Eck's Color Commentary

Dad --

Thanks for covering the weekend series against the Royals. As seems to be a recurring theme these days, the weekend got away from me.

But while I didn't get a chance to post, I did see all the games and each and every one had my attention. Whether it was game one that we lost because of our recently failing bullpen, or games two and three that we won but were true nail biters. Game three was the worst because Smoltz left after the fifth inning with an 8 run lead that again our bullpen cut down to two. Yuck! But game four was awesome. Watching Beckett tune in and "punch out" guys with just a few pitches per inning was truly amazing.

But what's even more interesting has been the commentary. Unlike previous years when I watched the game on fast forward, this year since Aidan likes to graze when he eats, I watch the games at regular speed. All three to four hours of them. And watching the games on normal speed allows me to listen to Don Orsillo and his co-commentator discuss the game.

Normally Don's cohort in the booth is Jerry Remy. But this year the Rem Dawg has been out recovering from lung cancer surgery he had in the off season. So, Don's cohorts have changed depending on where they're broadcasting and who's available. But the guy who's spent the most time in Remy's chair while he's been away has been Dennis Eckersley. And Dad, let me tell you, he puts the "color" in color commentary.

Now I know there's baseball slang. And I also know that while I'm fluent in your basic baseball lingo - run, strike, in field fly rule, etc. - there's plenty of slang that I don't know. These days I need to watch the game with a dictionary just to know what Eck's saying. So, I thought I'd give some definitions for the other devoted Red Sox and NESN fans out there.

If you're watching the games on NESN, you know Eck's favorite term is "cheese." Whether it be "easy cheese" or "high cheese", it doesn't matter, cheese is his term of choice and it always comes during an at bat. So, I looked it up.

Cheese - A fast ball - So if Eck says that was "easy cheese," it was probably a fast ball that was easy to hit.

High cheese - A fast ball that's at the top of the strike zone or out of the strike zone that the batter swings at and misses.

There's also Educated cheese - A fastball thrown at an appropriate time by a veteran pitcher.

Some of Eck's other favorite terms are...

Can of corn - a high, easy-to-catch, fly ball hit to the outfield.

Easy gas - Throwing 95-plus miles per hour effortlessly

Hair Something that grows on fastballs. If a pitcher throws a 98-mile-per-hour fastball by a hitter, Eckersley might say, “That was big-league cheese. It had hair on it.”

Moss - An alternative to "hair".

Off the boards - A hit that reaches the wall in the air.

Punch out - A strike out. Eck used this phrase numerous times during yesterday's Beckett shut out.

Salad - An assortment of off-speed pitches. “With a two-run lead and nobody on base, Papelbon’s going to serve salad until he has to bring the cheese.”

Those are just a few of the Eckisms you might hear during one of the games on NESN. There are others, but those are his favorites.

Can't wait to hear what he comes up with next.

Jenn