🚒 Firefighter 🚂 Boiler worker ⚾ Relief pitcher

fireman

2 6.2

A relief pitcher who comes into the game to protect a team's lead late

noun
/ˈfaɪərmən/

Archaic

: relevista

As the game got tense in the eighth inning, the manager decided to rely on their skilled fireman for a key strikeout.

Examples

During critical moments, every team needs a reliable fireman who can handle the pressure.
"Fireman" Casey in his second inning of relief.

42 (2013)
Clip always threw too many pitches per inning, even when he was a setup man/fireman.

Blog text (5)
In the ninth inning, the coach called in the fireman to secure the win for the team.

Synonyms

reliever

vsfireman

Jargon

33 4.2

A pitcher who replaces the starter and continues to pitch

is used when needed to protect a lead in difficult situations

relief pitcher

vsfireman

Jargon

7 4.8

A baseball player who comes in to throw the ball instead of the starter

is called into difficult situations specifically to protect an existing lead

finisher

vsfireman

Jargon

1 7.2

A relief pitcher who comes in to protect a late lead

is used for any difficult appearance to protect a lead rather than only final innings

firewoman

vsfireman

Archaic

9.0

A woman pitcher who enters a baseball game later to throw for her team

is the same role but indicates female rather than male player

Compounds

visiting fireman

Archaic

8.4

An important person who visits a place for business or official reasons

Surface Forms

fireman singular

firemen plural

Morphology

fireman = fire + man (semi-transparent) = fire + man

Compound extended metaphorically from 'putting out fires' to denote someone who handles crises; the link is figurative and requires idiomatic knowledge.

Etymology

The word fireman is used in baseball as a picture: a relief pitcher is sent in to 'put out' trouble for the team, like someone who stops a fire. So a team's trusted late-game pitcher can be called a fireman because he helps save the game in a hard moment.