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In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be a home run that gives the home team the lead (and consequently, the win) in the bottom of the final inning of the game. Thus the losing team (the visiting team) must then "walk off" the field immediately afterward, rather than finishing the inning. The winning runs must still be counted at home plate. Because the home team always bats last, any kind of "walk off" scenario, which ends the game, can only be accomplished by the home team.
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History and usage of the term
Although the concept of a game-ending home run is as old as baseball, the adjective "walk-off" attained widespread use only in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The first known usage of the word in print appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 21, 1988, Section D, Page 1. Chronicle writer Lowell Cohn wrote an article headlined "What the Eck?" about Oakland reliever Dennis Eckersley's unusual way of speaking: "For a translation, I go in search of Eckersley. I also want to know why he calls short home runs 'street pieces,' and home runs that come in the last at-bat of a game 'walkoff pieces' ..." Although the term originally was coined with a negative connotation, in reference to the pitcher (who must "walk off" the field with his head hung in shame), it has come to acquire a more celebratory connotation, for the batter who circles the bases with pride with the adulation of the home crowd.
Other types of "walk-off" at-bats
Sportscasters also use the term "walk-off hit" if any kind of hit drives in the winning run to end the game. The terms "walk-off hit by pitch", "walk-off walk" (a base on balls with the bases loaded), "walk-off wild pitch", "walk-off reach-on-error", "walk-off steal of home", "walk-off passed ball", and "walk-off balk" have been also applied, and the latter has been dubbed a "balk-off". It is a separate stretch of the term to call a hit a walk-off when what ends the game is not the hit but the defense's failure to make a play (as in a single with a possible out at the plate). The day after Eric Bruntlett pulled off a game-ending unassisted triple play for the Philadelphia Phillies against the New York Mets on August 23, 2009, the Philadelphia Daily News used the term "walk-off triple play" in a subheadline describing the moment.
Walk-off grand slams
Starting in the 1990s, a walk-off grand slam that erases a three-run deficit has come to be known as an ultimate grand slam. There have been 28 such instances documented in major league history – all taking place during the regular season, 15 of those coming with two outs. No player has accomplished this more than once. Of the 28 home runs, only Roberto Clemente's was hit inside the park, at spacious Forbes Field on July 25, 1956. Pirates manager/third base coach Bobby Bragan instructed him to stop at third, but Clemente ran through the stop sign to score the winning run. Alan Trammell's June 21, 1988 and Chris Hoiles' May 17, 1996 grand slams occurred under the cliché situation: bases loaded, two outs, full count, bottom of the ninth inning, and down by three runs. This was later referred to as the ultimate, ultimate grand slam. The most recent "ultimate grand slam" was by Rajai Davis, who performed the feat in the ninth inning as the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 5–4 on June 30, 2014.
Only four pitchers in major league history have surrendered two game-ending grand slam home runs in one season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau:
Walk-off celebration controversy
Walk-offs celebrations typically consist of an entire baseball team leaving the dugout to meet a player at home plate after he or she hits a walk-off home run, or at whichever base the hitter happens to reach if a traditional base hit results in a walk-off victory. Players often encircle teammates who hit a walk-off before dancing and roughhousing to celebrate their victory. Controversy surrounded these walk-off celebrations on April 29th, 2010 when Kendrys Morales, then a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, broke his left leg while celebrating a walk-off home run. As a result of this injury, team manager Mike Sciosia instituted new guidelines for his team that ensured a much tamer response to all subsequent walk-off victories.
Relevant rules
The rules of baseball provide that:
The first point above was problematic in the 1976 American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. The Yankees and Royals entered the bottom of the ninth inning of the decisive fifth game with the score tied, 6–6; Mark Littell was the pitcher for Kansas City, and Chris Chambliss was the first batter for New York. Chambliss hit Littell's first pitch into the right field bleachers to win the game and the American League pennant for the Yankees. However, Yankees fans ran onto the field at Yankee Stadium to celebrate the victory, and prevented Chambliss from rounding the bases and touching home plate. Recognizing the impossibility of Chambliss successfully negotiating the sea of people who had been on the field, umpires later escorted Chambliss back out to home plate and watched as he touched it with his foot, thereby making the Yankees victory "official". (A comment to Rule 4.09(b) permits the umpires to award the run if fans prevent the runner from touching home plate.)
The third point above led to Robin Ventura's "Grand Slam Single" in the 1999 NLCS. In the bottom of the 15th inning, the New York Mets tied the score against the Atlanta Braves at 3–3. Ventura came to bat with the bases loaded, and hit a game winning grand slam to deep right. Roger Cedeño scored from third and John Olerud appeared to score from second, but Todd Pratt, on first base when Ventura hit the home run, went to second, then turned around and hugged Ventura as the rest of the team rushed onto the field. The official ruling was that because Ventura never advanced past first base, it was not a home run but a single, and thus only Cedeño's run counted, making the official final score 4–3.
The fourth point above was not a rule prior to 1920; instead, the game ended at the moment the winning run scored. This rule affected the scoring of 40 hits, from 1884 to 1918, that would now be scored as game-winning home runs. Babe Ruth would have been credited with 715 career home runs had the modern rule been in effect in 1918; in a 10-inning game Ruth's fence-clearing, walk-off RBI hit was scored a triple because the game was deemed over when the lead baserunner reached home.
World Series
In the charts below, home runs that ended a postseason series are denoted by the player's name in bold. Home runs in which the winning team was trailing at the time are denoted by the final score in bold.
Follow the linked year on the far left for detailed information on that series.