gopher ball

noun

: a pitched baseball hit for a home run

Examples of gopher ball in a Sentence

a pitcher who has thrown eight gopher balls so far this year

Recent Examples on the Web

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The rookie righty showed equal parts electric stuff and gopher balls in his first two appearances, then shut down the hard-hitting Twins in Minnesota last week to earn an extended run in the rotation. —

Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 8 July 2024 Terry’s manager, Casey Stengel, defended him, even though the gopher ball effectively cost Stengel his job. —

David Margolick, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2022 Despite the gopher ball, Sale looked a lot more like his old self and got through the first two innings on 28 pitches. —

BostonGlobe.com, 21 Oct. 2021 On the very next pitch, a 92 mph fastball, Kershaw served up a nearly identical homer to catcher Jeff Mathis, a .215/.277/.323 hitter with two homers in 203 PA; the four gopher balls matched his career high, set on June 19 against the Mets. —

Jay Jaffe, SI.com, 7 Oct. 2017