Walk

From BR Bullpen

(Redirected from Bases on balls)

A walk or base on balls, abbreviated BB, occurs when a player gets on base by drawing four balls from the pitcher. A walk might be intentional.

For batters, it counts as a plate appearance, but not as an at-bat; a high number of walks drawn is a sign of a good batting eye, or of a very dangerous hitter that pitchers are trying to pitch around.

A walk is also a statistic for pitchers, where a high number of walks allowed indicates a lack of control.

The ball is live during a base on balls, and therefore, baserunners as well as the batter-runner are allowed to advance additional bases at their own risk.

All Time Leaders
Span Player Total Notes
Career Barry Bonds 2,558
Season Barry Bonds 232 2004
Game Walt Wilmot 6 August 22, 1891
Game Jimmie Foxx 6 June 16, 1938
Game Bryce Harper 6 May 8, 2016
NPB Career Sadaharu Oh 2,390
NPB Season Sadaharu Oh 158 1974
Cuban National League Career Antonio Muñoz 1,551
Cuban National League Season Juan Manrique 105 2002-2003
AAGPBL Career Dorothy Schroeder 696
AAGPBL Season Sophie Kurys 93 1946
AAGPBL Game Irene Hickson 5 June 13, 1946

Further Reading[edit]

  • Richard Hershberger: "How Bases on Balls Were Scored: 1864-88", Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 47, Nr. 1 (spring 2018), pp. 99-106.