be caught off base

1. baseball Of a runner, to fail to return to one's base safely before the ball is thrown to the baseman. The runner was starting to sneak toward second but was caught off base by the pitcher. A: "I can't believe that guy has stolen so many bases this season." B: "I know, he's very rarely caught off base by other teams." Keep an eye on the runner at first—he can be caught off base pretty easily.

2. To be caught in a state of unpreparedness. We were caught completely off base by the cyber attack, and our whole network was down for days as a result! Make sure you have all the information and know all the key talking points. You don't want to be caught off base by the interviewer. Terry hadn't prepared anything to say at the reception, so he was caught off base when they asked him to say a few words.