“Wise then knocked an easy one into short right field. Dunlap ran for it and ‘trapped’ it, expecting to make a double or triple play. Beckley, however, was away from first and failed to catch Dunlaps’s throw.” Pittsburgh Dispatch, June 28, 1889, p7 [Richard Hershberger]
- This is in the third sense defined by the Dictionary: “To deliberately drop an infield fly with less than two outs and runners at second base and first base. The ball is muffed to trick the runners into advancing and getting thrown out.”
Previous earliest use (Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2009):
1ST USE. 1892 (Chicago Herald, May 16; Edward J. Nichols).
