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 and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not have an opportunity to score any more runs, there is no need to finish the inning and the team on defense will "walk off" the field while the player who hit the home run is rounding the bases. The winning runs must still touch all three bases and be counted at home plate. A variant of the walk-off home run, the walk-off grand slam, occurs when a grand slam exceeds the opponent's score in the bottom of the final inning and ends the game.

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.

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.

Jim Thome holds the MLB record for most career walk-off home runs with 13, the first being hit on June 15, 1994, and the last (which broke the previous record of 12) on June 23, 2012. Most notably, he hit his 500th career home run for a walk-off home run.

Other types of "walk-off" wins

Sportscasters have applied the term "walk-off hit" to any kind of hit that drives in the winning run to end the game. It is an expansion 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. 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, with the last dubbed a "balk-off". The day after Eric Bruntlett executed 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, although it was not a true walk-off.

Walk-off grand slam

A grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners ("bases loaded"), thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. A walk-off home run with the bases loaded is therefore known as a walk-off grand slam. Since 1916 there have been more than 250 walk-off grand slams hit during Major League Baseball's regular season. Since its institution in 1903, only two walk-off grand slams have been recorded in the postseason:

* In Game 2 of the 2011 ALCS, by Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers.
* In Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, by Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Additionally, in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS, Robin Ventura of the New York Mets hit a game-winning home run with the bases loaded against the Atlanta Braves, but as only the Mets player on third base – Roger Cedeño – reached home before the Mets started their on-field celebration, the play was officially recorded as a single.

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.

Ultimate grand slam

A walk-off grand slam that erases a three-run deficit is also called an ultimate grand slam. There have been 32 such instances documented in major league history – all taking place during the regular season, 16 of those coming with two outs. Of the 32 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. Del Crandall's September 11, 1955, Alan Trammell's June 21, 1988, and Chris Hoiles' May 17, 1996 grand slams occurred under the most dire situation possible: 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 Giancarlo Stanton on September 20, 2022, in the New York Yankees' 9–8 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Walk-off celebrations

Walk-off celebrations typically consist of an entire baseball team leaving the dugout to meet a player at home plate after the batter 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.

A walk-off celebration may involve hitters jumping on home plate before being encircled and caught by their teammates. During a walk-off celebration on May 29, 2010, Kendrys Morales, then a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, broke his left leg from jumping on home plate while celebrating a walk-off grand slam off of the Seattle Mariners. As a result of this injury, team manager Mike Scioscia instituted new guidelines for his team that ensured a much tamer response to all subsequent walk-off victories.

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 5.05(a)(5); also 5.06(b)(4)(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 5.09(b)(9), 5.09(c)(2) and 5.09(d))
* On a game-winning hit, a batter is credited for the full number of bases only if "the batter runs out his hit." (Rule 9.06(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 7.01(g)(3), Exception; also 9.06(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 5.08(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 Game 5 of 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.

List of walk-off home runs in the postseason and All-Star Game

In the charts below, home runs that ended a postseason series are denoted by the series standing in bold. Home runs in which the winning team was trailing at the time are denoted by the final score in bold. Grand slams are denoted by the situation in bold.

World Series

Playoff tiebreakers

Other postseason series

Wild Card Game/Series

Division Series

League Championship Series

All-Star Game

Other notable walk-offs

In fiction

Although the term itself would not be used until over 100 years later, "Casey at the Bat", an 1888 poem by Ernest Thayer, features a potential walk-off home run. Although pessimistic at first, the home team's fans become more optimistic when their star, Casey, unexpectedly gets a chance to hit a walk-off three run home run. In the end they go home disappointed, however, when Casey strikes out rather than hitting the home run the fans expect.

See also

* Walk-off touchdown
* Game-winning RBI
* Homer in the Gloamin'
* Career record for walk-off home runs
* Chasing a target, the cricket equivalent
* Sudden death (sports)

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.

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