So, to buck the usual trend, maybe we can move from digression to language, instead of vice-versa. There are several important aspects of baseball language: first baseball terms that have entered the common parlance (hit a home run, on deck, touch all bases, ...ad infinitum), second fascinatingly random and colorful baseball euphemisms (a "can of corn" is an easy catch, a "southpaw" is a left-hander, the thousands of alternate names for home runs), and finally the respect for the power of a single word -- no-hitter. For those who don't know the tradition, when a pitcher is approaching the rare feat of not surrendering a single base hit to the opposing team, no self-respecting announcer on TV or radio will utter that word, preferring constructions like "The Yankees remain hitless," or "the Red Sox have all 6 hits in the game," or "the pitcher has yet to give up a base hit," and the last one is pushing it. Additionally, no one in the dugout will talk to the pitcher after the 6th inning or so, or even sit near him.
I suspect there are several yarts in here, but maybe we can indulge ourselves in travelling over previously covered ground in the spirit of the endless cycle that is baseball (We'll get 'em next year, right?)
