How can you win a game when you strike out to end the game?
Posted by Andy on April 20, 2009
How can a team win a game when, as the very last play of the game, one of its own players strikes out?
I can only think of two examples. The first one I'm not sure even counts. Conceivably, a guy could strike out with fewer than 2 outs and a runner on third. If that pitch is wild or a passed ball, the runner from third could come home to score, and the game would end if that were the tie-breaking run in the bottom of the 9th or extra innings.
The second one is one we can find with the PI:
It happened most recently in this 2006 game between the Cubs and the Reds. (This game was found with a Pitching Game Finder search here.) It's quite simple really; Rich Aurelia of the Reds struck out to end the fifth inning in a game in which the Reds were already leading, and then the game was called due to rain. Reds win, despite making out in their last at-bat.
The most recent previous examples are 2 games from 2005 and one game from 2004.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:37 am
it could also happen with 2 outs, a runner on third, in the bottom of the 9th with a dropped third strike...or is that what you were hypothesizing?
April 20th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
#1 last occurred in 2005.
April 20th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
The question is phrased differently in the heading and in the body. A common-sense interpretation of each phrasing would exclude one or the other of the two examples you gave.
1. Your first example does not fit the common-sense definition of "play," which is part of the question as worded in the body ("...as the very last play of the game"). I think most readers would presume that it excludes any baserunner advancement that occurs after the strikeout. And I assume that is why you cast doubt on the example by saying, "I'm not sure [it] even counts."
2. Your second example runs afoul of the question as posed in the heading. The phrase "strike out to end the game" implies that the strikeout led directly to the game's end, or at least, that the game ended naturally.
For clarity, the question should be posed as: "How can a team win a game when one of its own players strikes out for the final out of the game?" This wording says only what it means, i.e., that the strikeout was the last out, not the "final play" or "to end the game."
April 20th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
This may be far-fetched, but it's technically possible for a game to actually end with a winning team player's strikeout. How? A team could leave the field as the losing team, but later win a protest ruling. Has that ever happened?
April 20th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Jautin:
There are many examples of games in which the last out recorded is a strikeout by the winning team. Anytime a game goes into the bottom of the ninth (or the bottom of an extra inning), a strikeout is recorded, then a subsequent batter gets the game-winning hit/walk/RoE/whatever before another out is recorded would qualify.
I think the question is whether there's another plate appearance (or partial PA, in the case of a PB/WP/SB scoring the winning run) after the strikeout. In the case of the rainout, there would be no additional plate appearances (assuming the game was called between innings). Similarly, in the case of the dropped 3rd strike/RoE scenario, there would be no additional PA or partial PA - it's just a question of whether we consider the action after the strikeout pitch a separate "play", or whether we just consider it part of the strikeout "play". Clearly the strikeout itself did not cause the game to end, but the "strikeout play" (if we consider the results of the PA all one "play") did.
In the case of the WP/PB/SB scenario, another batter had to have stepped into the batter's box. In the case of the WP or PB sending the runner home, the pitcher had to throw at least one pitch home. In the case of a runner stealing home to end the game, the pitcher didn't necessarily have to deliver a pitch home during the partial PA. In both of these cases, the "strikeout play" did not end the game, but was the final completed plate appearance in the game. Should we count that? It's a matter of personal preference, I suppose...
April 20th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Jautin...
First, I'm with you on your second point. The phrase "to end the game" definitely implies that the strikeout caused the game to end thereby eliminating situation 2.
Second, I have to disagree with your "common sense" definition of what constitutes a "play." I won't assume I know the opinion of the average reader, but mlb.com's definition of "play" is, "the umpire's order to start the game or to resume action following any dead ball." (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/definition_terms_2.jsp) Since there was no dead ball between the third strike and the baserunner scoring, they are part of the same play.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
It's just ridiculous nitpicking. The point of the post was just to point out some interesting games that the PI can find...not to debate the fine meaning of certain words.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Thanks for finding the interesting games, Andy. I'm wondering about this scenario, not being a rules expert. Tie game, last of ninth. Two out, runner on third. Two strikes on batter, who swings and misses, but the ball gets away from the catcher. Fast runner on third comes in and touches home. But the batter is slow heading to first and is thrown out at first.
I'm guessing that the "run" doesn't count and the game goes to the top of the 10th with the score still tied. Confirmation?
April 20th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
JDV - Upheld protests result in the continuation of the game from the point of the protest.
This is explained on the retrosheet.org site /protests
April 20th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
David--yeah I believe that run doesn't count. Those kinds of plays are always very weird, though. The rare cases where a run like that does count usually occur in an appeal type situation--such as when a runner leaves a base on a line drive and then gets doubled off by tagging the player instead of the base--if a runner crosses home before the double-play tag AND the defense does not appeal the runner leaving early, then the run counts as soon as the defense leaves the field of play.
April 20th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Has there ever been an MLB game that was ended by a K/dropped 3rd strike?
April 21st, 2009 at 5:52 am
June 16, 1986 Tex. @ Cal. for one.
I can't post a link, but I will try to give you the parts to create one (just add the name of this website before the following):
/boxes/NYA/NYA200109300.shtml
April 21st, 2009 at 5:53 am
sorry, wrong game. Here's the correct one:
boxes/CAL/CAL198606160.shtml
April 21st, 2009 at 1:40 pm
[...] Andy’s thread from yesterday, Tomepp asked: “Has there ever been an MLB game that was ended by a K/dropped 3rd strike?” I [...]