[Vocabulary] he belongs out in left field

[sitifan]

John hits well but is not good at fielding batted balls. The rest of the team think he belongs out in left field, and that is where he is playing in this game against the Wildcats. (Basic Geometry, page 9, by Birkhoff et al.)

What does the adverb "out" mean in the phrase "belong out"?

 

[tedmc]

Out in the left field is one part of the field in which the cricket game is played.
John belongs there (out in the left field), where he is more suited to the position where he hits balls, rather than fields batted balls.

 

[GoesStation]

Actually the least-active area of the baseball field is usually right field. The quote is a bit odd.

 

[SoothingDave]

Because left handed batters are rarer (on most levels) and they would be the ones most likely to hit to right field.

The expression is "out of left field" but I am not sure why.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Good responses. We should say something about how the word out is sometimes used.

As in this case, it often refers to something distant:

- They live out in the country.
- He's hiking out in the canyon.

It's also worth mentioning that the expression out in left field often means strange, crazy, or unconventional.

I don't know why.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Out in the left field is one part of the field in which the cricket game is played.
John belongs there (out in the left field), where he is more suited to the position where he hits balls, rather than fields batted balls.

Really? They use it for cricket, too?

I live, I learn!

 

[tzfujimino]

[...] the thwack of leather on willow [...]

I've just googled what cricket balls and bats are made of, and now I understand the meaning of your phrase. Thank you for the interesting expression. I've learned a new thing today.

 

[GoesStation]

Baseball bats are usually made from ash wood or, in amateur sports, aluminum. The sound of an aluminum bat hitting a ball is all wrong for me.

 

[SoothingDave]

It's the crack of the bat, not the plink of the bat which is legendary.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I don't think they do, but I am not an expert on cricket. Perhaps somebody who likes the thwack of leather on willow can enlighten us.

Sounds kinky.

 

[sitifan]

The expression is "out of left field" but I am not sure why.

"Out of left field" is American slang meaning "unexpected", "odd" or "strange". The phrase came from baseball terminology, referring to a play in which the ball is thrown from the area covered by the left fielder to either home plate or first base, surprising the runner. Variations include "out in left field" and simply "left field".

According to the Major League Baseball website the term means "crazy." Cook County Hospital (by the West Side Grounds, the Chicago Cubs first location under what is now the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine) had a mental institution behind left field, and "patients could be heard yelling and screaming things at fans behind the left field wall." This is disputed since there is no evidence of the phrase being used before the 1940s, and the Cubs moved from the ballpark in 1915.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_left_field

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

"Out of left field" is American slang meaning "unexpected", "odd" or "strange". The phrase came from baseball terminology, referring to a play in which the ball is thrown from the area covered by the left fielder to either home plate or first base, surprising the runner. Variations include "out in left field" and simply "left field".

According to the Major League Baseball website the term means "crazy." Cook County Hospital (by the West Side Grounds, the Chicago Cubs first location under what is now the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine) had a mental institution behind left field, and "patients could be heard yelling and screaming things at fans behind the left field wall." This is disputed since there is no evidence of the phrase being used before the 1940s, and the Cubs moved from the ballpark in 1915.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_left_field

I've always heard out in left field:

- Don't pay attention to him. He's out in left field.

But both are probably used.

 

[Rover_KE]

Really? They use it for cricket, too?

I live, I learn!

That's something to positively unlearn, Charlie. It's emphatically not a cricket term. [link]

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd use "of" in something like. "Wow! That idea came out of left field!" I would use to express that I was so surprised by the idea that I would never have imagined that the person would suggest it.