A pitcher can be said to have an arsenal of pitches – but this is also referred to as his repertoire.

A good closer will always put the fire out – but he also is called in to silence the bats.

A pitcher can buckle the hitters legs with a sharp breaking ball, or make a batter take a seat with a well placed deuce.

A power hitter can crush heat – or take Uncle Charlie deep.

Nicknames: Say Hey Kid, Teddy Ballgame, Cool Papa, Pudge. And, Hammer, The Iron Horse, Killer, Big Train.

In baseball, the pitcher tries to blow the hitter away with his gas, but the hitter stays alive by fighting off the heat. Eventually the batter wins the battle and connects with a huge blast. He crushes the ball and the outfielder tries to run down the rocket before hitting the warning track. The batter thinks about heading for second, but holds off because the fielder has a cannon. On the next play, the runner might try to steal second, but he could get gunned down by a laser from home plate.

Meanwhile, in football, a runner takes a friendly handoff, then dances behind the line before finding an opening and heading for daylight. He jukes and jives, and if he goes out of bounds, that just means it’s time for another play. Then the quarterback will toss a beautiful spiral to the receiver, who will gallop past the safety (who is just there to make sure nobody gets hurt!) for a touchdown.

Base as a term in safe-haven games such as baseball long predates its use by the military.

Only 13 more days, only 13 more days…….