In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be a home run that gives the home team the lead (and consequently, the win) in the bottom of the final inning of the game. Thus the losing team (the visiting team) must then "walk off" the field immediately afterward, rather than finishing the inning. The winning runs must still be counted at home plate. This scenario can only occur if the visiting team is tied or leading after the top half of the inning.
Video Walk-off home run
History and usage of the term
Although the concept of a game-ending home run is as old as baseball, the adjective "walk-off" attained widespread use only in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The first known usage of the word in print appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 21, 1988, Section D, Page 1. Chronicle writer Lowell Cohn wrote an article headlined "What the Eck?" about Oakland reliever Dennis Eckersley's unusual way of speaking: "For a translation, I go in search of Eckersley. I also want to know why he calls short home runs 'street pieces,' and home runs that come in the last at-bat of a game 'walkoff pieces' ..." Although the term originally was coined with a negative connotation, in reference to the pitcher (who must "walk off" the field with his head hung in shame), it has come to acquire a more celebratory connotation, for the batter who circles the bases with pride and with the adulation of the home crowd.
Other types of "walk-off" at-bats
Sportscasters also use the term "walk-off hit" if any kind of hit drives in the winning run to end the game. The terms "walk-off hit by pitch", "walk-off walk" (a base on balls with the bases loaded), "walk-off wild pitch", "walk-off reach-on-error", "walk-off steal of home", "walk-off passed ball", and "walk-off balk" have been also applied, and the latter has been dubbed a "balk-off". It is a separate stretch of the term to call a hit a walk-off when what ends the game is not the hit but the defense's failure to make a play (as in a single with a possible out at the plate). The day after Eric Bruntlett pulled off a game-ending unassisted triple play for the Philadelphia Phillies against the New York Mets on August 23, 2009, the Philadelphia Daily News used the term "walk-off triple play" in a subheadline describing the moment.
Walk-off grand slams
Starting in the 1990s, a walk-off grand slam that erases a three-run deficit has come to be known as an ultimate grand slam. There have been 29 such instances documented in major league history - all taking place during the regular season, 15 of those coming with two outs. Of the 29 home runs, only Roberto Clemente's was hit inside the park, at spacious Forbes Field on July 25, 1956. Pirates manager/third base coach Bobby Bragan instructed him to stop at third, but Clemente ran through the stop sign to score the winning run. Alan Trammell's June 21, 1988 and Chris Hoiles' May 17, 1996 grand slams occurred under the cliché situation: bases loaded, two outs, full count, bottom of the ninth inning, and down by three runs. The most recent ultimate grand slam was hit by Toronto Blue Jays' outfielder Steve Pearce on July 30, 2017, who had already hit another walk-off grand slam earlier in the same week.
Three players have hit two walk-off grand slams in a season, Cy Williams in 1926, Jim Presley in 1986, and Steve Pearce in 2017. Pearce's first was on July 27 (an 8-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics). followed by his second on July 30 (an ultimate grand slam, for an 11-10 win over the Los Angeles Angels), becoming the first player in MLB history to hit multiple walk-off grand slams within the span of a single week.
Only five pitchers in major league history have surrendered two game-ending grand slam home runs in one season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau:
- Satchel Paige of the St. Louis Browns, in 1952, to Sammy White of the Boston Red Sox on June 30, and to Eddie Joost of the Philadelphia Athletics on July 15.
- Lindy McDaniel of the Chicago Cubs, in 1963, to Bob Aspromonte of the Houston Colt .45s on June 11, and to Jim Hickman of the New York Mets on August 9.
- Lee Smith of the California Angels, in 1995, to Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics, on June 30, and to Albert Belle of the Cleveland Indians on July 18.
- Francisco Rodríguez of the New York Mets, in 2009, to rookies Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres, on August 7, and Justin Maxwell of the Washington Nationals on September 30. Rodríguez is the only pitcher to surrender two game-winning grand slams to two rookies.
- Bud Norris of the Los Angeles Angels, in 2017, to Edwin Encarnación of the Cleveland Indians, on July 25, and Steve Pearce of the Toronto Blue Jays on July 30. Norris surrendered both in the same week, and it was the second game-winning walk-off grand slam by Pearce in the same week.
Walk-off celebration controversy
Walk-off celebrations typically consist of an entire baseball team leaving the dugout to meet a player at home plate after he or she hits a walk-off home run, or at whichever base the hitter happens to reach if a traditional base hit results in a walk-off victory. Players often encircle teammates who hit a walk-off before dancing and roughhousing to celebrate their victory. Controversy surrounded these walk-off celebrations on May 29th, 2010 when Kendrys Morales, then a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, broke his left leg while celebrating a walk-off grand slam. As a result of this injury, team manager Mike Sciosia instituted new guidelines for his team that ensured a much tamer response to all subsequent walk-off victories.
Maps Walk-off home run
Relevant rules
The rules of baseball provide that:
- A batter is entitled to a home run only "when he shall have touched all bases legally." (Rule 6.09(d); also 7.05(a))
- A batter is out, on appeal, for failing to touch each base in order or for passing a preceding runner. In some cases, all runs that score are negated. (Rule 7.10 and 7.12)
- On a game-winning hit, a batter is credited for the full number of bases only if "the batter runs out his hit." (Rule 10.06(f))
- A game-winning home run is allowed to complete before the game ends, even if it puts the home team ahead by more than one run. (Rule 4.11(c), Exception; also 10.06(g))
The first point above was problematic in the 1976 American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. The Yankees and Royals entered the bottom of the ninth inning of the decisive fifth game with the score tied, 6-6; Mark Littell was the pitcher for Kansas City, and Chris Chambliss was the first batter for New York. Chambliss hit Littell's first pitch into the right field bleachers to win the game and the American League pennant for the Yankees. However, Yankees fans ran onto the field at Yankee Stadium to celebrate the victory, and prevented Chambliss from rounding the bases and touching home plate. Recognizing the impossibility of Chambliss successfully negotiating the sea of people who had been on the field, umpires later escorted Chambliss back out to home plate and watched as he touched it with his foot, thereby making the Yankees victory "official". (A comment to Rule 4.09(b) permits the umpires to award the run if fans prevent the runner from touching home plate.)
The third point above led to Robin Ventura's "Grand Slam Single" in the 1999 NLCS. In the bottom of the 15th inning, the New York Mets tied the score against the Atlanta Braves at 3-3. Ventura came to bat with the bases loaded, and hit a game winning grand slam to deep right. Roger Cedeño scored from third and John Olerud appeared to score from second, but Todd Pratt, on first base when Ventura hit the home run, went to second, then turned around and hugged Ventura as the rest of the team rushed onto the field. The official ruling was that because Ventura never advanced past first base, it was not a home run but a single, and thus only Cedeño's run counted, making the official final score 4-3.
The fourth point above was not a rule prior to 1920; instead, the game ended at the moment the winning run scored. This rule affected the scoring of 40 hits, from 1884 to 1918, that would now be scored as game-winning home runs. Babe Ruth would have been credited with 715 career home runs had the modern rule been in effect in 1918; in a 10-inning game Ruth's fence-clearing, walk-off RBI hit was scored a triple because the game was deemed over when the lead baserunner reached home.
Playoff tiebreakers, postseason, and All-Star Game
World Series
In the charts below, home runs that ended a postseason series are denoted by the player's name in bold. Home runs in which the winning team was trailing at the time are denoted by the final score in bold.
Follow the linked year on the far left for detailed information on that series.
Playoff tiebreakers
Other postseason series
Wild Card Game
Division Series
League Championship Series
All-Star Game
Other leagues
See also
- Game-winning RBI
- Homer in the Gloamin'
- Career record for walk-off home runs
Notes
References
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com Play Index - game-winning home runs which ended a postseason series
- YankeeNumbers.com - A list of all walk-off home runs in New York Yankee history...regular and post-season.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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