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backcatcher
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:back-catcher, back catcher
n. — Sports
the player who stands behind the batter in baseball.
Type: 5. Frequency — This term is used in Canada alternately with the term used predominantly in the US, catcher (see Image 2). It remains unclear why backcatcher is used in Canada while "catcher" is used in the US, although it is likely a preservation of older usage (see, e.g., the second 2011 quotation). Backcatcher is by far most frequent in Canada (see Charts 1 and 2).
See also COD-2, s.v. "backcatcher", which is marked "Cdn".
See also COD-2, s.v. "backcatcher", which is marked "Cdn".
Quotations
1948
At school it seems we don't say Kill The Ump -- we do it. Well, not quite, but we certainly like coming close. In the Tuesday noon-hour game the back-catcher hit Doug Davies, who was umpire at that time, and on Friday PE period the first baseman hit Mr. Trueman.
1978
I think he is a very good backcatcher.
1990
Since almost everyone was leery about standing behind a swinging bat -- and I do mean swinging -- with balls being thrown at you, we didn't have a backcatcher. The batter fetched all missed pitches.
1995
I play backcatcher. . . .I can meet the ball often enough with my bat to keep my average over .300, but it's behind the plate where I do my best work. When you're the catcher, you're the hub of the whole team.
2011
The reason many people call the catcher a backcatcher is that backcatchers did exist at one point in baseball's history. Before the backstop, a wall or fence stopping the ball from going too far away from the field of play, a backcatcher would stop fouls and any other ball that went behind the catcher.
2011
Del Fleming uses the word "backcatcher." Can you please explain to me why in Western Canada there is a propensity to use this word instead of the proper word, "catcher"? Before moving to Alberta from Eastern Canada, I'd never heard this word before. Watch any professional baseball game, and the player is introduced as the "catcher," not "backcatcher."
References
- COD-2
Images
Image 1: A backcatcher (middle). Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: N. Pallas
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 10 Sep. 2013
