Category: Heavy Hitters

by Jim Siergey

With apologies to you-know-who.

John Wesley Glasscock was a man who played shortstop
He fielded with no glove upon his hand
All through the 1880s he handled many a bad hop
While up at bat rarely did he fan
‘Twas with the Cleveland Blues was this time we talk about
When a runner he did slide with such great force
His gait was compensated and his leg he could not straighten out
Johnny laughed and said he limped just like a Charley Horse
All across the telegraph this term it did resound
And no copyright infringement could they prove
Wordsmiths searched through all their nouns but no better term was found
That would ever cause this phrase to be removed.

John Glasscock began his professional baseball career in 1879 and is regarded as one of the best shortstops in history. An 1886 blurb in the Wheeling Intelligencer credits him with coining the phrase “Charley Horse” because “the way the men limped around reminded him of an old horse he once had named Charley.”

Jim says, “When I learned John’s middle name, it led me to “compose” this.”