the.com/dugout
Where baseball's most important decisions are made by men who are mostly chewing something.
means A sheltered bench where a team sits and coaches strategize during a game, originally a shelter literally dug into the ground.
from From "dug" + "out" — early baseball benches were often set below field level, sunk into the earth, to keep players' heads below the sightline of spectators and the path of foul balls. The same word was already in use for a canoe hollowed from a log and for a trench shelter dug by soldiers, all sharing the core image of a space made safe or useful by excavation.
- origin
- literally a hole dug into the ground, 1800s
- superstition central
- bats, rally caps, and unwritten rules enforced here
- best seat
- closest to the field, farthest from the manager's mood
- etiquette rule
- never step on the foul line walking in