Appendix:Glossary of baseball jargon (N)

The following is a glossary of baseball jargon (phrases, idioms and slang):

N

NA or N.A.

National Association. This may refer to the

• (NABBP) - the 1857-1870 first governing body of baseball, the National Association of Base Ball Players
• (NA) - the 1871-1875 first professional league (in any sport), the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
• (NAPBL) - the 1901-to-date trade association of minor leagues, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues — officially renamed Minor League Baseball in 1999.

The second meaning for "NA" is most common by far, as suggested by the nonexistence of the more complete abbreviation "NAPBBP" outside the Wikipedia. There are two reasons why the 1871-1875 league is most common. First, in that sense NA is a league abbreviation akin to NL and AL, and there is far more baseball writing and talk about leagues than about higher associations. Second, the league is included in most major league baseball encyclopedias, digital and print, despite that MLB does not recognize the NA as a major league.

nailed

• Hit by a pitch, drilled, plunked.
• The last pitches or last play of a winning game nail down the win.
• To throw a runner out. "Sizemore nailed him at the plate."

nickel curve

A slider. Also used to mean an average or possibly "hanging" slider. Hitters look at the spin on a ball when it is released by the pitcher, so the "dot" (circle which is created from the pitcher's rotation on the ball that the batter sees to identify a pitch as a slider out of the pitcher's hand) is said to be "nickel sized." Also, it could be used to mean a pitch with more lateral movement (closer to a slurve than to a slider) rather than velocity.

nice guys finish last

Attributed to baseball manager Leo Durocher in 1946; according to Durocher's 1975 autobiography, he was misquoted: "Take a look at them. All nice guys. They’ll finish last. Nice guys. Finish last." Sometimes taken to mean that people sometimes fail at something, even when someone is working hard, playing by the rules and success seems well-deserved; or even that such fair play will actually result in the loss. The latter sense is often used as a justification or rationalization for immoral or unfair behavior. This may also refer to the dating world, in which some believe women prefer men who may not treat them as well as a "nice guy."

"'It is not a matter of being a Goody Two-Shoes,'" he says. "'It is a matter of being practical. The notion that nice guys finish last is not only poisonous but wrong. In fact, the contrary is true. Unethical conduct is always self- destructive and generates more unethical conduct until you hit the pits.'"-- Michael Josephson, quoted by Ezra Bowen.

NL or N.L.

Abbreviation for National League, the older of the two major leagues.

NLCS or N.L.C.S.

Abbreviation for National League Championship Series: the final, best 4 out of 7, playoff series to determine the National League champion. The winners of the National League Division Series play in this series. The winner of the NLCS is the winner of the National League pennant and advances to the World Series against the pennant winner from the American League.

NLDS or N.L.D.S.

Abbreviation for National League Division Series: the first round of the league playoffs, to determine which two teams advance to the National League Championship Series (NLCS). This round pits the winners of each of the three league divisions plus the winner of the wild-card slot (the team that wins the most games in the regular season without winning a division) in two pairings, each of which plays a best 3 out of 5 game series to determine who advances to the NLCS.

no decision

Any starting pitcher who earns neither a win (W) nor a loss (L) is said to have a "no decision." A "no decision" has no special meaning in official baseball statistics. But regardless whether a pitcher earns a W, a L, or a "no decision," it has become conventional in recent years to note how well a starting pitcher performed by recording whether he made a quality start.

no-hitter

A game in which one team does not get any hits, a rare feat for a pitcher, especially at the major league level. Also given the childlike nickname "No-No". If no batter reaches base safely by any means (walk, error, etc.) the pitcher is said to have pitched a perfect game, which is much rarer than a "normal" no-hitter.

It is a superstition that when a pitcher is in the middle of throwing a no-hitter none of his teammates or coaches will speak to him, or if they do they will not say anything about the no-hitter. Most play-by-play on-air announcers will also avoid mentioning the no-hitter until either an opposing batter gets a hit or the no-hitter is completed.

no man's land

• The area of the outfield between the middle infielders and outfielders, where a flyball can fall for a hit (a Texas leaguer).
• A baserunner caught in a pickle is said to be in "no man's land".

no room at the inn

Sometimes said by a play-by-play announcer when the bases are loaded and the pitcher cannot afford to walk the batter. All the spaces are taken.

no-no

A no-hitter, typically also a shut-out. Thus no hits, no runs.

northpaw

A right-handed pitcher. See southpaw.

nubber

A batted ball that travels at low speed, and not very far, often due to hitting the ball on the very end of the fat part of the bat.

References

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