Chinese home run

plural Chinese home runs

1. USdatedderogatoryslangball gamesA home run hit to the minimum distance possible, usually just over the outfield fence closest to home plate.

   Chinese home run: 1. A derogatory term for a home run hit over the portion of the outfield fence closest to home plate, often one that lands just inside (or hits) the foul pole in a ballpark with small dimensions.

   2011, Paul Dickson, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, W.W. Norton & Co., pages 182-184

   Synonyms: Chinese homer

2. New EnglandUSslangball gamesA foul ball hit high and far, usually over the back of the plate.

   1 more example

   Hal was too small to play, but he sat far out in foul territory, sucking on his blueberry Popsicle and chasing what the big kids called "Chinese home runs." (Cited at Dickson, above. He further quotes correspondence from King that indicates that his understanding of this term was that it applied to a foul ball over the backstop)

   1985, Stephen King, “The Monkey”, in Skeleton Crew, Putnam, page 163