I've been playing baseball in France for a couple of years now and thought I knew most of the French equivalents for standard baseball terms. However, reading the report of last night's Pirates / Expos game in Montreal allowed me to learn a new one, as Expos outfielder Brad Wilkerson hit for "le carrousel" ("the merry-go-round"), which, you have to admit is much nicer than its slightly dull and functional English equivalent, "the cycle". And what is 'hitting for the cycle'? Well, it's hitting a single, a double, a triple and a home run, all in the same game. Wilkerson is the first major leaguer to achieve the feat this season (and the first Expo to do so since Rondell White in '96), and not only that, but he also seems to have an inbuilt sense of baseball order, since he did it in sequence - 1B, 2B, 3B, HR - thus helping the Expos to their second straight win for the first time in two weeks. They need to put a few more together if they're going to stay in contention for the NL Wild Card spot.
The reason I didn't know the French term is that I've never seen anyone hit for the cycle at our lowly level of baseball. I think I've seen about two home-runs in two years, and when anyone gets as far as third base, it's usually on a single / double followed by a throwing error by the fielder...
Another very rare occurrence, whatever the level of baseball, is the night Boston's Nomar Garciaparra had - he went 5-for-5 last night in the Red Sox' 10-1 demolition of Detroit. To give you an idea of how rare that kind of 5-hit game is, Garciaparra is in his seventh full major league season, and he's had the grand total of two games where he's had 5+ hits. And when was the other one? Four days ago, against the Phillies, when he went 6-for-6 in a 13-inning game... Sometimes there are days / weeks / months when you feel you'd be better off staying in bed, but I bet Nomar can't wait to get to the ballpark right now. The Yankees had better watch out, because it seems the Red Sox have decided to forego their traditional 'June swoon' this year...
The reason I didn't know the French term is that I've never seen anyone hit for the cycle at our lowly level of baseball. I think I've seen about two home-runs in two years, and when anyone gets as far as third base, it's usually on a single / double followed by a throwing error by the fielder...
Another very rare occurrence, whatever the level of baseball, is the night Boston's Nomar Garciaparra had - he went 5-for-5 last night in the Red Sox' 10-1 demolition of Detroit. To give you an idea of how rare that kind of 5-hit game is, Garciaparra is in his seventh full major league season, and he's had the grand total of two games where he's had 5+ hits. And when was the other one? Four days ago, against the Phillies, when he went 6-for-6 in a 13-inning game... Sometimes there are days / weeks / months when you feel you'd be better off staying in bed, but I bet Nomar can't wait to get to the ballpark right now. The Yankees had better watch out, because it seems the Red Sox have decided to forego their traditional 'June swoon' this year...
posted by Iain at
11:31
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