pinch hitter

(redirected from a pinch hitter)

pinch hitter

1. In baseball, a batter who substitutes for someone else. Their pinch hitter ended up hitting a grand slam and winning the game for them!
2. By extension, anyone who acts as a substitute, especially at the last minute or in an emergency. Because the attorney assigned to the case is so close to having her baby, they asked me to be a pinch hitter in case she gives birth before the trial is over.
See also: hitter, pinch

pinch hitter

A substitute for another person, especially in an emergency. For example, Pat expected her mother to help with the baby, but just in case, she lined up her mother-in-law as pinch hitter . This expression comes from baseball, where it is used for a player substituting for another at bat at a critical point or in a tight situation (called a pinch since the late 1400s). [Late 1800s]
See also: hitter, pinch

pinch hitter

1. n. a substitute batter in the game of baseball. Sam is a pinch hitter for Ralph, who broke his wrist.
2. n. any substitute person. In school today we had a pinch hitter. Our teacher was sick.
See also: hitter, pinch
References in periodicals archive ?
Pinder singled as a pinch hitter off Jace Fry (1-4) to begin the ninth.
A's turn 9th-inning error into win over White Sox
He has played the role of a pinch hitter so effectively that his first two half-centuries have came off just 15 and 17 balls respectively against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Narine: Mystery spinner now turns mystery hitter
Young improved to 3-for-8 with four RBI as a pinch hitter this season and 7-for-21 (.333) since signing with the Sox before last season (the average for MLB pinch hitters in 2017 is .252).
Young's RBI single in 13th caps Red Sox rally past Cardinals
Through 2014, Xavier Paul's career totals as a pinch hitter were a .203 batting average (28-for-138) with five home runs and a .241 on-base percentage.
Pinch hitting
Ash was removed for a pinch hitter and the Reds beat the Cubs 6-5.
BC-BBO--ThisDateinBaseba
But last year, at age 39, he played first base in 111 at-bats and served as a pinch hitter in 34 more, earning a batting average of .235 and an OPS of .798.
Giambi beats the Yanks 4-2--was his departure from the Bronx a mistake?
Thome had limited success as a pinch hitter in the National league, Going 4 for 17.
Transaction Action: Twins Add DH Thome for 1-yr, $1.5M Deal
Top of the list is that age is no bar and secondly that the role of a pinch hitter is getting undermined.
IPL gives South African fans their rand's worth
A lead teacher is like a pinch hitter, says Johnny Lott, president of the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics and professor of mathematics education at the University of Montana.
Join the club: here's how one district blazed a trail to excellence by spurring teacher excitement for a new, non-traditional math program
Foxx, who was seventeen years old, played in only ten games, nine as a pinch hitter, but he had six hits in nine times at bat.
Cleveland's thrilling victory after a 12-run deficit recalled 1925 game. (From a Researcher's Notebook)
Hardy was 2-for-7 as a pinch hitter in 1960, and 4-for-15 (not 3-for-14, as shown in The Baseball Encyclopedia) in 1961.
A Hardy Pinch-Hitting Average
Coaches didn't know whether to put in a pinch hitter or a pinch runner for us and often tried to do both.
A league of our own
"Kylie has been dynamite as a pinch hitter," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman.
Libertyville hangs on against Hersey
Also, in your chart you listed Hack Wilson as getting a hit in his final AB at home with the Phillies as a pinch hitter, but Wilson played the entire game going 1-f or-4 and it is not determined if his hit came in his final at-bat.
Hits in final at-bats
Pierzynski played part of the day game, as well, coming in as a pinch hitter for Ross.
Grady's bright days darken
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