What happened
ESPN's Jeff Passan posted the full episode of his podcast 'Sources Tell Jeff Passan' breaking down a baker's dozen of baseball terms and phrases. The episode catalogs colorful sayings ranging from 'the ass' and 'dry hump' to the well-known 'Mendoza Line.' Passan frames the segment as a tour through what he calls the richest lexicon in sports.
Why it matters
Lexicon explainers travel well with casual fans and broadcasters, and Passan's reach amplifies inside-baseball language into the mainstream. The 'Mendoza Line' reference in particular keeps a decades-old shorthand for sub-.200 hitting in active rotation. For a sport often accused of opacity, surfacing its vocabulary is a soft-pitch on-ramp for newer viewers.
What to watch
Watch whether clips from the episode trend on baseball X and whether broadcasters lean on the highlighted phrases during this week's MLB slate.