Walk-off Home Run

HISTORY AND USAGE OF THE TERM

's famous Walk-off Home Run at Forbes Field to win the 1960 World Series ]]
According to Dan Shaughnessy of '' The Boston Globe '', the term was first introduced by pitcher Dennis Eckersley , who coined it after giving up a "walkoff piece" to Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series (see below). 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 mean a more celebratory term for the batter (who ''walks off'' with pride and adulation). The term attained widespread use in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Walk-off home runs are uncommon enough to be dramatic when they occur, especially during the postseason. The subject of the most famous walk-off home run in the history of the 's " Shot Heard Round The World " which gave the New York Giants a National League pennant-winning victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers in an October 3 , 1951 playoff; others say it was the home run hit by Bill Mazeroski of the Pittsburgh Pirates , winning the 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees . Other notable post-season walk-off home runs include the one hit by Chris Chambliss of the New York Yankees in the 1976 American League Championship Series to win the pennant, Kirby Puckett 's gamewinner in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series , capping off a tour-de-force performance; Joe Carter 's blast behind the left field wall that gave the Toronto Blue Jays their second straight World championship in 1993 ; Aaron Boone 's homer in the 11th inning of Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS ; and the shot by Chris Burke that ended the longest game in postseason history, an 18-inning, 6-hour marathon in the 2005 NLDS that propelled the Houston Astros to the NLCS.

In addition to Thomson's home run, other notable walk-off home runs in the major league regular season include:

Roger Connor 's home run on September 10 , 1881 ; with his Troy Trojans trailing 7-4, the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the 9th, he hit the first Grand Slam in major league history for an 8-7 victory;

Gabby Hartnett 's "Homer in the Gloamin'" on September 28 , 1938 , which helped the Chicago Cubs win the pennant over the Pittsburgh Pirates ;

Joe Adcock 's 3-run HR in the 13th inning on May 26 , 1959 (officially ruled a double due to a baserunning mistake), which spoiled Harvey Haddix ' No-hitter (Haddix had a Perfect Game going into the 13th);

Harold Baines ' home run on May 9 , 1984 , defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 in the 25th inning - the longest completed game in major league history, it took 8 hours 6 minutes, over two evenings, to complete; and

Steve Finley 's grand slam on October 2 , 2004 , which clinched the NL West title for the Los Angeles Dodgers .

In 1996 , Warren Morris won the College World Series with a two-out, two-run walk-off home run on the first pitch, giving LSU a 9-8 victory over Miami in the championship game, the only time the CWS has ended with a home run.

In 2005 , Michael Memea hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the championship game of the Little League World Series , giving Ewa Beach , Hawaii the title over the defending champions from Willemstad , Curaçao . Hawaii had only been put into position for the dramatic extra-inning win with a furious three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth. The game marked the only time that the Little League World Series has ended in a walk-off home run.

A technicality of the walk-off home run is that the game is not officially over until the winning run crosses home plate (in the case of a solo walk-off home run, the batter must round all the bases). This fact almost caused a serious problem in the 1976 ALCS when jubilant fans running onto the field at Yankee Stadium prevented Chambliss from rounding the bases (the Yankees had not won the pennant in 12 years). Chambliss had to negotiate a sea of fans in order to place his foot in the area of home plate.

Another example is Robin Ventura 's "grand slam single" in the 1999 National League Championship Series . 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 walk-off grand slam to deep right. Roger Cedeno 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 piled 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 Cedeno's run counted, making the official final score 4-3.

On several occasions in major league history, a player has hit a walk-off grand slam for a 1-run victory; some baseball observers call this an "ultimate grand slam" [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/05/17/ultimate_grand_slams/ .

In the charts below, home runs which ended a postseason series are denoted by the player's name in bold.

WORLD SERIES

Follow the linked year on the far left for detailed information on that series.

OTHER WALK-OFF HOME RUNS IN THE MAJOR LEAGUE POSTSEASON

ALL-STAR GAME

REFERENCE

Shaughnessy, Dan (Jun. 24, 2004), "Term Covers All the Bases" , ''Boston Globe'', p. D1.

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Walk-off Home Run