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 I have been a baseball fan since 1939 and am puzzled by that phrase which i have never heard it explained. The term "walk off" makes no sense to me. All players walk off the dugout bench before going to the plate. Who thought it made so special that all writers and broadcasters use it? Thank you
Answer Hi Robert,
Thanks for writing.
The term "walk off" should only be used when a game ends with the final batter hitting a game-ending (and game-winning) home run. Broadcasters now tend to use the term to describe any game-ending (and game-winning) hit be it a single, double, triple or home run.
Dennis Eckersley (the great relief pitcher) is credited with first using the term "walk off" as a way to describe a game that ends abruptly with the final batter hitting a clutch game-winning home run. He used the term to describe how the pitcher who gave up the game-ending (and game-winning) home run will now have nothing else to do than "walk off" the field in defeat.
