Where did the term "shortstop" come from?

DAVE_M

DAVE_M

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was talking to a few players the other day and when asked about one of the local guys, I called him a shortstop. I know what a shortstop is and I know how well a shortstop can play, but then I was asked something I didn't know the answer to...

"Why do they call it a shortstop?"
 
I know shortstop means between second and third base in baseball, so I guess it's saying the player is between A+/Open speed and Pro speed.
 
It was borrowed from baseball where the meaning was that this player could stop most balls short in the infield & in pool refers to a second tier player not yet ready for most serious road players or world class competition. That while he isn't ready for the elite he can stop anyone else short.


Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
 
Kris_b1104 said:
I know shortstop means between second and third base in baseball, so I guess it's saying the player is between A+/Open speed and Pro speed.
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Colonel said:
It was borrowed from baseball where the meaning was that this player could stop most balls short in the infield & in pool refers to a second tier player not yet ready for most serious road players or world class competition. That while he isn't ready for the elite he can stop anyone else short.


Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
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As an avid college baseball fan (Geaux Tigers!), I am quite aware of what a shortstop is; As well as in pool. I am asking where it came from; And by that, I mean "Baseball" is not the answer I'm looking for.
 
DAVE_M said:
I was talking to a few players the other day and when asked about one of the local guys, I called him a shortstop. I know what a shortstop is and I know how well a shortstop can play, but then I was asked something I didn't know the answer to...

"Why do they call it a shortstop?"
Click to expand...
I always thought of it as a complementary term such as , "He is a good local short stop". Meaning a very good local player but not at pro level. Never thought of it as an insult.
 
You first have to look at when the term came into being. It is an old term that the road players use to use. They would refer to someone as a shortstop that was willing to play an unkown and would bet decently.

The road player would not have to come into town and scope out the town for a while to find out who to play, but rather, could just come into town and play the "shortstop" right away, win, and then move on to the next town. The road player wouldn't have to spend a lot of time in an area trying to get a game. Hence, a shortstop.

As you would assume, the shortstop was a very good player, but not quite good enough to take on the road players which often were what we call the top pros today.
 
Neil said:
You first have to look at when the term came into being. It is an old term that the road players use to use. They would refer to someone as a shortstop that was willing to play an unkown and would bet decently.

The road player would not have to come into town and scope out the town for a while to find out who to play, but rather, could just come into town and play the "shortstop" right away, win, and then move on to the next town. The road player wouldn't have to spend a lot of time in an area trying to get a game. Hence, a shortstop.

As you would assume, the shortstop was a very good player, but not quite good enough to take on the road players which often were what we call the top pros today.
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Yep, that's the way it started. Shortstop means something different in each state today, but the old timers know what it means. Johnnyt
 
Neil said:
You first have to look at when the term came into being. It is an old term that the road players use to use. They would refer to someone as a shortstop that was willing to play an unkown and would bet decently.

The road player would not have to come into town and scope out the town for a while to find out who to play, but rather, could just come into town and play the "shortstop" right away, win, and then move on to the next town. The road player wouldn't have to spend a lot of time in an area trying to get a game. Hence, a shortstop.

As you would assume, the shortstop was a very good player, but not quite good enough to take on the road players which often were what we call the top pros today.
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Thank you very much!

Johnnyt said:
Yep, that's the way it started. Shortstop means something different in each state today, but the old timers know what it means. Johnnyt
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When in doubt, the old timers always have the answer!
 
When i saw in the preview panel "where does the term."

I knew what the term was going to be. This is at least the 15th thread on this since ive been here-probably more.
 
I'm going to take a guess at this. In the early days of baseball, the shortstop position was played forward of the current position, forward of the baseline in fact, which lead to the name "shortstop", a noun.

It was also became slang in the 1800's, meaning "to intercept" or "ambush", as in to stop short.

I assume that in the old poolrooms, the best local player became the shortstop. For example, "the visitor intended on beating everybody in the billiards room , but he ran into Bob and made a short stop".

Believe it or not, but it makes sense to me.
 

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I always wondered why too. Kinda neat too see where it came from thanks for the replys on this guys post :thumbup:
 
macguy said:
I always thought of it as a complementary term such as , "He is a good local short stop". Meaning a very good local player but not at pro level. Never thought of it as an insult.
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I agree. And the term "top shortstop" was a very complementary term. A top shortstop could only be stopped by a "player" (pro).
 
Roadplayer or pro could stop by and in short amount of time win the cash. Everyone would be betting on their home player. Or he played just short of being pro. The meaning is different to many places and players.
 
DAVE_M said:
I was talking to a few players the other day and when asked about one of the local guys, I called him a shortstop. I know what a shortstop is and I know how well a shortstop can play, but then I was asked something I didn't know the answer to...

"Why do they call it a shortstop?"
Click to expand...

It's not the guy that after you beat him states "I'm a little short today..."? :wink:
 
fasted71465 said:
Roadplayer or pro could stop by and in short amount of time win the cash. Everyone would be betting on their home player. Or he played just short of being pro. The meaning is different to many places and players.
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I always viewed it as the guy between the low ranked players (infield) and the pros (outfield). Good enough to catch the middle balls but left the long bombs to the guys past him.
 
Once asked Larry Hubbart that question. His answer? Look in the mirror!

He also told me the saying comes from the strongest local player taking all the local money only having it be a "short stop" before the pro or road player player got all of it!

Lyn
 
1849, DL Adams invented the shortshop position by moving one of the outfielders in, basically having him "stop short" of his normal position
(or possibly so that he could "stop the ball short" of the outfield). He realized that 3 outfielders would be able to handle almost any fly ball and
that having another infielder "close the gap" between 2nd and 3rd would prevent a lot of ground-balls from getting past the infield. There was
3 infielders covering the bases (1st, 3nd & 3rd) and 4 outfielders plus pitcher & catcher (9 players). The shortstop was a converted outfielder.

Matt B.

Go Derek...the greatest shortstop" to ever play baseball."....and get ready for CC. Tanaka, Kuroda...and...and ....Michael Pineda.....who's a sleeping giant
and when Pineda starts to click after his two years injury hiatus, he could become the best pitcher on the Yankees next to Tanaka....98 wins & the
AL East Division Winner this year.......a great farewell to Mr. Jeter.
 
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