About Geoff Expertise Huge baseball trivia lover! I will attempt to answer anything you can think of when it comes to major league baseball. I have a large reference library of all things baseball. Try to stump me!
Question Hi Geoff, This will probably be an easy question but one that has me confused. What does it mean when someone hits a walk-off homerun? Is there anyone on base? Thanks, Bill
Answer Hi Bill,
Thanks for writing.
The term "walk-off home run" means a home run that ends the game just as soon as the batter rounds the bases. For instance, if the game is tied and a player for the home team hits a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning (or in extra innings), the game ends once the batter scores. It doesn't matter if someone is on base or not, just that the game ends right away.
The walking off is a reference to the pitcher who gave up the game ending home run - he slowly "walks off" the field.
Former Major League pitcher Dennis Eckersley is credited with first using this expression.
