Language (and customs) of baseball

I often write longish posts about the language used by baseball broadcasters. I haven't done much of that this year. (You can use the search box above-left to find a bunch of them. Just pump in "language of baseball".) But I do want to report one thing I heard.

I'm not sure who said it. I didn't note the team name or the broadcaster's name. In fact, I didn't write it down at all. But I remember. It was an old guy who said it, one of the die-hards from another era who's still hanging on as a baseball broadcaster. I love those old guys because they say things that are truly bizarre.

A pitcher threw a really good pitch, but the batter got all of it. He blasted an incredibly fast line-drive over first base. It was way high in the air but the first baseman made a superb, almost superhuman jump and caught the ball. Watching what the pitcher did next, the announcer said:

"That's the kind of play where a pitcher's just gotta go over to his first baseman and pat him on the rear."

And that's why I love the old announcers: they're weird.