Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Walk-off catcher interference
Posted by Mat KovachSomething that I have always found interesting is how baseball games end. Most likely because it is the last thing I remember about the game. Any game. But the wonder that is Retrosheet is easy to check. It shows some really interesting game ending events.
EVENT_ID EVENT_NAME GAME_END GAME_END_WITH_SCORING 2 Generic out 78,659 659 3 Strikeout 26,321 7 4 Stolen base 23 22 6 Caught stealing 109 0 8 Pickoff 66 16 9 Wild pitch 158 156 10 Passed ball 28 26 11 Balk 13 13 12 Other advance 20 3 13 Foul error 1 0 14 Nonintentional walk 450 426 15 Intentional walk 6 0 16 Hit by pitch 53 50 17 Interference 1 1 18 Error 301 287 19 Fielder's choice 177 136 20 Single 5,423 5,230 21 Double 851 811 22 Triple 133 130 23 Home run 2,952 2,952
A quick search shows the generic event description of 115,745 games of which 10,925 ended with somebody scoring. Furthermore, I found 92 games where the game ending on a scoring play, where the scoring team lost.*
* For example
The game ending event I find most interesting?
On Aug. 1, 1971, the Dodgers beat the Reds, 5-4, in 11 innings. When Manny Mota attempted a steal of home, Johnny Bench stepped in front of the plate to tag him. This is interference. Walk-off catcher interference!
I am still waiting for the walk-off caught stealing.
The six game-ending intentional bases on balls seem interesting, until you figure out why it isn't. **
**Oh, you know the answer.
Indians fan, member of the Duane Kuiper Fan Club, Spitball Researcher, Contact me on twitter, @siddfinch, via email or avian carrier
Maybe I’m dense, but really, how can you have a non-run-scoring, game ending intentional walk?