Walk-off home run
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 the win in the bottom of the final inning of the game. Thus the losing team must then "walk off" the field immediately afterward, not finishing the inning, and the winning team can "walk off" the field with the win. The winning runs must still be counted at home plate.
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, 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" wins
Sportscasters also use the term "walk-off hit" as any kind of hit which drives in the winning run to end the game. The terms "walk-off hit by pitch", "walk-off walk", "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. 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,, the Philadelphia Daily News used the term "walk-off triple play" in a subheadline describing the moment.Walk-off grand slam
A grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners, 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.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 most dire situation: bases loaded, two outs, full count, bottom of the ninth inning, and down by three runs.
The most recent walk-off grand slam was hit by Matt Olson of the Oakland Athletics on July 24, 2020, against the Los Angeles Angels. 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 followed by his second on July 30, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 injury
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." ; also 7.05)
- 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.
- On a game-winning hit, a batter is credited for the full number of bases only if "the batter runs out his hit."
- 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., Exception; also 10.06)
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.
| Year | Game | Batter | Site | Pitcher | Situation | Final score | Series standing | Notes |
| 1949 | Game 1, October 5 | Tommy Henrich, N.Y. Yankees | Yankee Stadium | Don Newcombe, Brooklyn | 0–0, 9th 0 out 0 on | 1–0 | 1–0 NYY | Henrich's blast leading off the ninth was the first game-winning home run in Series history, and provided the game's only run. |
| 1954 | Game 1, September 29 | Dusty Rhodes, N.Y. Giants | Polo Grounds | Bob Lemon, Cleveland | 2–2, 10th 1 out 2 on | 5–2 | 1–0 NYG | Rhodes' three-run pinch-hit homer with one out in the tenth is not as well remembered as Willie Mays' spectacular over-the-shoulder catch earlier in the game. |
| 1957 | Game 4, October 6 | Eddie Mathews, Milwaukee | County Stadium | Bob Grim, N.Y. Yankees | 5–5, 10th 1 out 1 on | 7–5 | 2–2 | Mathews hits a two-run shot with one out in the tenth inning to tie the Series. |
| 1960 | Game 7, October 13 | Bill Mazeroski, Pittsburgh | Forbes Field | Ralph Terry, N.Y. Yankees | 9–9, 9th 0 out 0 on | 10–9 | 4–3 PIT | Leading off the ninth, Mazeroski homers to end the Series, giving the Pirates their first championship since 1925. It is the only Game 7 game-winning home run in World Series history. After Forbes Field was demolished, the section of the left-field wall where the home run left the park was moved to the Pirates' new home of Three Rivers Stadium, and still later was moved to their current home, PNC Park. A line of bricks marks that section of the wall, next to a preserved wall section, and a plaque indicating the spot where Mazeroski's homer left the park is embedded in the current sidewalk. |
| 1964 | Game 3, October 10 | Mickey Mantle, N.Y. Yankees | Yankee Stadium | Barney Schultz, St. Louis | 1–1, 9th 0 out 0 on | 2–1 | 2–1 NYY | Mantle hits a home run on the first pitch of the ninth for a Yankee victory. |
| 1975 | Game 6, October 21 | Carlton Fisk, Boston | Fenway Park | Pat Darcy, Cincinnati | 6–6, 12th 0 out 0 on | 7–6 | 3–3 | Fisk's home run to lead off the 12th inning, high off the left-field foul pole above the Green Monster, ties the Series in one of the best remembered moments in the sport's history. The homer arguably changed the way televised sports are covered; because camera operators missed a cue from the producer, the camera lingered on Fisk trying to "wave his home run fair." This image of Fisk proved so dramatic that "reaction shots" became standard fare in sports broadcasting. |
| 1988 | Game 1, October 15 | Kirk Gibson, Los Angeles | Dodger Stadium | Dennis Eckersley, Oakland | 3–4, 9th 2 out 1 on | 5–4 | 1–0 LA | The injured and hobbling Gibson, later named the NL MVP, makes his only Series appearance with a pinch-hit, two-run, two-out shot for the underdog Dodgers, marking the first game-winning Series homer by a team that trailed at the time. Oakland's José Canseco had provided all his team's scoring with a second-inning grand slam. Jack Buck, who called the game for CBS Radio, exclaimed "I don't believe what I just saw!" as Gibson circled the bases. |
| 1988 | Game 3, October 18 | Mark McGwire, Oakland | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Jay Howell, Los Angeles | 1–1, 9th 1 out 0 on | 2–1 | 2–1 LA | McGwire's home run with one out gives Oakland its only win in the Series. It is the first time that two game-winning home runs are hit in the same post-season series. |
| 1991 | Game 6, October 26 | Kirby Puckett, Minnesota | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | Charlie Leibrandt, Atlanta | 3–3, 11th 0 out 0 on | 4–3 | 3–3 | Puckett, who had made a game-saving defensive play earlier in this game, leads off the 11th inning with a homer to tie the Series, as Jack Buck told the nation on CBS, "We'll see you... tomorrow night!" In addition, Puckett falls a double short of hitting for the cycle, getting two singles, a triple, and the homer. |
| 1993 | Game 6, October 23 | Joe Carter, Toronto | SkyDome | Mitch Williams, Philadelphia | 5–6, 9th 1 out 2 on | 8–6 | 4–2 TOR | Carter hit a three-run homer with one out to give Toronto its second consecutive championship. Radio sportscaster Tom Cheek's call of "Touch 'em all Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!" would go down as one of the most iconic moments in Toronto sports history. |
| 1999 | Game 3, October 26 | Chad Curtis, N.Y. Yankees | Yankee Stadium | Mike Remlinger, Atlanta | 5–5, 10th 0 out 0 on | 6–5 | 3–0 NYY | Curtis leads off the tenth inning with his second home run of the evening to give the Yankees a commanding Series lead. |
| 2001 | Game 4, October 31 | Derek Jeter, N.Y. Yankees | Yankee Stadium | Byung-hyun Kim, Arizona | 3–3, 10th 2 out 0 on | 4–3 | 2–2 | Jeter's homer with two out in the tenth ties the Series in the first-ever Series at-bat by any player in the month of November both happened during Game 6 of the World Series, and 2) both men were the first batter of the final inning. |
| 2018 | Game 3, October 26 | Max Muncy, L.A. Dodgers | Dodger Stadium | Nathan Eovaldi, Boston | 2–2, 18th 0 out 0 on | 3–2 | 2–1 BOS | After missing a home run by a few feet in the 15th inning, Muncy hit a full count pitch over the left field wall off Eovaldi leading off the bottom of the 18th inning, giving the Dodgers the win and ending the longest World Series game in history in terms of innings and time. |