To gain the upper hand

Posted by ESC on June 02, 2000

In Reply to: To gain the upper hand posted by Paul Guthrie on June 02, 2000

: Does anybody know the origin of this phrase. Does it have to do with 'hand' as in a 'hand of cards', or something else?

I couldn't find this in my books. But I am guessing this is a baseball thing. Where they use a baseball bat ritual to see who gets to do what. The first person grabs the bottom of the bat, then the next person places his/her hand above the first. And so forth. Until the last person "gets the upper hand" at the top of the bat. Again, I must say I know nothing about sports. Sports fans?