BATTERY: A Duo with Firepower

MLB Opening Day is almost here!

That means we all need to brush up on our baseball slang. As I research Game Day Glossary terms, I have found that baseball definitely has the strangest terminology among all the major sports. From can of corn (our very first GDG 🥺) to around the horn, you are sure to be surprised by the baseball communities creativity!

This week, our term is battery. Also referred to as batterymates or batterymen (let’s add batterywomen to that too!), this word refers to the catcher and pitcher pairing. The term battery was first coined by the Father of Baseball, Henry Chadwick, and was used to refer to the firepower of a team pitching staff. He was apparently inspired by the artillery batteries (a tactical military unit) used during the Civil War. Later, the term evolved to refer to the combined power of the pitcher and catcher. Many star pitchers have preferred catchers who they work really well with, so they will choose to be paired together. Throughout baseball history, there have been many notable batteries that started games together for years.

The most recent example of an iconic battery was pitcher Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina from the St. Louis Cardinals. On September 14, 2022, they broke the record for most starts as a battery with 325 games. The New York Yankees’ Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada played the most games together however, with a total of 598 from 1995 to 2011. There have also been sibling batteries, most recently Andrew Romine and Austine Romine of the Chicago Cubs. Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey became the MLB’s first battery to both hit grand slams in the same game in 2014. The two would later lead their team to win the World Series. Teamwork really does make the dream work!