Where did the term "Pickle" come from in Baseball?

Question:Aside from my band Undergone, I enjoy playing Baseball.
I work with kids in an after school care program, I was playing baseball with them today and one of them asked "Why do they call it Pickle?", I didn't have an answer! Now I'm curious to know myself.

Thanks!

Answers:

What is the record number of pitches thrown during a single at bat, including balls, fouls, strikes, etc.?

"In a pickle," meaning "in a disagreeable situation or predicament," does indeed seem like a mysterious figure of speech, but that's mainly due to our modern use of the word "pickle." While today we use "pickle" primarily to mean a pickled cucumber, strictly speaking a "pickle" can be anything preserved in brine. More importantly, "pickle" (from the old Dutch word "pekel," meaning "brine") originally referred to the brine or vinegar "pickling" solution itself, and "to be in a pickle" metaphorically conjured up the image of finding oneself submerged in such a stinging, sour bath.

Shakespeare appears to be the first to use "in a pickle," in The Tempest, 1611:

ALONSO:
And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?
How camest thou in this pickle?

TRINCULO:
I have been in such a pickle since I
saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of
my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.

---

Mets game - shea stadium pitcher song?

I've heard it used as a drill played by two baseball players trying to tag out a baserunner.

There was also a baseball player named Pickles Dillhoefer who played from 1917-1921.

Hope that helps!

---

How do you build a backyard batting cage?

I would assume it comes from one of the other uses of the word pickle. It can also mean to be in a tight situation, commonly phrased "to be in a pickle." It sort of describes the situation simulated in the game of pickle so it may be the origin of the name.

---

More Questions & Answers...

How much would a Red Schoendienst autographed baseball be worth?

I need a list of christian in any kind of sport?

Does anyone think that after the 2007 MLB Season, that A-Rod will become a freeagent? If so, which team?

Are any of the 1990 baseball cards worth anything and if so which ones and how much?

With a base open why in the world is Boston pitching to Arod?

Regular left fielder for 1961 yankees?

Has metal bat ever killed a pitcher?

Who else thinks the new york mets player david wright is hott?

Who are the double AA and triple AAA of the St. Louis Cardinals?

Tribe fans...?