A game-winning RBI (GWRBI) is a statistic that was used in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) from 1980 to 1988. Building upon the
run batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
(RBI) statistic, the ''game-winning'' RBI was defined in MLB rules as "the RBI that gives a club the lead it never relinquishes."
[
For example: A batter on the winning team brought his team ahead 3–2 from a 2–2 tie at some point during the game and his team later led 5–2 as a result of the other batters. Then, the opposing team scored two more runs, making the final score 5–4. The batter on the winning team who batted in the third run would be credited with the game-winning RBI, even though the losing team scored four runs. That the statistic "did not adequately distinguish the achievement it was meant to reward" was one of the criticisms that led to the statistic being retired.]
Records
* Keith Hernandez
Keith Hernandez (born October 20, 1953) is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman who played the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets. Hernandez was a five-time All-Star who shared the 1979 NL MVP ...
had 129 game-winning RBI while these records were kept, more than any other player.
* Hernandez also had the most in a single season (24 in 1985). Mike Greenwell had the most in the American League (23 in 1988).
* Wally Joyner
Wallace Keith Joyner (born June 16, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for four major league teams during a 16-year career, most notably for the California Angels, for whom he was an All-Star. He was a member of ...
, Jose Canseco, and Mark McGwire
Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...
each had 14 in their rookie years, the rookie record.
* Kirk Gibson
Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He is currently a color commentator for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports Detroit and a special assistant for the Tigers. As a player, Gibson ...
had the game-winning RBI in five consecutive games in 1986.
Source:
See also
* Walk-off home run
In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will no ...
* Game-winning goal (hockey, soccer)
References
Further reading
*
External links
Unofficial Homepage of the game-winning RBI
{{Baseball statistics
Batting statistics