Glossary of baseball (W) facts for kids

W

waiting for the express and caught the local

A batter caught looking at an off-speed pitch for strike three, when the game situation called for (or the batter was expecting) a fastball.

wallop

A home run. Also used as a verb: "Albert Pujols walloped that pitch."

walk

A base on balls.

walk-off

A home team immediately wins the game when they score a run to take the lead in the bottom of the last inning.

In its truest sense a walk-off occurs when a runner already on base scores the winning run and the batter need only touch first base and "walk off" the field, but see walk-off home run.

warning track

The dirt and finely-ground gravel area along the fence, intended to help prevent fielders from running into it.

warning track power

When a batter hits a fly ball that is caught at the warning track, just missing a home run.

waste a pitch

• When a pitcher gets ahead in the count he may deliberately throw the ball outside the strike zone, hoping the batter will chase it. "Waste a pitch", the opposite of attack the strike zone, is the counterpart to a batter's "taking" a 3-0 pitch.
• The phrase is sometimes applied also to hitters who deliberately foul off a strike to get good wood.

wave

• To swing and miss a pitch, usually with a tentative swing.
• When an umpire signals to a runner to take a base on an overthrow into the dug-out or in case of a ground rule double or a balk, he waves the runner to the next base.
• When a third-base coach signals to a runner advancing toward the base to continue toward home plate he is said to wave the runner home.
• "Doing the wave" in the stands.

wearing a pitch

• When a batter allows a pitch to hit them, or knowingly drops their elbow or shoulder into the pitch to be awarded first base.
• Sometimes if a player jumps out of the way of a pitch you may hear his teammates telling him to, "wear it!" from the dugout.

web gem

An outstanding defensive play. Refers to the webbing of a glove. Popularized by Baseball Tonight on ESPN.

went deep

Hit a home run. See go deep.

went fishing

When a batter reaches across the plate trying to hit an outside pitch (and misses) he "went fishing" for it.

wheelhouse

A hitter's power zone. Usually a pitch waist-high and over the heart of the plate. "Clem threw that one right into Ruben's wheelhouse. End of story."

wheel play

Upon a bunt to the left side of the infield, the third-baseman runs toward home to field the bunt, and the shortstop runs to third base to cover. The infielders thus rotate like a wheel. "Lohse's bunt was a bad one, in the air over the head of Beltré, but it required Andrus to make an outstanding pick, stopping in his tracks as he was headed to cover third on the wheel play and then throwing to first."

wheels

Legs. A player who runs the bases fast "has wheels".

whiff

A swinging strike (referring to the bat whiffing through the air without contacting the ball).

whiffout

A swinging third strike.

whip

• A curveball.
• See Walks plus hits per inning pitched.

whitewash

A shutout.

wild card

The wild-card playoff spot is given to the team in each league with the best regular season record among divisional second-place teams.

wild in the strike zone

A pitcher who throws strikes but without sufficient control over their location is "wild in the strike zone". Headline: "Zambrano Is Too Wild in Strike Zone".

wild pitch

A wild pitch (abbreviated WP) is charged to a pitcher when, in the opinion of the official scorer, a pitch is too high, too low, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to catch the ball with ordinary effort, and which allows one or more runners to advance; or allows the batter to advance to first base, if it is a third strike with first base unoccupied. Neither a passed ball nor a wild pitch is charged as an error. It is a separate statistic.

win

See Win–loss record (pitching)

window shopping

Caught looking for strike three.

windup

In baseball, there are two legal pitching positions: the windup, and the set. The choice of pitching position may be tactical, as the windup has a generally slower execution than the set and is thus at greater risk of allowing a stolen base. However, some pitchers, particularly relief pitchers, are more comfortable pitching from the set position, and thus use it regardless of the situation.

winning record

A team that has won 82 games this year is having a winning season, because now they can lose the rest and still not have a total of that many losses.

winning streak

A series of consecutive wins.

winter leagues

Currently eight minor leagues with seasons that happen during the "off-season" of Major League Baseball: the Arizona Fall League, the Australian Baseball League, the Dominican Winter Baseball League, the Mexican Pacific League, the Puerto Rico Baseball League, the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, the Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League, and the Colombian Professional Baseball League. The winter leagues used to include the Cuban League and the Panamanian Winter League.

wire-to-wire

A phrase borrowed from horse racing. It refers to a team's leading a game from the first inning to the end of the game, or leading their division (or league) from the first two or three weeks of the season to the end of the season. Also sometimes used to refer to a pitcher's throwing a complete game, especially a shut-out.

wood

The bat. See get good wood.

work the count

When a batter is patient and tries to get ahead in the count, or to get a pitch that he can hit hard, he's said to "work the count" or to "work the pitcher". Tigers Manager Jim Leyland: "We tell our hitters to be aggressive all the time, and at the same time we tell them, 'Work the pitcher.'"

worm burner

A hard hit ground ball that "burns" the ground. A daisy cutter.

worm killer

A pitch, usually an off speed or breaking ball, that hits the ground before it reaches home plate.

wrapped around the foul pole

When a batted ball that goes for a home run passes just inside the foul pole while curving toward foul territory, it is sometimes described as having "wrapped around" the pole. (The ball may actually land in foul territory, but if it passed inside the pole it is still fair.)

WW

Scoresheet notation for "wasn't watching", used by non-official scorekeepers when their attention has been distracted from the play on field. Supposedly used frequently by former New York Yankees broadcaster Phil Rizzuto.