“Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” — Yogi Berra

With the elimination of the Bruins and Celtics from the playoffs in the same weekend, the best sports month of the year, May, is officially a baseball-only month here in Boston.

Someone joked on the radio since the Red Sox were so far behind already, that they had been eliminated this weeked as well.

The next four months for the Boston sports fan is exclusively baseball, unless you are a fan of the New England Revolution soccer team or the Boston Legacy, the women's professional soccer team.

My forced focus on baseball got me thinking about how we all talk baseball, all the time, and are not really aware we are doing it. Whether we are 'touching base' or 'going to bat for someone' baseball phrases are everywhere and used all the time.

Here are some that you have probably used more than once.

Several years ago, I sat in a meeting where someone said: “We need everybody to step up to the plate.”

A few minutes later, another person added: “Let’s touch base next week.”

Then someone else said: “That idea came out of left field.”

Nobody noticed. Not one person stopped to consider that we were conducting an entire business meeting using the language of baseball. And honestly, that’s what fascinated me most.

Because baseball hasn't just given us a game. It has quietly given us a vocabulary for pressure, teamwork, risk, leadership, failure, persistence, and opportunity.

Even people who have never attended a baseball game instinctively know what it means to:

• throw a curveball,
• swing for the fences,
• strike out,
• hit a home run.

That’s cultural influence. And maybe that’s why baseball expressions endure. The game has changed over time, but the lessons haven't.

1-STEP UP TO THE PLATE

It sounds simple now, but the meaning is powerful: take responsibility when the moment arrives. In baseball, there’s no hiding when it’s your turn to bat. In organizations, unfortunately, some people develop an advanced ability to suddenly become invisible right before difficult assignments appear.

2-TOUCH BASE

Base runners literally have to touch each base as they advance around the field. Today, it also means reconnecting briefly. Of course, in corporate America, “Let’s touch base” sometimes means: “I have absolutely no intention of scheduling this meeting, but saying this makes me sound collaborative.”

 3-OUT IN LEFT FIELD

This phrase describes ideas that seem strange or disconnected from reality. Every workplace has one person who says something so unexpected that the room goes silent while everybody mentally searches for the nearest exit.

4-COVER ALL THE BASES

When we use this expression, we mean preparing for every possibility. Good leaders do that. Micromanagers do it with seventeen spreadsheets, color-coded tabs, and a follow-up meeting to discuss the first meeting.

5-THROWING A CURVBALL

Unexpected problems. Life throws curveballs constantly. Technology fails. Plans change. People resign. Flights get canceled. Zoom or Teams sound doesn't work. Somebody always hits “Reply All.” And somehow, we survive.

6-IN THE BALLPARK

This usually means close enough to be reasonable or accurate. Which, coincidentally, is also how many people estimate project budgets. It is one of life’s great expressions for being approximately correct without having any actual idea. Most project estimates begin “in the ballpark” and end somewhere near another zip code. In leadership, getting in the ballpark matters. Perfection usually arrives too late. Sometimes people don’t need an exact answer. They just need reassurance that we’re not completely lost, yet.

7-GO TO BAT FOR SOMEONE

This usually means supporting or defending another person. One of the greatest compliments in life is knowing somebody is willing to go to bat for you when you’re not in the room. We all need someone who will go to bat for us at the right moment—a coach, a teacher, a boss, or a friend. Every organization remembers the leaders who defended people during difficult times—not just the ones who showed up for celebrations. The older I get, the more I realize how much of life changes because one person decided to say, “I think this person deserves a chance.”

8-STRIKE OUT

Of course, this means fail. Which is comforting, because baseball players fail constantly. A Hall of Fame hitter fails seven out of ten times and still becomes legendary. Imagine if that standard applied elsewhere. A dentist walks into the waiting room and announces: “Good news everybody — statistically, I’m batting .300!” Probably not ideal.

9-SWING FOR THE FENCES

This generally means taking a big risk in pursuit of something meaningful. Sometimes you bunt. Sometimes you protect the lead. And sometimes life requires a full swing. “Swing for the fences” sounds inspirational until you remember that most swings like that miss completely. Every dream starts with somebody willing to look a little unrealistic for a while. There’s always one person in every meeting who wants to swing for the fences before anyone has figured out first base. Every once in a while, life gives you a pitch too good to bunt.

10-HOME RUN

Over time this became shorthand for major success. We use it everywhere:

• home run hire,
• home run speech,
• home run presentation.

Ironically, the phrase is often used by people who haven’t watched nine innings of baseball since the Reagan administration.

11-HEAVY HITTER

Typically describes influential people. Every organization has a few heavy hitters. They’re the people everyone suddenly remembers to copy on the email when things go sideways. Some people become heavy hitters because of talent. Others become heavy hitters because nobody else volunteered. In baseball, a heavy hitter drives in runs. In meetings, they usually drive the agenda… and occasionally drive everyone else crazy. A true heavy hitter doesn’t need to tell you they’re important. Their calendar already does that for them.

12-ON DECK

Usually means next in line. A lot of life is spent with us “on deck.” Waiting for the call. Preparing for the opportunity. Wondering if the person ahead of us is ever going to stop talking. There’s always somebody on deck at work—the person quietly preparing while someone else is still taking practice swings at last year’s problems. Baseball teaches patience. Especially when you’re on deck behind a guy who adjusts both batting gloves twelve times between pitches. Leadership often belongs to the people who stay ready while everyone else is still getting ready to get ready.

13-BOTTOM OF THE NINTH, 2 OUTS

Can be used to describe the final critical moment when pressure is highest. We all have bottom-of-the-ninth moments:

• important interviews,
• difficult conversations,
• medical results,
• presentations,
• decisions that cannot be postponed.

14-PLAY HARDBALL

Always means using aggressive tactics. Sometimes “playing hardball” just means saying what everyone else is thinking out loud. Every workplace has one person who says, “Let’s play hardball,” usually right before forwarding an email to seventeen people. There’s a fine line between negotiating firmly and acting like you’re auditioning for a courtroom drama. The problem with playing hardball all the time is eventually nobody wants to play with you.

15-OFF BASE

Some people are slightly off base. Others aren’t even in the same stadium. We’ve all been off base before. Some people just bring charts and PowerPoint slides with them.

Being off base in baseball costs you an out. Being off base in leadership can cost you trust. One of the great workplace survival skills is learning how to say, “I may be off base here…” before offering an opinion that absolutely came out of left field. The older I get, the more I realize confidence and correctness are not always teammates.

16-FULL COUNT

We use this to mean the pressure is on and the next move matters. A full count is pressure with nowhere left to hide. Life has a way of working us into full-count situations: one more payment, one more decision, one more difficult conversation. You learn a lot about people during a full count. Some swing harder. Some freeze. Some suddenly need to step out and adjust their batting gloves. Leadership often means staying calm when everybody else in the dugout is already preparing explanations.

17-GRAND SLAM

Equals enormous success. A grand slam is one of the few moments in life where everybody agrees something good just happened. Every leader dreams of hitting grand slams. Most real success, however, comes from learning how to hit singles consistently. Sometimes what looks like a grand slam from the outside started with years of strikeouts nobody saw. The funny thing about grand slams is that after the celebration ends, somebody still has to clean the dugout. Any one feel like Denny's?

18-PINCH HITTER

This describes someone brought in to perform in a critical moment. Every organization has these people. They’re the calm professionals quietly fixing disasters while everybody else is still forming a committee.

19-UTILITY PLAYER

This is someone versatile enough to do multiple jobs well. Organizations depend on these people far more than they realize.

20-RAIN CHECK

This might be the most optimistic phrase of all. The original meaning was simple: if a baseball game got rained out, fans received a ticket to come back another day. That’s a pretty good metaphor for life. Sometimes things don’t happen as we planned. Sometimes opportunities get postponed. Sometimes the timing just isn’t right. But every once in a while, life hands us a rain check instead of a rejection.

What fascinates me the most is that we rarely notice any of this.

The language became invisible because the lessons became permanent.

Baseball gave us a framework for understanding responsibility, timing, pressure, teamwork, resilience, and second chances.

Long after the box scores are forgotten, the game still shapes the way we talk about life. And maybe that’s the biggest lesson of all.

The things that influence us most are often the things we stop noticing entirely.

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