Welcome to Baseball in French, Lesson 5. Previous lessons can be found here.
Today's term is l'amorti.
In English, that translates to "the cushioning". What's the baseball translation?
Bunt.
Here are three Expos fan favorites, showing off their "cushioning" skills.
All three guys had speed, and all three could lay 'em down. Unfortunately I don't think Major League Baseball keeps track of bunt singles separately from regular singles, so I couldn't tell you how many each guy totaled for his career. But I can tell you how many career sacrifice bunts each had:
Raines: 39
Grissom: 38
DeShields: 57
And here's the pitch. DeShields cushions it up the third-base line and sprints out of the box. . . the throw to first. . . not in time!
I'm just so accustomed to "bunt" being the word for it that anything else seems a bit odd. But when you think about it, "cushion" is a pretty good description of what's going on. I guess it's similar to an American broadcaster saying "pushes it up the line", or "taps it down the line".
What are your thoughts on l'amorti?
Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading.
Long time reader but might be first comment...? I think cushion is a great word. Most terms for things that happen quickly are one syllable though so it likely wouldn't stick...in theory it's a better word by far than bunt...whatever that means!:)
ReplyDeleteHey RonE! Thanks very much for reading and commenting. I agree that "cushion" describes what's actually going on pretty well, but "bunt" is here to stay. I'm fine with that, too.
DeleteA bit of an odd fit for baseball, imo. But I do miss seeing guys who could get on base with a good um.. cushion?!? lol.
ReplyDeleteHahah. It is an odd term when used in certain ways. I'm picturing a batter walking up to the plate holding a couch cushion, and getting into a bunt posture as the pitcher winds up.
DeleteI'm too distracted by those pretty powder blue uniforms!
ReplyDeleteCan't blame you there, TwinKiller!
DeleteAs a Canadian I watched those guys a lot (Raines in the 80s, Deshields and Grissom in the early 90s), all great players.
ReplyDeleteI remember learning French baseball words from O Pee Chee cards back then. Didn't know that l'amorti was the word for bunt, but that is cool. Interestingly while the French word for bunt is completely different from the English one, the Japanese word for bunt is.....bunt.
Interesting, Sean! Maybe sometimes it's best to leave the lexicon alone.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Mark!
DeleteI will always have an appreciation for posts featuring Expos cards. Cushioning might be a good description... but don't see myself switching off "bunt" anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Fuji. The term "bunt" is perfectly ingrained into American baseball. Now if MLB players would only start doing it more often.
DeleteCushioning the ball sounds weird.
ReplyDeleteSee above comment about a batter walking up to the plate holding a couch cushion ;-)
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