wild pitch
a pitched ball that the catcher misses and could not be expected to catch, allowing one or more base runners to advance one or more bases.
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Origin of wild pitch
1- Compare passed ball.
Words Nearby wild pitch
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wild pitch in a sentence
There were wild pitches and fielding errors, and when the Sox won it was — at least for us fans — like the end of a great movie, where you hope they’re going to win but you don’t know if they can pull it off.
In the sixth, Turner led off with an infield single but was stranded after reaching second on a wild pitch.
Max Scherzer’s Nationals sputter, lose Hall of Fame pitching matchup to Clayton Kershaw’s Dodgers | Jesse Dougherty | April 12, 2021 | Washington PostThe sequence after the wild pitch was cutter, sinker, cutter, cutter, with the last one clipping the low-and-outside corner as Arenado swung through it.
Erick Fedde used his cutter to pitch his way out of trouble. That’s progress. | Jesse Dougherty | March 3, 2021 | Washington PostOne cannot attain any wild pitch of hilarity among bolts and bars and Winchester rifles.
Disturbed Ireland | Bernard H. BeckerThe next man to the bat got a hit and on a wild pitch managed to reach third.
The Rover Boys at Big Horn Ranch | Edward Stratemeyer
It seemed to rouse him from his dreamy state, and awakened him to a wild pitch of excitement.
Nic Revel | George Manville FennLindsay pressed a finger against his nose, which had been broken in youth by a wild pitch.
The Ambassador | Samuel Kimball MerwinA wild pitch, the only one of the game, advanced Mylert a base.
Baseball Joe in the World Series | Lester Chadwick
Other Idioms and Phrases with wild pitch
A careless statement or action, as in Calling comic books great literature—that's a wild pitch. This term comes from baseball, where it signifies a pitched ball so far off target that the catcher misses it, enabling a base runner to advance. [Mid-1900s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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