What Does Whiff Mean In Baseball?
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If you’re a baseball fan, you’ve probably heard the term “whiff” used a lot. But what does it actually mean? Let’s take a look.
The definition of a whiff
When a batter swings at a pitch and misses, it is called a whiff. A strikeout is awarded to the pitcher when the batter gets three strikes, including whiffs. Pitchers who strike out a lot of batters are said to have good “stuff,” meaning their pitches are hard to hit.
The history of the word
The term “whiff” dates back to the early days of baseball. It is thought to have originated from the sound made when a swinging bat just missed the ball. The first known use of the word “whiff” in baseball was in 1857, when it was used in a report of a game between the Brooklyn Excelsiors and the New York Mutuals.
In the early days of baseball, a “whiff” was not counted as an official strike. In 1858, however, the rules were changed and a “whiff” was counted as a strike. This change led to hitters becoming more selective and patient at the plate, which in turn led to more home runs being hit.
Today, the term “whiff” is still used in baseball, but it has taken on a slightly different meaning. When a hitter swings at a pitch and misses, it is called a “strikeout looking” or a “looking strikeout”. When a hitter swings at a pitch and makes contact, but does not hit the ball hard, it is called a “foul ball”. A “foul tip” is when the hitter makes contact with the ball, but it does not go far and is caught by the catcher for an out. A “swing and a miss” is when the hitter takes a swing at a pitch and misses it completely.
The use of the word in baseball
The baseball definition of whiff is when a batter swings at a pitch and misses it, or when the catcher catches a pitch in the dirt and the batter doesn’t swing. It can also be used as a verb, as in “he whiffsed on that pitch.”
The word is also used informally to describe when a pitcher throws a pitch that the batter swings at and misses. For example, you might hear someone say “he threw a fastball by him for a whiff.”
In baseball statistics, a pitcher’s whiff rate is the number of times per 100 pitches that he gets a swing and miss from hitters. A high whiff rate is usually an indication that a pitcher has good stuff, meaning his pitches are difficult for hitters to make contact with.
The connection between the word and baseball
The term whiff, in baseball, has been defined variously as (1) a pitch thrown so ineffectively that the batter does not swing at it and it is called a ball, or (2) a swinging strike. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word whiff first appeared in print in 1845, in an article in Knickerbocker magazine. The author of the article, E.P. Kemble, was writing about a game between the Brooklyn Eagles and the New York Mutuals, and he used the term to describe a pitch that was thrown so poorly that the batter did not swing at it.
