the lower levels use metal and composite bats

batter - pálkař

(n) a player who is at-bat and receiving pitches from the pitcher

batter’s box - území pálkaře

(n) a designated place where batters must stand in during an at-bat

batter’s interference - útočné bránění

(n) instances in which the batter isn’t involved in the play on the field but impedes it.

This includes getting in the way of a catcher’s throw or not moving away from a play at

the plate.

batting average (BA) - pálkařský průměr

a measure of a batter's performance; the total number of hits by a batter divided by his at-

bats. If a batter hits the ball 1-in-5 times, they’re batting .200 or “two hundred”

53

batting order - pořadí na pálce

(n) a list of batters in the order in which they will bat; batting orders can change from

game-to-game and even within games if the coach decides to make a substitution

bottom of the inning - dohrávka směny

(n) the second part of an inning when the home team is batting

bullpen - “bulpen”

(n) the place for all pitchers who don’t start the game, but may enter the game at some

point.

bunt - ulívka, ulejvka, “bant”

(n) act of hitting a baseball lightly without swinging the bat

(v) to tap the ball into play lightly without swinging the bet to advance the runners

C

catch - zachycení, “keč”/ chytit

(n) the act of receiving a ball

(v) to take hold of a ball

catcher - “kečr”, zadák, chytač

54

(n) the position on a baseball team of the player who is stationed behind home plate and

who catches the balls that the pitcher throws

catcher’s interference (CI) - obranné bránění

(n) a situation when the catcher impedes the batter from hitting the ball

caught stealing (CS) - chycen při krádeži mety

(adj) a situation when when a runner attempts to steal but is tagged out before reaching

second base, third base or home plate

center field - střední pole, střeďák, centr

(n) the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher

center fielder - středopolař

(n) the person who plays center field

changeup - changeup

(n) a slow pitch thrown with the same arm action as a fastball, intended to deceive the

batter

clean-up hitter - clean-up hitter, čtvrtý pálkař

(n) the 4th hitter in the lineup and usually the team’s best power hitter

55

closer - closer

(n) a relief pitcher that tends to come in for the 9 th inning to close out and earn a win for

his team

complete game (CG) - complete game

(n) a starting pitcher pitches the entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher

count - stav

(n) the number of balls and strikes a batter has

curveball - točka, točený nadhoz

(n) a pitch that moves unexpectedly in the air because of spin put on the ball by the

pitcher

cutoff - cutoff

(n) the interception by an infielder of a throw to home plate from the outfield

(adj) serving to intercept or relay a throw to home plate from the outfield

cutter - cutter

(n) a fastball that breaks away from right-handed players and toward lefties

cycle - cycle

(n) the achievement of hitting a single, double, triple, and home run all in a single game

56

D

dead ball - mrtvý míč

(n) a ball out of play; when a batter is hit by a pitch or a batted ball touches the batter

defence - obrana

(n) the group of players who are fielding and trying to stop the opposing players scoring

a run/point

designated hitter (DH) - suplující pálkař, déháčko

(n) a ballplayer who is designated to bat in place of the pitcher

diamond - vnitřní pole, hřiště

(n) the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate; another term

used to denote the infield

double (2B) - dvoumetový odpal, dvoumeťák

(n) a hit from which the batter reaches second base

Doubleheader - dvojzápas

(n) two games played back-to-back

double play (DP) - dvoj aut, “dabl”

57

(n) the act of getting two players out on one play

dugout - “dagaut”, lavička, střídačka

(n) a team's bench which is located in foul territory between home plate and either first or

third base; there are two dugouts, one for the home team and one for the visiting team

E

earned run (ER) - umožněný doběh

(n) a run that was not scored as the result of an error by the other team

earned run average (ERA) - průměr umožněných doběhů za zápas

(n) a measure of a pitcher's effectiveness

error (E) - “eror”, chyba

(n) a fielder receives an error if, in the judgment of the official scorer, he fails to convert

an out on a play that an average fielder should have made, and thus allows a batter to

reach base or a runner to advance extra bases

extra inning - nastavená směna, extra směna

(n) overtime play until one team is ahead at the end of an inning

F

fielder - polař

58

(n) a defensive player who fields the ball

fielder’s choice (FC) - volba v obraně

(n) a variety of plays involving an offensive player reaching a base due to the defense's

attempt to put out another baserunner, or the defensive team's indifference to his advance

first base - první meta

(n) the base that must be touched first by a base runner in baseball

fly ball - vysoký odpal, luft, “fláj”

(n) a hit that flies up in the air

force out/play (FO) - nucený aut/ nucený postup

(n) a putout of a base runner who is required to run

foul ball - “faul ból”, odpal mimo výseč, chybný odpal

(n) a ball struck with the bat so that it does not stay between the lines (the foul lines) that

define the width of the playing field

full count - plný stav

(n) a count where the batter has three balls and two strikes; also known as “3-and-2” or

“3-2”.

59

G

Grand slam or grandslam (GS or GRSH) - grandslam, čtyřbodový homerun

(n) a homerun hit with men on first base, second base and third base; four runs score on a

grand slam, the most possible on one play

ground rule double - pravidlo postupu o dvě mety

(n) a special rule dealing with situations that arise due to the nature of the playing

grounds; a fair ball that is put into play and then bounces out of play, the batter is

rewarded 2 bases

ground ball - “graund ból”, odpal po zemi

(n) a hit that travels along the ground

grounder - odpal po zemi

(n) a hit that travels along the ground

H

hit (H) - hit, odpal, dobrý odpal

(n) a ball that is put into play that allows the batter to safely reach base

hit and run - hit and run

(n) a situation when a base runner attempts to steal while the batter tries to hit the ball

60

hit by pitch (HBP) - trefení nadhozem

(n) a situation when a batter is hit by a pitched ball thrown by the pitcher without

swinging at it; the batter is granted first base as a result

home plate - domácí meta

(n) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands

homerun, homer (HR) - homerun, čtyřmetový odpal

(n) a base hit on which the batter scores a run as he is able to circle the bases and reach

home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the

process

(v) to hit a homerun

home team - domácí tým

(n) the team that plays in their stadium and bats second

I

infield - infield, vnitřní pole

(n) the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate

infielder - vnitřní polař

(n) a person who plays a position in the infield

61

infield fly - vnitřní chycený odpal

(n) a rule that applies to a ball that is popped up in the infield with runners on first and

second, or when the bases are loaded with less than 2 outs. The rule prevents the fielding

team from purposely dropping these balls and subsequently turning double plays

inning - směna

(n) one of nine divisions of play during which each team has a turn at bat

intentional walk (IBB or IW) - úmyslná meta zdarma

(n) a situation when a batter is given a free pass to first base to take advantage of a

pitching matchup or to face a weaker hitter

K

knuckleball - “nakl”

(n) the type of a baseball pitch that is thrown to prevent rotation during flight; this causes

the ball to break and move erratically

L

leadoff hitter - první pálkař

(n) the first batter of a game or of an inning

left field - levé pole

(n) the area of the outfield to the left of the batter

62

left fielder - levý polař

(n) the person who plays left field

line drive - line drive, přímý odpal

(n) a bat that is hit hard and low, and that flies straight out from the batter to any spot of

the baseball field

lineup - lineup, pořadí pálkařů

(n) a list of players taking part in a game; it is the sequence in which the members of the

offense take their turns in batting against the pitcher

loss (L) - prohra

(n) statistics earned by pitchers of losing teams who leave the game when their team is

losing and ultimately ends up losing the game

M

mound - kopec

(n) the raised dirt area in the center of the infield which the pitcher throws from during

the game

n

no-hitter - no-hitter

63

(n) a game in which a starting pitcher throws a complete game without allowing a hit

during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings

O

offence - útok

(n) the group of players who are batting and trying to hit the ball, move base runners over

and score runs/points

on-deck - on-deck, následující pálkař

(adj) the next batter due up after the current batter; stands in the on-deck circle while the

batter before him tries to hit the ball

out (O) - “aut”

(n) the basic principle when a player at bat or a base runner is retired by the team in the

field; outs are generally recorded through a strikeout, a groundout, a popout or a flyout

outfield - outfield, zadní pole, zaďák

(n) the area of a baseball playing field beyond the lines connecting the bases

outfielder - zadopolař, vnější polař

(n) a person who plays in the outfield

P

64

passed ball (PB) - passed ball, nechycený nadhoz

(n) a pitch that the catcher should have caught but did not

perfect game - perfect game

(n) a game in which the pitcher throws the entire game and doesn’t allow a player on

base

pickoff (PK) - pickoff, přihrávka nadhazovače

(n) a move by the pitcher to attempt to throw one of the runners on base out instead of

throwing the ball home

pinch hitter - střídající pálkař

(n) a substitute player for the regular batter in the batting order for one plate appearance

pinch runner - střídající běžec

(n) a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing a runner on base; the pinch

runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom

the pinch runner was substituted

pitch - nadhoz

(n) the act of a pitcher throwing the ball towards home plate to start a play

(v) to throw the ball to batters of the opponent team

65

pitch count (PC) - počet nadhozů

(n) number of pitches thrown by a pitcher in a game

pitcher - nadhazovač, pitcher

(n) the person who does the pitching and throws the ball to batters

plate - domácí meta

(n) see home plate

(v) to cause a run to be scored or a runner to cross home plate, as by a hit

play-by-play - play-by-play, nadhoz po nadhozu

(n) a commentary on a game that describes every part of it in great detail

(adj) reporting details of every phase of the match as it happens

R

reliever / relief pitcher - náhradní nadhazovač

(n) a pitcher who does not start the game

right field - pravé pole

(n) the part of the outfield to the right of the batter when facing the pitcher

right fielder - pravý polař

66

(n) the person who plays right field

roster - soupiska

(n) a list of the names of players on a sports team

See also lineup and batting order

run (R) - doběh, bod

(n) a score earned when a base runner safely gets to home plate

runs batted in (RBI) - body stažené odpalem

(n) a run that is the result of the batter's performance

run-down - run-down, obranný trojúhelník, honička

(n) a situation when the base runner is trapped between two bases, and the defensive

team attempts to tag him out

runner / base runner - běžec

(n) a batter who gets on base and is still on base

S

sacrifice bunt (SH) - sebeobětovací ulívka

67

(n) a bunt that is played with an attempt to advance a runner (or multiple runners) at least

one base; the batter is sacrificing himself in order to move another runner closer to

scoring

sacrifice fly, sac fly (SF) - sebeobětovací odpal

(n) a long fly ball hit deep enough to the outfield which allows a base runner to score; the

batter is sacrificing himself in order to allow another runner to score

safe - “sejf”

(n) a situation when a base runner successfully makes it to a base or home plate without

being put out by various ways

score - skóre, výsledek

(n) comparison of how many runs each team has scored

(v) to gain a point/run

scorer - zapisovatel

(n) a person who keeps a record of the score in a game

scoring position - skórovací pozice

(n) runners on second and/or third base

second base - druhá meta

68

(n) the base that must be touched second by a base runner in baseball

shortstop (SS) - spojka

(n) the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second

and third base

signs - signály

(n) gestures that a coach makes to convey information to players and what they should do

single (1B) - jednometový odpal

(n) the most common type of base hit, when a batter safely reaches first base by hitting a

ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out

sinker - sinker

(n) a type of fastball that has downward action and is more likely to induce a ground ball

slide (noun) - skluz; sklouznout, doklouznout na metu

(n) a move of a runner who drops his body to the ground once he is very close to the

base, and tries to reach the base safely on close plays

(v) to move smoothly and quickly across the ground to reach a base as quickly as possible

slider - slider

(n) a pitched ball that acts like a fastball until it breaks suddenly as it reaches the plate

69

slugger - slugger

(n) a power hitter that has a high slugging percentage

slugging percentage (SLG) - průměr met dosažených odpalem

(n) statistics that represents the total number of bases a player records per at-bat

squeeze play - nátlaková hra

(n) a baseball play in which a runner on third base tries to score as the batter bunts the

pitch

starting pitcher / starter - startující nadhazovač

(n) a pitcher who starts in a baseball game

steal - krádež mety; krást metu

(n) a situation when a base runner tries to advance a base while the pitcher is in the act of

throwing to the plate

(v) to run a base between pitches without the batter hitting the ball

stolen base (SB) - ukradená meta

(n) a base that is successfully stolen by a base runner when he advances to a base to

which he is not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to

the action of the runner

70

strike - “strajk”, dobrý nadhoz

(n) a thrown ball by a pitcher that needs to cross the strike zone or be close enough to the

corners of the zone to be called a strike by the umpire

(v)

strikeout (SO) - “strajkaut”, vyřazení (“vyautování”) pálkaře, bez odpálení /

“vystrajkovat”

(n) an out resulting from the batter getting three strikes

(v. int) to put out or be put out by a strikeout

(v. trans) to put a hitter out of the game by a strike-out

strike zone - strajkzóna

(n) the area over home plate from the midpoint between a batter's shoulders and the top

of the uniform pants and a point just below the kneecap where the pitcher has to place his

pitch in order to be called a strike

suspended game - odložený zápas

(n) a game which has to be stopped before it can be completed, and is meant to be

finished at a later time or date

switch hitter - switch hitter, obouruký pálkař

(n) a player who is capable of batting from the right or left side of the plate

71

T

tag - tečování

(n) the act of touching a runner with the ball (in the glove or barehanded) to try and

record an out

(v) to get a runner out by touching him with the ball or with the glove holding the ball

third base - třetí meta

(n) the base that must be touched third by a base runner in baseball

throw - příhoz, přihrávka

(n) the act of propelling the ball with the arm

(v) to propel the ball through the air with a motion of the hand or arm

tie game - nerozhodný zápas

(n) a game that ends with both teams having scored the same number of runs; in normal

play, ties should not occur in baseball, as the rules state that extra innings are played until

one of the two teams wins the game

top of the inning - začátek směny

(n) the first part of an inning when the visiting team bats

total bases (TB) - mety získané odpalem

(n) the total number of bases a player gains during a game or season

72

triple (3B) - trojmetový odpal

(n) a hit from which the batter reaches third base

triple play (TP) - troj aut

(n) the act of getting three players out on one play

tryout - výběr(y)

(n) a time when people, who want to be in a sports team or an activity, are tested so that

the best can be chosen

U

umpire - rozhodčí

(n) an official who rules on the playing of a game

utility player - univerzál

(n) a player capable of playing multiple positions at a high level

V

velocity (mph x kph) - rychlost

(n) the speed at which a pitch reaches home plate

73

W

walk (BB) - meta zdarma; dostat metu zdarma

(n) a free pass to first base given to a batter after a pitcher throws four balls outside the

strike zone

(v)

walk-off - walk-off

(n) an act by the home team that wins the game. Walk-offs can only occur in the ninth

inning or later. Most walk-offs come off hits, but there can also be walk-off walks, walk-

off balks, and more.

warning track - warning track

(n) The dirt area near the outfield fence is a different material from the outfield grass.

The purpose of the warning track is to allow outfielders a better idea of where they are to

the wall so they don’t run into it.

wild pitch (WP) - nechytatelný nadhoz

(n) a badly thrown pitch that the catcher doesn’t have a reasonable chance of catching,

and that allows a base runner to advance a base

win (W) - vítězství

(n) atistic earned by pitchers of winning teams who leave the game when their team is

winning and ultimately ends up winning the game.

74

Appendix 2

5. Baseball Abbreviations

5.1. Batting abbreviations

1B or S - Singles

2B - Doubles

3B - Triples

AB - At Bats

AB/HR - At Bats per Home Run

AO - Fly Outs (Air)

BA or AVG - Batting average

BB - Bases on Balls (Walks)

BABIP - Batting Average on Balls in Play

BB/K - Walks to Strikeouts

BR - Base Runs

EQA - Equivalent Average

GIDP - Ground into Double Plays

GO/AO - Ground Balls to Fly Balls

GS or GRSL - Grand Slams

H - Hits

HBP - Hit by Pitch

HRR - Home Run Ratio

HR - Home Runs

HR/H - Home Runs per Hit

ITPHR - Inside The Park Home Run

ISO - Isolated Power

K or SO - Strikeouts

OBP - On-Base Percentage

75

OPS - On-Base Plus Slugging

PA - Plate Appearance

PA/SO - Plate Appearances per Strikeout

RBI - Runs Batted In

RC - Runs Created

RISP - Runner In Scoring Position

RP - Runs Produced

SF - Sacrifice Flies

SH - Sacrifice Hits (bunts)

SLG - Slugging Average

TA - Total Average

TB - Total Bases

TOB - Times on Base

XBH - Extra Base Hits

5.2. Baserunning abbreviations

CS - Caught Stealing

DI - Defensive Indifference

LOB - (Runners) Left on Base

R - Runs

SB - Stolen Bases

SB% - Stolen Base Percentage

SBA or ATT - Stolen Base Attempts

SBR - Stolen Base Runs

UBR - Ultimate Base Running

5.3. Fielding Abbreviations

A - Assists

76

CI - Catcher’s Interference

DP - Double Plays

E - Errors

FP - Fielding Percentage

GP - Games Played

INN - Innings (in a certain position)

OFA - Outfield Assists

PB - Passed Balls

PK - Pickoffs

PO - Putouts

TC - Total Chances (assists + putouts + errors)

TP - Triple Plays

UZR - Ultimate Zone Rating

5.4. Pitching Abbreviations

BB - Walks (Bases on Balls)

BB/9 - Bases on Balls per 9 Innings

BF - Batters Faced

BFP - Batters Facing Pitcher

BK - Balks (Illegal Pitching Actions)

BS - Blown Save

CERA - Component ERA

CBO - Combined Shutout

CG - Complete Games

CGL- Complete Game Losses

DICE - Defense-Independent Component ERA

ER - Earned Runs

ERA - Earned Run Average

77

G or GP - Games (pitched)

GF - Games Finished

GIDP - Double Plays or Double Play Groundouts Induced

GIDPO - Double Play Opportunities

GIR - Games in Relief

GO - Ground Outs

GO/AO - Ground Outs to Fly Outs

GS - Games Started

FIP - Fielding Independent Pitching

H or HA - Hits Allowed

H/9 or HA/9 - Hits Allowed over 9 Innings

HB or HBP - Hit Batters

HLD or H - Hold

HR or HRA - Home Runs Allowed

IBB or IW - Intentional Walks (Balls on Bases)

IP - Innings Pitched

IP/GS - Innings Pitched per Games Started

IPS - Innings Per Start

IR - Inherited Runners

IRA - Inherited Runs Allowed

K - Strikeouts

K/9 or SO/9 - Strikeouts per 9 Innings

L - Losses (while pitching)

LOB - Left on Base

LOB% - Left on Base Percentage

OBA - Opponents' Batting Average

PC-ST - Pitch Count and Strike Count within those pitches

PIT or NP - Pitch Count

78

MB9 - Baserunners Per 9 Innings

PFR - Power Finesse Ratio (strikeouts + walks divided by innings pitched)

QOP - Quality of Pitch

QS - Quality Start

RA - Run Average (runs allowed over 9 innings)

RPF - Relief Failures

RW - Relief Wins

S/SHO - Shutouts

SIERA - Skill-Interactive Earned Run Average

K/SO - Strikeouts

SV - Saves

SVO - Save Opportunities

W - Wins

W+S - Relief Wins and Saves

WHIP - Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched

WP - Wild Pitches

79

Appendix 3

80

81

82

83

84

85

Appendix 4:

86