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Glite Dictionary
passed ball

passed ball

1 7.0
A pitch the catcher misses that lets a runner advance to the next base
  • noun
  • /pæst bɔl/
  • Jargon
translation icon : bola pasada
  • Williams scooted to third, and LaRue now had three passed balls on the day—and it was still just the first inning.
  • passed ball on a pitch

Examples

  • Pagan led off the fifth with a homer to give us a 2-1 lead that held until a sixth-inning passed ball tied it up.

    Blog text (2)

  • There was one more wild pitch, but no more passed balls.

    Blog text (13)

  • Got a base on a passed ball.

    Blog text (2)

  • At least this time it wasn't a passed ball.

    Blog text (13)

  • Two pitches after the walk, a knuckler got away from LaRue for a passed ball.

    Blog text (13)

  • A passed ball advanced both runners, and a 3-1 pitch in the dirt put Austin Kearns on.

    Blog text (18)

  • Sure enough, it didn't take long for that to happen: two pitches to be exact, and he was on second thanks to a Jason LaRue passed ball.

    Blog text (13)

  • When the Mets were putting the team together, Casey was asked, "How will you start putting a team together?" He responded, "Well, you need a catcher, because without a catcher, you will get a lot of passed balls."

    Blog text (1)

  • Fortunately for LaRue, Fernandez soon picked off Spivey, so for a few minutes LaRue wouldn't have to worry about any passed balls.

    Blog text (13)

  • Lindor came home on a passed ball by Sanchez as Ramirez took second.

Surface Forms

passed ball singular
passed balls plural

Morphology

pass + ball

This is a sport-specific technical term whose meaning (a pitch the catcher should have caught but missed, allowing a runner to advance) is not directly derivable from the literal meanings of 'pass(ed)' and 'ball.' A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would likely misinterpret it (e.g. a ball that was passed) or be uncertain, since the rule-based baseball sense is idiomatic and culturally specific rather than compositional.

Etymology

The term passed ball comes from the simple image of a passed ball — the catcher fails to catch a pitch and the ball goes by, letting a runner 'advance' to the next base. That's why a passed ball means a pitch the catcher should have caught but did not, allowing a base runner to move up.