Bruce K H Kau wrote:
I'm off to work, so I don't have time to really search this one. I recall something in a Safire book on this, but my memory gets worse with age. "Touch all the bases" used to mean something like "dot your i's and cross your t's", and that's how I originally heard the expression. Over the years, it became "touch base", which I can't really make sense of, even in the idea you note below. My really quick google seems to suggest that the baseball origin is probably correct, but not definitive.
In between pitches, each runner has to go back and touch the base he is at, starting fresh from the base. Failing to do so can result in him being called out. Other instances when a runner has to touch base is when there is a popup which is caught but the runner may have already begun to run to the next base -- the runner has to go back and tag the base again before trying to advance to the next base.
And if you watch the runners at first and third, when they "touch base" they are in verbal communication frequently with the base coaches in order to ensure that everybody is on the same page for any special play they might be attempting such as a double steal or something.
-- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
