野球で使う表現（５） ― bean ball

穏やかでない表現です。何しろ打者の頭を狙ってピッチャーが投げる投球のことを意味するのですから。

"beanball"と一語でスペルすることもあるようです。


Cliff Lee didn't intend beanball?

Back in spring training, injured Seattle Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee caused a little excitement when he got thrown out of a game for throwing a little too close for Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder's comfort. Snyder was convinced that Lee was throwing at his head. Both benches emptied but nothing much happened. Now Lee has a five-game suspension that he'll start serving as soon as he comes off the disabled list.

Lee got to state his case to the league Wednesday in hopes of shortening his suspension and, just as when the incident happened, he claims that he was just unexplainably wild at that moment, according to the Seattle Times.

Conventional wisdom has it that Lee threw at Snyder because the two got tangled up at home plate earlier in the game, but Lee told the league the two incidents had nothing to do with each other.

Lee also apparently told the league that the abdominal injury that has him on the DL right now might be part of the reason he wasn't throwing spot-on pitches that day.
(Mark J. Miller. Cliff Lee didn't intend beanball? Seattle Times. April 15, 2010.)


日本でもスポーツニュースなんかでよく取り上げられる、打者の頭めがけた”ワイルドピッチ”のことですね。両チームのベンチからチームメイトが出てきて乱闘になるアレですが、上記の引用例でのインシデントは大したことにはならなかったようです。