Speaker 1: Right off the bat. I want to let you know
that I'm not exactly a big sports fan. I hope
my saying that wasn't a curveball, but maybe for some
of you that came out of left field. Well, today
we're going to talk about baseball, and I really hope
I can hit a home run with this lesson.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael all Ray.
Speaker 1: Thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from
Happy English and I help people speak English better. And
this is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven point thirty seven. Baseball.
Baseball has been called America's pastime for good reason. The
game has a long history, with its roots trace back
to the nineteenth century. The exact origins of baseball aren't
completely clear, but what's certain is that right off the bat,
the game of baseball quickly became a national sensation. By
the late eighteen hundreds, baseball was hitting a home run
in terms of popularity. There were teams forming in cities
across the country and fans flocking to ballparks to watch
their favorite players. The growth of baseball wasn't just about
the game itself. It became a symbol of American life.
From the roaring crowds in the stands to the crack
of the bat as a player made contact with the ball,
Baseball embodied the spirit of competition, teamwork, and the pursuit
of excellence. This wasn't something that came out of left field.
It was a victural reflection of the values that many
Americans held dear. Over the years, baseball has seen its
share of curveballs, from changes in the rules to the
rise of new sports that challenged its dominance. But through
it all, baseball has remained a beloved part of American culture,
with millions of fans continuing to cheer on their teams
every season in the stadiums and on TV. In a way,
baseball is like life itself. You never know when you'll
need to step up to the plate and do your best.
And now, let's check out the baseball idioms from this lesson.
The first one is right off the bat. In baseball,
the ball's journey begins when the ball makes contact with
and then leaves the bat. With the image in mind,
we use right off the bat to mean from the
very beginning. Here are some examples when Jenny moved next door.
I liked her right off the bat. Tommy told me
that he liked his new job right off the bat.
Right off the bat, I knew that restaurant wasn't going
to be good because when we arrived there, there were
very few customers. In baseball, hitting a home run means
the batter hits the ball out of the park, scoring
a run and often exciting the crowd. And in every
day English, we use hit a home run as an
idiom to mean do something very well or achieve great success.
For example, at the restaurant, the chef hit a home
run with his new recipe and the dish became an
instant favorite. Taylor Swift hit a home run when she
released the song You Belong to Me. Alice hit a
home run with her marketing presentation at the conference, receiving
praise from everyone. Next is out of left field. In baseball,
left field is the area of the field on the
left side when facing home plate. The idiom out of
left field is used when something surprising or unexpected happens.
Imagine you're having a normal conversation and someone says something
suddenly that's completely unrelated or surprising you might respond, Wow,
that came out of left field. So out of left
field is a way to express surprise or confusion about
something unexpected. Here are some other examples. That was totally
at a left field when Jenny told us that she
was going to quit her job and move out of
the city. Bill said that he was speechless when his
girlfriend told him that she wanted to break up with him.
It was completely at a left field. The next one
is a curveball. A curveball is a type of pitch
that changes direction as it approaches the batter, making it
difficult to hit. In everyday English conversation, to throw a
curveball means to do something unexpected that challenges someone. For example,
if your boss gives you a new project to finish
by the end of the day, you might say, she
really threw me a curveball with that deadline. Let's look
at some other examples. The teacher through the class a
curveball with a surprise quiz. At the end of the
lesson at work last week, just when we thought the
project was finished, our client threw us a curveball, requesting
a couple of major changes. The last one for today
is to step up to the plate. In baseball, the
plate is where the batter stands when they are ready
to hit the ball, and that's a big responsibility in
the game. As an idiom, when someone steps up to
the plate, they take responsibility for something, especially in a
challenging situation. For example, the boss asked me to step
up to the plate and become the project leader. When
Ralph lost his job, his wife stepped up to the
plate and went back to work. Keep in mind, the
best way to remember this and any other word or
phrase in English is to take that word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or
true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. By
the way, can you imagine getting the chance to practice
this kind of English with me directly? You can get
more practice using your English when you join my podcast
Learner's Study Group. There you can make new friends, join
us for live group lessons every week where we practice
these podcast lessons together. Plus you get access to the pdf,
transcript and audio download for every Happy English podcast in
the past and in the future. And on top of that,
each episode has exercises where you can practice this English
point with speaking and writing checked by me to learn more,
just visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcas cast
lesson seven point thirty seven. That's Myhappy English dot com. Remember,
learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,
and I'm here to help you on your journey.
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