Inside-the-park home run

An inside-the-park home run, abbreviated IPHR, is a home run that does not leave the park by clearing the outfield fence. It is often hit by a very fast player but not always. Usually the ball needs to be misplayed by an outfielder without committing an error, allowing the hitter enough time to circle the bases.

Before the 1920s, however, when fences were much further away from home plate than they are today and the equiment did not carry as well, inside-the-park home runs were more common than those that left the ballpark. This trend ended with the end of the Deadball Era and today, inside-the-park home runs have become quite rare, occurring on average fewer than 20 times per year in Major League Baseball.

Historic Inside the Park Home Runs

Regular Season

Year	Batter	Date and Site	Pitcher	Final score	Notes
1956	Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh	July 25, Forbes Field	Jim Brosnan, Chicago	9-8	Clemente hits Brosnan's first pitch for his first ML grand slam, thus becoming the first and, as yet, only ML player ever to hit a walk-off grand slam inside the park. It came exactly two years after his first North American homer, also a walk-off job, at Montreal's Delorimier Downs, off Havana's Bubba Harris

Further Reading

• A.J. Cassavell: "Inside-the-park homers are baseball's lost art: Once commonplace, feat is becoming an increasingly rare sight on diamond", mlb.com, June 15, 2014. [1]