Bush league is a general term used to describe an action or thing as being amateur, inferior or crude. In a literal sense, it refers to a low quality minor-league in baseball not associated with any of the major league teams. The term originated from the state of minor-league fields that often were ringed with shrubs and bushes. Look up amateur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Minor leagues in the sense intended in this article are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. ... A view of the playing field at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. ... Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America. ... A broom shrub in flower A shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 6 m tall. ...

The phrase sounds similar to the NASCAR Busch Series, sometimes known as the "Busch League," since it is essentially NASCAR's minor league circuit. However, popular usage far predates the creation of this organization. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... The NASCAR Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCARs minor league circuit (often compared to Triple-A baseball), and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organizations big league circuit, the Nextel Cup. ...

Use in popular culture

• In May 2007, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, as he was running to third base, yelled something to Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Howie Clark, during a Jorge Posada popup in order to distract the player. While the move was successful, Clark didn't catch the ball, the action was called a "bush league" play by many sportswriters; though it is done in most games. Another meaning for bush league is bullshit league.

• In 2007, Milwaukee Brewers first basemen Prince Fielder pumped his fist toward the Pittsburgh Pirates' dugout after sliding in safe at home, having already hit two home runs during the game. The previous night, Fielder was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by the Pirates' Matt Capps. Pittsburgh catcher Ryan Doumit described Fielder's actions as "bush league."

• In 2006, A.J. Pierzynski and Craig Monroe bumped at home plate after a Monroe Grand Slam. Apparently, the two initially considered the contact accidental. Later, Monroe is said to have changed his story, accusing Pierzynski of purposely bumping. Pierzynski referred to this change of tune as "kind of bush".

• In the 2004 ALCS, Curt Schilling called a play where Alex Rodriguez slapped the ball out of an opposing player's (Bronson Arroyo) glove "bush league".

• A 2005 college football game between Notre Dame and USC was said to have ended in a "bush league play" when running back Reggie Bush pushed quarterback Matt Leinart across the goal line to win the game, a technically illegal action.

• The term was also used at the end of the 2005 NFL season to describe the race for the worst record in the NFL in order to obtain the top pick in the NFL Draft, which had been expected to be Reggie Bush (no pun intended).

• The term was also used in the first round of the 2006 NBA playoffs by Raja Bell. Bell said he was talking to a referee about Kobe Bryant's wayward elbows when Laker coach Phil Jackson told him he deserved it, using an expletive to further the point. "I thought that was kind of bush league from such a good coach," Bell said.

• The sports comedy film, Caddyshack is primarily set a fictitious country club called "Bushwood Country Club."

Often, however, the term is applied beyond sports. Major league affiliations American League (1901–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 23, 32, 37, 44, 49 Name New York Yankees (1913–present) New York Highlanders (1903-1912) Baltimore Orioles (1901-1902) (Also referred to as... “A-Rod” redirects here. ... Major league affiliations American League (1977–present) East Division (1977–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 42 Name Toronto Blue Jays (1977–present) Ballpark Rogers Centre (1989–present) a. ... Howard Roddy Clark (born February 13, 1974 in San Diego, California) is a Major League shortstop who currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. ... Major league affiliations National League (1998–present) Central Division (1998–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 4, 19, 34, 42, 44 Name Milwaukee Brewers (1970–present) Seattle Pilots (1969) Ballpark Miller Park (2001–present) County Stadium (1970-2000) Sicks Stadium (Seattle) (1969) Major league titles World Series titles (0) None... Prince Semien Fielder (b. ... Major league affiliations National League (1887–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 20, 21, 33, 40, 42 Name Pittsburgh Pirates (1891–present) Pittsburgh Innocents (1890) Pittsburg Alleghenies (1882–1889) (Also referred to as Infants in 1890) Ballpark PNC Park (2001–present) Three Rivers... Matthew Dicus Capps (born September 3, 1983 in Douglasville, Georgia) is a baseball relief pitcher who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates. ... Ryan Doumit is a catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. ... Anthony John A.J. Pierzynski [peer-ZIN-skee] (born December 30, 1976) is a Major League Baseball catcher who has played for the Chicago White Sox since 2005. ... Craig Keystone Monroe (born February 27, 1977, in Texarkana, Texas) is a left fielder in Major League Baseball who currently plays with the Detroit Tigers and has a career batting average of . ... Curtis Montague Schilling (born November 14, 1966 in Anchorage, Alaska) is an American Major League Baseball player, a right-handed starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. ... “A-Rod” redirects here. ... Bronson Anthony Arroyo [ah-ROY-yoh] (born February 24, 1977 in Key West, Florida), is a popular Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds and a rock musician. ... A college football game between Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy. ... The University of Notre Dame IPA: is a Roman Catholic institution located in Notre Dame, Indiana, immediately northeast of South Bend, Indiana, United States. ... Doheny Library. ... Reginald Alfred “Reggie” Bush II (born March 2, 1985 in San Diego, California), nicknamed “The President,” alluding to President Bush, is an American football player who plays for the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and formerly for the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans. ... Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983 in Santa Ana, California) is an American football quarterback (QB) for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. ... NFL logo For other uses of the abbreviation NFL, see NFL (disambiguation). ... The NFL Draft (officially the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting) is an annual sports draft in which National Football League (NFL) teams take turns selecting amateur college American football players and other first-time eligible players. ... The 2006 NBA Playoffs was the postseason of the National Basketball Associations 2005-06 season. ... Raja Bell (born September 19, 1976 in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands) is a basketball shooting guard who currently plays for the Phoenix Suns. ... Kobe Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. ... Philip Douglas Phil Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. ... Airplane! is considered by some critics to be one of the funniest movies of all time. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A country club is a private club that offers a variety of recreational sports facilities to its members. ...

• The phrase was also used in the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy with Will Ferrell. He says, "That's Bush, Bush League," after remarking on how the makeup artist failed to conceal the bags underneath his eyes, also because she made a derogatory comment to him after he complained.

• The phrase was also used in the movie Kiss the Girls by Morgan Freeman's character Alex Cross. He says ,"This is bush league, amateur" to Kate McTiernan (Ashley Judd) in discussing a criminal case.

• The phrase appeared in the movie The Big Lebowski by John Turturro's character, Jesus Quintana, a rival bowler. In reference to Walter's refusal to play against Jesus' team the following Saturday, citing 'Shomer Shabbos', Jesus claimed that they were pulling some "bush league psych-out stuff".

• The phrase was used in Seinfeld by Kramer in the episode "The Seven". Kramer uses the phrase in relation to a sandwich he made at Jerry's, which he took one bite from and left on Jerry's counter. He commented that it was "Bush League" due to the lack of dijon mustard in it, as Jerry had no dijon mustard in his fridge.

• The phrase was used in the "Ass Pennies" sketch of the episode "Power Marketing" of Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade. Two businessmen are golfing together, and one asks the other how he managed to become so successful. After being told basic things like a "firm handshake", the man responds that those sorts of things are "Bush League", and asks for something more cutting edge.

• This phrase was used in the episode "Hell House" of the television series Supernatural. Dean Winchester refers to Sam Winchester's prank of turning everything on in the impala as "Bush League."

Categories: Stub | 2004 films | Comedy films ... John William Will Ferrell (born July 16, 1967[1]) is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Irish-American comedian, impressionist and actor who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, and has since gone on to a successful film career. ... This article is for the novel Kiss the Girls. ... For the Dawsons Creek director, see Morgan J. Freeman. ... Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella on April 19, 1968) is an American actress. ... The Big Lebowski, a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, chronicles a few days in the life of an unemployed California slacker and recreational bowler after he is mistaken for a millionaire with the same name. ... John Nicodemus Turturro (born February 28, 1957) is an Emmy Award winning American actor noted for his performances in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), The Color of Money (1986), Five Corners (1987), Do The Right Thing (1989), Barton Fink (1991), Men of Respect (1991), The Big Lebowski... Jesus Quintana is a fictional character in the 1998 Coen brothers film The Big Lebowski. ... This article is about the sitcom. ... Cosmo Kramer is a fictional character on the United States based television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), played by Michael Richards. ... The Seven is the one-hundred and twenty-third episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. ... The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational comedy and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicagos ImprovOlympic in 1990. ... Look up Supernatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See Also

• Amateur