ugly finder

plural ugly finders · alternative ugly-finder

1. colloquialball gamesA hard batted or thrown ball which hits or nearly hits someone, especially a line drive foul ball hit into a dugout.

   I tried to duck under the ball, but it was definitely an ugly finder.

   1989 August 12, Mitch Williams, quotee, “There's never a dull moment with the Cubs' 'Wild Thing'”, in Minneapolis Star-Tribune

   3 more examples

   "That ball was an ugly-finder," [Rob] Dibble said. "But I consider that good luck. No broken nose, no stitches and no black eye."

   1996 March 1, Barry Rozner, quoting Rob Dibble, “Dibble survives an ugly scare”, in Daily Herald, page 5

   "The unique thing about this team though is that of the eight position players - all are either new or are playing a different position," he [Bill Matthews] said. "With something like that, you just hope the ball doesn't become an ugly-finder."

   2003 February 9, Rodney Page, quoting Bill Matthews, “Tritons count on the pitching staff to deliver”, in St. Petersburg Times, page 4

   Everybody was trying to throw the ugly-finder at him, and we still couldn't find him.

   2010, Jason Turbow with Michael Duca, quoting Ed Whitson, The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: the Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime, Random House, Inc., →ISBN, page 134