bonus baby
n.— «Al, who signed with the Tigers in 1953, was what was then known in baseball as a “bonus baby.” As a result, he came straight to the big leagues out of high school when he was 18.» —“Big day for Kalines” by Jim Hawkins in Lakeland, Florida Daily Tribune (Royal Oak, Michigan) Feb. 27, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Tom Harris from Bluebell, Pennsylvania, wonders: In baseball, when a batter is said to take a ball, what exactly does take mean in that context? Batters have been advised to take a ball since the mid-1850s, when rule changes established the modern...
It’s the ultimate road trip: A father and son retrace the journey of Odysseus and find a way to navigate their relationship. Plus, the story behind the phrase a flash in the pan: It has nothing to do with cooking or gold mining. Also, what’s a...