Last Updated on October 23, 2023
“What is a baseball walk off?” It was a normal day when one of my students asked me about the term. He was unaware how the term works. So, I told him everything that I know about the baseball walk off.
Most of the time you may have seen the team that wins do three outs in the final inning. I am not surprised about that part, because you do not see the striking team win so often.
In some matches, you will see at the very last inning, also called the ninth inning or extra innings, the both home team and the visiting team score ties. So, the game ends immediately when the home team takes singles or home runs.
There are many other ways too. You can learn all of them from this article.
As I have been in the baseball career for a long time, I have experienced a lot of games where walk off grand slams occurred. So, in this article, I will provide you with all the knowledge that I have gained from my previous baseball walk offs experiences. Start reading below, you will get all your answers below.
What Is A Baseball Walk Off
A baseball walk off actually occurs when the score is tied or the home team does the walk ahead run in the bottom of the ninth inning or the extra innings.
The major walk offs are basically singles or home runs. But there are some other types of walk offs you may also see like sacrifice flies, walk off walk, hit by pitches, etc.
Sometimes, there can be walk off failures too. If the last player of the hitting team is unable to make a single or the visiting team catches the fly ball, then this is called the walk off failure.
One day, in an official match, I failed to make a walk off single. The match was intense I dare say. I know I made a big mistake in the whole setup. One of my teammates was already on second base.
I thought if I can make a walk off single properly, then we win. My teammate already understood my call. When the pitcher pitched, I made a slight pinched shot and ran for first base.
But I think the god of victory was not by my side. The pitcher understood my plan and rushed to get the ball. Then he threw to third base and my teammate got out immediately.
And I was at a loss and ran for second base. Then I got out of there too. That was the biggest turnover for me.
But without that, it was a great match and I think it was worth a shot.
Baseball Walk Off – How The Name Came
Walk off is a term where the baseball game ends with the home team having a game winning hit in the last inning. The last inning can be at the bottom of the ninth or the extra innings.
Now, why does the favor go for the home team at the bottom of the ninth inning or the extra innings? Because, at that moment, the visiting team will not get turns to bat. So, it gives victory to the team after the last inning ends immediately.
As I have been into baseball games for a long time, I wanted to learn about how the term baseball walk off came. So, I researched a bit about it and found out a lot about it.
For the first time in major league history, this term was defined by the historical pitcher Dennis Eckersley. He proposed while he was describing the deep ending home runs. A pitcher did not have to look before walking off. Then in 1988, the Gannet News Service quoted his words after one of the games.
When I was a junior, the term walk off was like making a home run in the last inning and winning for me. I was a bit unaware of the term at that time.
But when I started my training with my coach, he taught me how it actually works. There are different types of walk off too that I have learned from my coach.
Hence, to learn all the types, read below and you can get them too.
How Does The Baseball Walk Off Occur?
A baseball walk off can occur in the ninth or the extra innings of a baseball game. At that point, the winning run decides who will win, the home team, or the visiting team.
In my baseball career, I have seen a lot of baseball walk offs. The game winning team enjoys the time while the losing team has to bear all the hard feelings inside.
When I was researching, an interesting question came to my mind. I asked myself, “How can the last hit win determine everything?”
It starts in the ninth inning, even sometimes it can go more than that. If it goes to the extra innings, then you can go for a walk off too.
Now, you may have a question: is there only one way to do a baseball walk off? Whenever I hear walk off, as a normal audience, I even think sometimes of a walk off home run.
No, even when the home team is taking a single in the last inning will be counted as the team walk off. If you can run from the 3rd base to the home plate, then you can make a walk off too.
Different Types Of Baseball Walk offs
As I have mentioned above, walk off does not mean only making a home run in the last inning. There are different types of walk offs you will see in different matches.
I have learned different types of walk off from my time being. In Major League Baseball, these are many way a walk off can happen-
- Walk Off Single
- Walk Off Home Runs
- Walk Off Wild Pitch
- Walk Off Grand Slam, and many others
Now, every type of walk off walk game has a different taste. But eventually, they all are meant to be the winning run of the home team.
Let us check what the different types of walk off walk works like.
Walk Off Single
Do you know about the walk off single? A lot of us do not know the term properly. This is a good and simple way a batter hits a ball, and the home team player hit a walk ball and takes a single.
That is why this term is known as baseball walk off single. I have taken a lot of walk off singles in my career. When I used to play professionally, there was one match where the last inning was going on and I need to make a baseball walk off hit.
The pressure was on my head. At that time, my thought was working like this, “If I try to take a walk off home run and if it does not work, then this will be a big loss for us.” I needed one shot. One of my teammates was already on second base.
Then an idea came into my mind. I thought if I can somehow make the ball go to the fourth straight pennant, at least make the ball go to the left field foul pole. It was because that place was wide open.
I made the hit and it went to the left field wall. My teammate rushed to the home base. The opposite team was running to catch the ball as fast as they could, but it was too late. My teammate came to the home plate before they could throw the ball.
This is how we win the game by a walk off single. The losing team was at a loss. I will say that was one of the best walk off hits and walk off wins I ever had.
Walk Off Home Run
A walk off home run is the game winning shot taken by a home run in the ninth inning or extra innings. This is the most common type of win we see or want to see right?
In the walk off home run, after the batter hits a home run, the game ends immediately. Then you need to do the formality of running the bases and return to the home plate.
I have seen a lot of walk off home runs in the history of baseball games. In fact, who does not want to see the baseball game finish with a home run as the game winning run?
Although there are a lot of different walk off hits, I think the walk off win by a home run looks coolt. Apart from that, this can be called the ultimate grand slam!
If the ball does not cross the ground, then there is a major concern about walk off loss. In all the Major league baseball and Little League World Series, you will see players making the last inning walk off home run hits.
Walk Off Wild Pitch
Now, this type of walk off is different than usual. The walk off wild pitch occurs when the pitcher pitches the ball and the catcher is unable to control it.
I should mention that these types of walk offs do not occur that much as all the players are well professional. Now, when the catcher fails to catch the ball, the base runner can advance.
Walk Off Grand Slam
Ever heard of three bases loaded with base runners? If so, then you are hearing about a walk off grand slam. A walk off grand slam occurs when all the bases are loaded with base runners.
Now, if you can hit a walk off home run while your teammates make the bases loaded, then you can achieve a total of four runs, which is the highest ever runs in a single shot.
In the whole Major League Baseball walk offs history, there are around 200-250 walk off grand slam altogether. Can you imagine how few the number is?
The latest professional walk off was done by Shed Long Jr. It is very recent and one of the most controversial postseason games in the whole walk offs history.
The first grand slam was made by the player Don Budge in 1938 who won all four majors in a year.
Walk Off Home Run History In Baseball game
When I was researching the history of baseball walk off win history, I was totally surprised! Can you imagine in the history of walk off in baseball, the number of people achieving the last moment is so low?
Now, there are some famous persons in history that I should mention who contributed a lot for making some awesome walk off home runs. Here are some of the best-
- Carlton Fisk: One of the boldest baseball players who had made one of the biggest walk off home runs in the history of baseball. In 1975, He ended game 6 for the Red Sox.
- Kirk Gibson: In 1988, Kirk Gibson hit a pinched ball and made a walk off home run. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the game became so dramatic that this walk off home run made the whole crowd shout his name all over the place.
- Joe Carter: Have you watched the game between the Blue Jays and the Phillies? If not, why are you still not watching it?
In 1993, Joe Carter hit a walk off home run on a 2-2 pitch. It was also known as a walk off dinger. - Bill Mazeroski: Check out the most ferocious game winning run of Bill Mazeroski in 1960. He made a dramatic extra inning win by making a bench’s winning shot.
We have a list of 100 greatest baseball players. You can add this link here as a breaking point.
Here is a link given below. Check out how he managed to take a walk off home run and made the history-
When Does A Walk Off Error Mean?
While the home team is in the last inning, if the baller or the catcher, or the fielder fails to out the hitters and the runners for their own fault, then that is a walk off error.
There are a lot of errors you will face on the walk-off in baseball. There are a lot of matches I have seen where the visiting team makes errors and the home team scores the winning run by taking a walk-off single.
This is not a new walk-off in baseball. Here are some of the matches where this error occurred-
- Game 3 in 1914: The pinch hitter Gowdy of the Boston Braves made a walk off double in the 12th inning, which was claimed to be the longest World Series game against the Philadelphia Athletics.
Larry Gilbert pinch hits for Bill James and intentionally runs. On the other side, Les Mann also made a pinch run. At that moment Herbie Moran made a sacrifice and Bush threw to third base, causing Les Mann to score and win the game for them. - Game 6 in 1986: In the championship game, with Boston’s hopes alive at the tenth inning, New York tied the score. Then Bob Stanley made a wild pitch that gave a ray to Mookie Wilson.
Wilson hit the ball that went past the first baseman and gave a win in the last seven decided games. It was one of the best games in postseason history.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Which Team Had The Most Walk Off Wins In History?
In the world series, there are three different teams who had the most walk-off wins in a session. Those teams that have the most walk-off homer are-
- Pirates (1959) – They made 18 total walk-off wins in a single season in the world series. They also have an overall record of around 70-80 walk-offs.
They not only had the best walk-off wins, but they also had some painful walk-off losses too. - Yankees (1943) – In a single season of world series baseball, the Yankees did not give up the top position too. Their overall walk-off is around 50-90 and their season walk-off is around 17.
They also won the first all-star game with a furious three-run rally.
Which Game Had A Game Saving Defensive Play?
Have you checked the game that got tied in the bottom of the ninth? The game between the Boston Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals was one of the best defensive games I have seen so far.
Although Boston Red could not win the match because of a walk off error, that game gave me a chill. The Boston Red makes a good pitch. St. Louis makes a pinch-hit and then runs. The other two bases were loaded with players too.
Boston did less than two outs in that inning. But still, for the error, they had lost the match.
Final Words
What is a baseball walk off? Do you understand it now? As you have heard above, walk off can be stressful because if you fail to make a score in the last inning, your whole team loses.
So, the pressure is on you. But if you can make the score properly, then it is a win for you and you will get the confidence too.
Hello everyone. My name is Jason Butler, and I live in California, America. I was a professional AAA Minor League Baseball player. I lost my chance of playing MLB for injury issues, but I did not lose my love for baseball. I attended the coaching training program and am now working as a coach in a small school in San Diego.
I always love to share my experience and knowledge if that can help you. Play baseball, and stay fit.