get 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 got caught off base by the pitcher. A: "I can't believe that guy has stolen so many bases this season." B: "I know, he very rarely gets caught off base by other teams." If Richards wants to give his team any chance at tying this game, he cannot get caught off base here.

2. To be caught in a state of unpreparedness. We got 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 get caught off base by the interviewer. Terry hadn't prepared anything to say at the reception, so he got caught off base when they asked him to say a few words.