Description

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The definitive work on the language of baseball—one of the “Five Best Baseball Books” (Wall Street Journal).

Hailed as “a staggering piece of scholarship” (Wall Street Journal) and “an indispensable guide to the language of baseball” (San Diego Union-Tribune), The Dickson Baseball Dictionary has become an invaluable resource for those who love the game. Drawing on dozens of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century periodicals, as well as contemporary sources, Dickson’s brilliant, illuminating definitions trace the earliest appearances of terms both well known and obscure. This edition includes more than 10,000 terms with 18,000 individual entries, and more than 250 photos. This “impressively comprehensive” (The Nation) book will delight everyone from the youngest fan to the hard-core aficionado.

About the Author

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Paul Dickson is the author of several bestselling books, including Baseball's Greatest Quotations, The Hidden Language of Baseball, and The Joy of Keeping Score. He lives in Garrett Park, Maryland.

Skip McAfee is an editor, horticulturalist, and baseball enthusiast. He is a member of the Bob Davids Chapter (Washington and Baltimore) of the Society of American Baseball Research. He is the editor of The Dickson Baseball Dictionary and is a contributor to the Research in Baseball Index project. He lives in Columbia, Maryland, with his wife.

Praise For…

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On the short list of necessary reference books. No baseball library should be without it.
— Esquire

Dickson’s discursive dictionary…a delight for former sandlot players, lexical scholars and members of the hot-stove league. 
— William Safire - The New York Times Magazine

An indispensable guide to the language of baseball.
— John Curtis - San Diego Union-Tribune

If you’re a baseball fan and...you’re curious about the etymology of the phrase out in the left field or you need a refresher on the infield fly rule. Well for 20 years, the authority, the baseball Bible, if you will, has been The Dickson Baseball Dictionary. 

— Melissa Block - All Things Considered

A wonderful companion volume...enough to last a fan through a 162-game season and the playoffs.…What a treasure to have at hand with a long season ahead. 
— David Broder - Washington Post

Very cool.
— Rachel Maddow - The Rachel Maddow Show

This magnificent volume will make the perfect gift for diehard fans.
— Vick Mickunas - The Dayton Daily News

[E]xtraordinary book…of value beyond the cost. If you or someone you love has an interest in [baseball, this] will be [a] welcome addition to any collection...so readable, so accessible, and such a pleasure to dip into, to research into, or to just sit down and read for the narrative flow.
— James Srodes - Washington Times

Always attuned to lore and language, Dickson ventures far beyond dugout expressions that have already dug out a place in common American speech.
— Rob Kyff - Hartford Courant

An invaluable American thesaurus.
— Mark Shields

Stupendous. . . . The best specialty dictionary I’ve seen in years.
— Grant Barrett, lexicographer, NPR