Blog

The Walk-off: A Bit of History and More

Baseball, MLB article at Knup Sports

The Walk-off. There is nothing more likely to illicit a response from a crowd than the walk-off home run. A Walkoff comes from the last batter of the game and if you are a fan of the home team and they smash a walk-off home run. The crowd goes nuts and there is a euphoric nature buzzing throughout the stadium. If you are from the visiting team and you witness a walk-off home run, you become all dejected and bummed out. You might even be in a state of mental depression.

The Walk-off Origination

It is thought that the term walk-off possibly was coined in 1988 when pitcher Dennis Eckersley told a reporter about the lonely walk-off he has from the mound to dugout upon losing in the last at-bat. Therefore, the term began as a negative connotation and now it is a highly positive thing in the media from the offensive side of the ball.

Historians have pinpointed this to be from a game on July 29, 1988 when Eckersley gave up a home in the 10th inning of a game at the Kingdome in Seattle that was hit by Steve Balboni smacking a three-run home run off him to create the walk-off.

It doesn’t have to be a home run as it can be from a walk-off single or walk or even a passed ball or balk.  The definition of the walk-off is ” a run scoring event in the bottom half of the last inning of the game that gives the home team a win”

The Walk-off Leaders

The player that is still active with the most walk-off home runs is  Albert Pujols. Also on the active list is Ryan Zimmerman with 11. Here is a list of the All-Time Most Walk-offs:

Jim Thome 13

Jimmie Fox 12

Stan Musial 12

Albert Pujols 12

Mickey Mantle 12

Frank Robinson 12

Babe Ruth  12

Ryan Zimmerman 11

David Ortiz 11

Tony Perez  11

 

Check out Baseball Spotlight for all of your baseball needs.

To Top