A no decision (sometimes written no-decision) is one of either of two

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

scenarios; one in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, and the other in

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and related

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opponent (''knock ...

Baseball and softball

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

who leaves a game without earning either a win or a loss is said to have received a ''no decision''.

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) rules specify that a starting pitcher, to earn a win, must pitch at least five innings, leaving the game with a lead that their team "does not relinquish". There is no innings requirement for a starting pitcher to earn a loss; it is simply that the pitcher allows a run that gives the winning team a lead they do not relinquish. When a starting pitcher does not earn a win or a loss, it is a no decision, and the outcome of the game does not affect the starting pitcher's win–loss record, as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

will receive the win or loss. Attributing wins, losses, and no decisions can be complex, such as when a starting pitcher leaves a game mid-inning with runners on base, as runs scored by those runners would still be considered the starting pitcher's responsibility. Further, if a starting pitcher leaves a game while losing (colloquially, that pitcher is said to be "on the hook"), they will receive a no decision if their team comes back to tie the score or take the lead, regardless of the outcome. Box scores for completed games indicate who the winning and losing pitchers are, as determined by the

official scorer In the game of baseball, the official scorer is a person appointed by the sports league, league to baseball scorekeeping, record the events on the field, and to send the official scoring record of the game back to the league offices. In additio ...

; the absence of a win or loss designation for a starting pitcher indicates a no decision.

Examples

''Assume in these examples that each starting pitcher exits the game at the end of the 6th inning.'' Red Starter gets the win since, during the time that he or she was in the game, the Red team established a lead that was never relinquished. Conversely, Blue Starter gets the loss. While the run that provided the winning margin could be viewed as having been scored in the eighth inning, after both starters had left the game, the first-inning lead was never relinquished (the Red team was always in the lead). Red Starter and Blue Starter each get a no decision, as the 4–0 lead established in the first inning was later relinquished (at the end of the eighth inning, the score was tied). Tommy John - New York Yankees - 1981

The above examples highlight how events that happen ''after'' starting pitchers have left the game can affect whether they receive a decision (win or loss) or no decision. This is one reason that wins and losses are generally viewed by baseball statisticians as being an unreliable indicator of pitching effectiveness.

MLB records

(MLB), the record for the most no decisions by a starting pitcher in a single season (dating back to at least 1908) is 20, held by Bert Blyleven in 1979 and Zach Davies in 2022. Tommy John has the all-time record of 188 career no decisions. The starting staff of the 1918 Boston Red Sox recorded only three no decisions, the fewest of any MLB team dating back to at least 1908, while the fewest in a 162-game season is 16, by the 1980 Oakland Athletics. The record for most no decisions by a group of starting pitchers is 66, set by the 1993 Cleveland Indians.

Boxing and related combat sports

Although uncommon in contemporary combat sports, except in

white-collar boxing White-collar boxing is a form of boxing in which people in white-collar professions train to fight at special events. Most have had no prior boxing experience. Early history White-collar boxing has its beginnings at Gleason's Gym in New York C ...

, a ''no decision'' (ND) occurs in some jurisdictions on combat sports if a fight is stopped before the end of a certain amount of rounds due to an accidental headbutt or injury, as no winner is selected on

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

. In old times, such as the 19th century and all the way to the mid-20th century, fights could be decided as no-decisions if there was no knockout at the end of a pre-arranged or scheduled amount of rounds. This could be by law, to discourage gambling; by rules to discourage injury of amateurs; or by prearrangement of the fighters, to protect titles from sudden upsets. This should not be confused with the unrelated contemporary term " no contest".

References

{{reflist, 30em Boxing terminology Pitching statistics