Walk-off walks
Posted by Andy on April 17, 2009
Just got curious to find all walk-off walks from the last several years, meaning a walk that ended the game by forcing in a run. This is done with a simple team pitching event finder search of walks as the game-ending event.
A couple of days ago, the Dodgers won a game in such fashion:
Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2009-04-15 Brian Wilson SFG @LAD James Loney tied 4-4 b 9 123 1 3-2 6 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Ramirez Scores; Ethier to 3B; Martin to 2B
Here are the 2008 games: Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2008-04-03 Jesus Colome WSN @PHI Jayson Werth tied 7-7 b10 123 1 3-0 4 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Rollins Scores; Utley to 3B; Howard to 2B 2 1 2008-05-26 Bobby Seay DET @LAA Garret Anderson tied 0-0 b12 123 1 3-0 4 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Izturis Scores; Guerrero to 3B; Hunter to 2B 3 1 2008-06-26 Mike Parisi STL @DET Clete Thomas tied 2-2 b10 123 2 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Granderson Scores; Guillen to 3B; Cabrera to 2B 4 1 2008-08-03 Fernando Rodney DET @TBR Carlos Pena tied 5-5 b10 123 2 3-2 6 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Riggans Scores; Upton to 3B; Crawford to 2B 5 1 2008-08-04 George Sherrill BAL @LAA Chone Figgins tied 5-5 b 9 123 2 3-2 6 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Hunter Scores; Kendrick to 3B; Mathis to 2B 6 1 2008-08-30 Aaron Heilman NYM @FLA Josh Willingham tied 3-3 b 9 123 1 3-1 5 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Ramirez Scores; Cantu to 3B; Jacobs to 2B 7 1 2008-08-30 Vladimir Nunez ATL @WSN Elijah Dukes tied 8-8 b10 123 2 3-2 8 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Hernandez Scores; Guzman to 3B; Zimmerman to 2B 8 1 2008-09-28 Luis Vizcaino COL @ARI Chris Young tied 1-1 b 9 123 2 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Romero Scores; Ojeda to 3B; Salazar to 2B
And 2007:
Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2007-05-14 Michael Wuertz CHC @NYM Carlos Delgado tied 4-4 b 9 123 2 3-2 10 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Reyes Scores; Chavez to 3B; Beltran to 2B 2 1 2007-05-16 Bronson Arroyo CIN @SDP Kevin Kouzmanoff tied 2-2 b 9 123 0 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Greene Scores/unER; Cameron to 3B; Bard to 2B 3 1 2007-05-30 David Aardsma CHW @MIN Torii Hunter tied 6-6 b 9 123 2 3-0 4 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Tyner Scores/unER; Punto to 3B; Cuddyer to 2B 4 1 2007-06-05 Tim Corcoran TBD @TOR Aaron Hill tied 11-11 b 9 123 1 3-1 5 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Stairs Scores; Thomas to 3B; Glaus to 2B 5 1 2007-06-07 Jonathan Broxton LAD @SDP Russell Branyan tied 5-5 b 9 123 1 3-2 6 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Gonzalez Scores; Bard to 3B; Cameron to 2B 6 1 2007-06-26 Scott Proctor NYY @BAL Ramon Hernandez tied 2-2 b 9 123 1 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Patterson Scores; Roberts to 3B; Markakis to 2B 7 1 2007-08-30 Rick White SEA @CLE Kenny Lofton tied 5-5 b 9 123 2 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Barfield Scores; Garko to 3B; Gutierrez to 2B
And 2006:
Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2006-05-05 Dan Wheeler HOU @COL Jamey Carroll tied 4-4 b 9 123 1 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Barmes Scores/unER; Marrero to 3B; Sullivan to 2B 2 1 2006-06-17 Jae Weong Seo LAD @OAK Bobby Crosby tied 4-4 b17 123 2 3-1 5 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Scutaro Scores; Swisher to 3B; Chavez to 2B 3 1 2006-08-29 Ryan Dempster CHC @PIT Jose Bautista tied 6-6 b11 123 1 3-1 5 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Castillo Scores/unER; Randa to 3B; Duffy to 2B 4 1 2006-09-02 Jesse Crain MIN @NYY Bernie Williams ahead 6-1 b 8 --- 0 3-1 5 0 *ENDED GAME*:Walk 5 1 2006-09-02(1) Brandon Lyon ARI @WSN Ryan Zimmerman tied 6-6 b11 123 1 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Castro Scores; Soriano to 3B; Lopez to 2B 6 1 2006-09-27 Fernando Cabrera CLE CHW Josh Fields down 1-2 t 8 -23 2 3-1 5 0 *ENDED GAME*:Walk 7 1 2006-09-29 Seth McClung TBD @CLE Jhonny Peralta tied 1-1 b 9 123 1 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Michaels Scores; Martinez to 3B; Choo to 2B
And 2005:
Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2005-04-07 Rick White PIT @SDP Xavier Nady tied 0-0 b12 123 1 3-0 4 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Blum Scores; Hernandez to 3B; Burroughs to 2B 2 1 2005-05-04 Roberto Novoa CHC @MIL Damian Miller tied 3-3 b 9 123 2 3-2 7 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Hall Scores; Jenkins to 3B; Overbay to 2B 3 1 2005-05-28 Giovanni Carrara LAD @ARI Kelly Stinnett tied 4-4 b 9 123 0 3-1 5 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Kata Scores/unER; Green to 3B; Terrero to 2B 4 1 2005-06-02 Randy Flores STL @COL Brad Hawpe tied 7-7 b 9 123 0 3-1 5 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Relaford Scores; Helton to 3B; Holliday to 2B 5 1 2005-07-26 Luis Ayala WSN @ATL Andruw Jones tied 2-2 b10 123 2 3-0 4 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Francoeur Scores; Furcal to 3B; Giles to 2B 6 1 2005-08-02 Julio Santana MIL @NYM Mike Piazza tied 8-8 b11 123 1 3-0 4 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Wright Scores; Cameron to 3B; Mientkiewicz to 2B 7 1 2005-08-16 Scott Proctor NYY @TBD Jonny Gomes tied 3-3 b11 123 2 3-0 4 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Crawford Scores; Perez to 3B; Huff to 2B 8 1 2005-09-07 Jeff Nelson SEA @OAK Nick Swisher tied 7-7 b 9 123 2 3-2 6 1 *ENDED GAME*:Walk; Payton Scores; Johnson to 3B; Ginter to 2B
One interesting thing about these lists is that, with few exceptions, the batters are all good offensive players. That makes sense, of course--I guess pitchers would be more likely to throw strikes to a lesser hitter. Those at-bats may still have ended poorly for the pitchers, but at least they weren't walks.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Ouch! Scott Proctor and Rick White make the list twice.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:12 am
here's what caught my eye first...2006-09-27...Josh Fields...down 1-2?? upon close investigation of the game...Fields walked to load the bases in the top of the eighth, down 1-2...and then the game was called (probably because of rain).
i am guessing the list was created by finding games that ended in a walk.
the same ending can be said about the 2006-09-02 game.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:21 am
With bases loaded in the 9th, the pitcher was probably trying to throw strikes to these good batters. The pitcher may (justifiably) have been a little more nervous than usual, however. And yes, the hitter's reputation MAY matter somewhat (causing the pitcher to nibble). But the key thing may be the good hitter's ability to tell ball from strike even on the close ones, and not to swing at pitches that are close but out of the zone. The mediocre hitter swings at wide ones; the good hitter, especially in these circumstances, MAKES the pitcher throw strikes, and often, under these circumstances, he can't.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Yeah, nice catch Kingturtle (and where the hell have you been??)
The search was for games that ended with a walk, not necessarily victories or losses.
April 17th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Yes...both of those games were rain-shortened. The walks just happened to be the last events before the umpires stopped the action. The White Sox were actually up 2-1 and threatening to add more when it was ended. I don't think an umpire would have made that decision if the tying run were on third. In the other game, the Twins had just scored four insurance runs in the top of the 8th, so despite the lead-off walk to Williams in the bottom of the 8th, it probably wasn't too controversial when the umpires ended that one.
April 17th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
No walk-off intentional walks? That's disappointing.
April 17th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Johnny, you and I share a certain perverse sense, and I considered intentional walk-off walks too. Talk about throwing in the towel...
April 17th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Heh...there's actually a poster at Baseballthinkfactory with the name Walk-Off IBB (or something like that) which is where I got the idea.
April 18th, 2009 at 2:25 am
Bobby Valentine effectively ended a season with an intentional walk-off walk. I was screaming at the TV that it was stupid to bring Kenny Rogers in, and my colleagues (including at least one Mets fan) kept saying that he'd throw strikes. Historically, the guy's got great control...but in that situation? They intentionally walked a guy or two, which I always argue makes a pitcher less effective, and in this case, a guy who isn't used to relieving, even more so. And, with the season on the line, he walked the guy on four pitches. End of game, end of season.
Curious who the all-time walk-off kings are, by walks and/or hits.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Goof, Sean posted about that a few years ago. It seems you still can't post links here for some reason, but go to the main B-R blog and search "walk-off" and you'll find it. Or look for his post dated June 26, 2006.
April 30th, 2009 at 7:53 am
the worst part of the kenny rogers situation is that it was a 3-2 count and all he had to do was throw a fastball, but he threw a terrible curve ball. i was not happy.