Definition of LONG BALL

Examples of long ball in a Sentence

a pitcher who has given up a lot of long balls

Recent Examples on the Web

According to a story on the Missions' web site, the long balls traveled a total of 891 feet. — Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Pirates 12, Brewers 2: Nightmare performance all the way around," 6 July 2019 Overall, the 22-year-old entered Tuesday batting .244 with a .791 OPS and 17 long balls. — Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, "White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez exits with apparent injury after bizarre collision," 16 July 2019 The veteran right-hander has been susceptible to the long ball, with all six runs allowed over his last three appearances coming via home runs. — Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, "Kyle Freeland returns to Rockies, ready to contribute in second half," 12 July 2019 Route one: Some teams prefer the directness of playing a long ball over the heads of defensive players to attackers who are sprinting at full speed. — Daniel Gendler, New York Times, "How to Talk About the World Cup and Sound Reasonably Smart," 14 June 2018 Rockies starter Tim Mellville was victimized by the long ball four times in three innings and the Rockies suffered through an embarrassing meltdown in the Cardinals’ ninth. — Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, "Coors Field turns into launching pad in Rockies loss to Cardinals," 12 Sep. 2019 Cashner and the long ball Andrew Cashner has found his way around Boston since being traded from the Orioles last month. — Julian Mcwilliams, BostonGlobe.com, "Steve Pearce’s return still a ways off," 10 Aug. 2019 The long ball accounted for 35 percent of their runs, fifth lowest in the major leagues, according to Baseball Prospectus. — James Wagner, New York Times, "How the Twins Are Obliterating Baseball’s Home Run Record," 25 July 2019 With Seattle growing desperate in the closing minutes, the Sounders launched a long ball over the top that forced Galaxy keeper David Bingham to come more than 30 yards off his line. — Los Angeles Times, "The Sports Report: Recapping a busy day in the world of sports," 18 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'long ball.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.