What Kind of Word is "Poosh"? 2/6/13

Hey baseball fans!

Today is Babe Ruth's birthday! To be specific, he was born on February 6, 1895. So, if the Sultan of Swat were alive today, he would be 118 years old. Anyway, in honor of the Babe's birthday, I'm going to tell you about one of his teammates who is in the Hall of Fame, just like the Bambino.

"Poosh 'Em Up" Tony Lazzeri, the homer-hitting second baseman for the Murderers' Row Yankees, was very overshadowed by his teammates. Why? I don't know! He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1992 for a reason, you know! As a team leader and key member of six pennant winning seasons for the Yanks in the '20s and '30s, Tony batted .300 or better in five seasons and drove in over 100 runs in seven seasons. Lazzeri created an American League single-game record with 11 RBIs on May 24, 1936. In his career with the Yanks, Cubs, Giants, and Dodgers from 1926-1939, he hit 178 homers and had 1,191 RBIs, while batting .292. By the way, he was called "Poosh 'Em Up Tony" due to a mistranslation by Italian fans of the phrase "hit it out".

Thanks for reading Baseball with Matt where I'm bringing you "all the buzz on what wuzz."