Know Your Baseball Idioms: 'Southpaw,' 'can of corn,' and other phrases from the diamond

[Auggie]

29. To be "Wally Pipped"

Last edited Sat Aug 9, 2025, 10:51 AM - Edit history (1)

Wally Pipp played 1st base for the Yankees. On June 2, 1925, he requested to sit because of a headache. Lou Gehrig started in his place, thus beginning a streak of 2,130 consecutive games played at 1st.

Urban Dictionary: To be "Wally Pipped" is when someone in a role temporarily leaves their position and is replaced by a much better unknown person who then takes over the position.


From wikipededia:

According to the most popular version of the story, Pipp showed up at Yankee Stadium that day with a severe headache, and asked the team's trainer for two aspirin. Miller Huggins, the Yankees' manager, noticed this, and said "Wally, take the day off. We'll try that kid Gehrig at first today and get you back in there tomorrow." Gehrig played well and became the Yankees' new starting first baseman. This story first appeared in a 1939 New York World-Telegram on Gehrig's career, in which Pipp was interviewed. Pipp was later quoted to have said, "I took the two most expensive aspirin in history."

SNIP

By 1953, Pipp reported to The New York Times that he was taken out of the lineup due to being hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Charlie Caldwell during batting practice. However, while Pipp was hit in the head by a pitch from Caldwell and was hospitalized, this event occurred on July 2, a month after Pipp's benching.

The New York Sun reported the benching was due to Pipp's struggles against left-handed pitchers, as southpaw George Mogridge was the scheduled starting pitcher for the Senators on June 2.

Other sources suggest Yankee manager Miller Huggins may have actually benched Pipp and other veterans in order to "shake up" the slumping lineup. According to another story, supported by Gehrig's wife, Pipp was not at the game on June 2 because he was gambling on horse racing at a race track. His son Thomas denied this rumor, stating that his father never bet on horses.When interviewed by Sports Illustrated, Pipp's own children disagreed on the reason for their father's benching, believing it was either due to Pipp being beaned or struggling

Thomas believed Pipp told Huggins to play Gehrig in his place, as he knew Gehrig had a future with the Yankees, while he likely did not. According to a popular legend, Pipp asked to sit due to a headache. The story was confirmed by Thomas and by Bill Werber.[25]

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More recent idiom coined by Mike Krukow, San Francisco Giants announcer: "Magic Wandoo."

Magic Wandoo describes a ball in play that takes an unexpected or mysterious bounce, direction, spin, hop, rate of speed that leads to a hit, productive out, on-base appearance, etc., or, an amazing defensive effort.

Example:

Angel Pagan lead off the 1st with a double down the right field line and Buster Posey broke out the magic wandoo with a hard hit ball to the short stop Cliff Pennington. Hunter Pence came up and one upped Buster Posey with the magic wandoo when he literally threw the bat and hit a single up the middle that hit second base and bounced over second baseman Chris Owings‘ head. Seriously, would you expect anything else from Hunter Pence?