Meanings
- ball gamesA situation in a ballgame where there are two balls, two strikes, two outs and two men on base.
If there were two balls and two strikes on a batter, with two outs in an inning—what is called “deuces wild” in baseball—the bullpen would work like mad to get its pitcher out of the inning.
2011, Travis Haney, Gamecock Glory: The University of South Carolina Baseball Team's Journey to the 2010 NCAA Championship.1 more example
The deuces are wild, he would announce before a pitch. Two balls, two strikes, two out, two on, and two to two in the bottom of the second. Bosch could hear Scully's voice in his head as he considered that the deuces were now wild in his own game
2015, Michael Connelly, The Crossing
Origin
Refers to various card games where deuces are used as wild cards. Probably coined by Los Angeles Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
deuces wild. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deuces%20wild
“deuces wild.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deuces%20wild. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deuces wild,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deuces%20wild.
Source: deuces wild on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.