rabbit ball

noun

1. a lively baseball, especially the ball used in present-day baseball:

   The pitchers keep complaining about the rabbit ball.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rabbit ball¹

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25

Example Sentences

Home runs didn’t jump again until 26 seasons later in 1987, the year of “the rabbit ball.”

From The Guardian

No. Is it as bad as using a rabbit ball to get 30 more yards on your drives in golf?

From Forbes

Coming when it does, in the era of the rabbit ball, the lively bat, the narrowed strike zone, shortened fences, hardened infields and exploding scoreboards that make every home run sound like a Viet Cong ambush, Marichal's performance to date should automatically qualify him for a niche in the Hall of Fame�or the Smithsonian.

From Time Magazine Archive

As for sport�football vanished when the forward pass came in, and baseball was ruined by the rabbit ball.

From Time Magazine Archive

Rawlings Co. now makes the official major league baseball after a 101-year Spalding reign, and the scuttlebutt is that Rawlings is turning out a rabbit ball.

From Time Magazine Archive