Date: Tue, 23 Jan 1996 08:36:50 CDT From: Randy Roberts Subject: Left field/Right field Anyone interested in the term "out in left field" or in baseball, generally, should look at The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, (Facts-on-File, 1989). Paul Dickson has a wonderful entry on the etymology of out in left field (page 288). He notes two major theories. 1. an insult attached to kids who were stupid enough to buy left field seats in Yankee Stadium when Babe Ruth played in right field. 2. a reference to the old West Side Park in Chicago which had a mental hospital just behind the left field fence. Randy Roberts University of Missouri robertsr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ext.missouri.edu