Walk-Offs and Other Late Inning Strikeout Disasters
Posted by Raphy on February 22, 2011
The final week of the 2010 season saw a wild finish in a game between the Rangers and Mariners. On September 29th, the Rangers, who had already come back from a 5-1 late inning deficit, were batting with the game tied in the bottom of the ninth. There were 2 outs and a runner on first when pinch hitter Nelson Cruz struck out on 2-2 pitch, seemingly sending the game into extra innings. However, catcher Guillermo Quiroz couldn't handle the pitch and his subsequent throw to first hit Cruz and went into right field, allowing runner Mitch Moreland to score. Nelson's walk-off strikeout was the first since 2005 and just the 5th since 1974. You can watch the play here.
Here are all the walk-off strikeouts recorded in the batting event finder. (some games from 1950-1973 may not be included.)
Walk-Off Strikeouts
| Yr# | Gm# | Date | Batter | Tm | Opp | Pitcher | Score | Inn | RoB | Out | Pit(cnt) | RBI | WPA | RE24 | Play Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1970-08-15 | Bob Tillman | ATL | NYM | Tom Seaver | down 2-1 | b9 | 123 | 1 | 0 | 0.46 | 8.73 | *ENDED GAME*:Strikeout, Wild Pitch; Hall to 2B; Gonzalez Scores; Carty Scores/unER/Adv on E2 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1986-06-16 | George Hendrick | CAL | TEX | Charlie Hough | tied 1-1 | b9 | 12- | 2 | 0 | 0.39 | 4.38 | *ENDED GAME*:Strikeout, Passed Ball; Joyner Scores/unER; Jackson to 2B; Hendrick to 1B | ||
| 3 | 1 | 1997-09-22 | Mike Mordecai | ATL | MON | Steve Kline | tied 2-2 | b11 | 123 | 1 | 4 (1-2) | 0 | 0.16 | 5.55 | *ENDED GAME*:Strikeout Swinging, Wild Pitch; Bautista Scores | |
| 4 | 1 | 2003-09-27 | Warren Morris | DET | MIN | Jesse Orosco | tied 8-8 | b9 | --3 | 1 | 5 (2-2) | 0 | 0.17 | 4.70 | *ENDED GAME*:Strikeout Swinging, Wild Pitch; Sanchez Scores | |
| 5 | 1 | 2005-08-03 | Pat Burrell | PHI | CHC | Michael Wuertz | tied 3-3 | b9 | 123 | 1 | 6 (3-2) | 0 | 0.16 | 5.51 | *ENDED GAME*:Strikeout Swinging, Passed Ball; Rollins Scores/unER/No RBI | |
| 6 | 1 | 2010-09-29 | Nelson Cruz | TEX | SEA | Dan Cortes | tied 5-5 | b9 | 1-- | 2 | 6 (2-2) | 0 | 0.43 | 2.39 | *ENDED GAME*:Strikeout Swinging, Wild Pitch; Moreland Scores/Adv on E2 (throw)/unER; Cruz to 2B |
Sometimes a win is so close you can almost touch it, but it eludes your grasp. That certainly happened in these cases ,where a pitcher who had the lead, notched a strikeout with 2 outs in the ninth, only to lose the lead on that same play. (The games were found using the batting event finder, so they are from the batter's perspective.)
Game Tying Strikeouts with 2 Outs in the Ninth
| Yr# | Gm# | Date | Batter | Tm | Opp | Pitcher | Score | Inn | RoB | Out | Pit(cnt) | RBI | WPA | RE24 | Play Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1974-10-02 | Bob Robertson | PIT | CHC | Rick Reuschel | down 4-3 | b9 | --3 | 2 | 0 | 0.45 | 0.96 | 5.73 | Strikeout, Passed Ball; Sanguillen Scores/unER; Robertson to 2B/Adv on E2 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1976-08-29 | George Foster | CIN | PHI | Ron Reed | down 4-3 | b9 | 12- | 2 | 0 | 0.47 | 1.06 | 6.48 | Strikeout, Passed Ball; Rose Scores/unER; Griffey to 3B; Foster to 1B | |
| 3 | 1 | 1989-06-06 | Alex Trevino | HOU | SDP | Mark Davis | down 7-6 | b9 | 123 | 2 | 3 (0-2) | 0 | 0.39 | 1.00 | 10.73 | Strikeout Swinging; Caminiti Scores/Adv on E2 (throw)/unER; Ramirez to 3B; Biggio to 2B; Trevino to 1B |
| 4 | 1 | 2003-06-05 | Jeff DaVanon | ANA | @MON | Rocky Biddle | down 5-4 | t9 | 1-3 | 2 | 4 (1-2) | 0 | 0.30 | 0.93 | 5.91 | Strikeout Swinging, Wild Pitch; Figgins Scores; Eckstein to 2B; DaVanon to 1B |
| 5 | 1 | 2003-07-31 | Michael Restovich | MIN | BAL | Jorge Julio | down 9-8 | b9 | 12- | 2 | 4 (1-2) | 0 | 0.44 | 1.00 | 6.79 | Strikeout Swinging, E2; Mientkiewicz Scores/No RBI/unER; Pierzynski to 2B; Restovich to 1B |
In all five of those games, the home team won in extra innings. This means that among the teams listed, only the '03 Expos overcame such indignity to win the game. If you have the time, check out some of these games; the craziness did not usually end in the ninth.
Of course runners reaching base on a strikeout are not limited to the regular season. The most famous passed ball of all time belongs to Mickey Owen in the 1941 World Series. But Owen was not the only catcher to allow a runner to reach after striking out with 2 outs in the ninth in a post-season game. There have been 4 such instances.
Post Season Batters Reaching Base After Striking Out With 2 Outs in the Ninth Inning
| Cr# | Date ▴ | Series | Gm# | Batter | Tm | Opp | Pitcher | Score | Inn | RoB | Out | Pit(cnt) | RBI | WPA | RE24 | Play Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1907-10-08 | WS | 1 | Del Howard | CHC | DET | Bill Donovan | down 3-2 | b9 | -23 | 2 | 0 | 0.40 | 0.90 | 8.15 | Strikeout, E2; Steinfeldt Scores/unER/No RBI; Evers to 3B; Howard to 1B | ||
| 2 | 1931-10-02 | WS | 2 | Jimmy Moore | PHA | @STL | Bill Hallahan | down 2-0 | t9 | 12- | 2 | 0 | 0.07 | 0.34 | 2.87 | Strikeout, E2; Foxx to 3B; Dykes to 2B; Moore to 1B | ||
| 3 | 1941-10-05 | WS | 4 | Tommy Henrich | NYY | @BRO | Hugh Casey | down 4-3 | t9 | --- | 2 | 0 | 0.04 | 0.12 | 1.39 | Strikeout; Henrich to 1B/Adv on E2 | ||
| 4 | 2005-10-12 | ALCS | 2 | A.J. Pierzynski | CHW | LAA | Kelvim Escobar | tied 1-1 | b9 | --- | 2 | 6 (3-2) | 0 | 0.03 | 0.13 | 1.46 | Strikeout Swinging, E2; Pierzynski to 1B |
The 1931 Cardinals survived quite a scare, but the other teams weren't so lucky. The 1907 Tigers blew the lead on Howard's strikeout, ended up with a 12 inning tie, and didn't win a game in the series. The '31 Cardinals escaped the bases loaded predicament that the no-out strikeout created and won game 2 on the way to a seven game WS victory. The famous 1941 miscue resulted in a Yankees 4 run rally and a loss of game 4, leading to a loss of the series by the Dodgers in 5 games. And while the Angels wouldn't necessarily have won the game if the strikeout had been completed, the extra base runner became the winning run and the Whitesox won the remaining games of the series.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:10 am
That October 2, 1974 game-tying strikeout cost the Cardinals a shot at the NL East flag. They would have gone on to beat the Dodgers for the pennant, and the A's in the World Series, with Ted Simmons being named Series MVP...or not.
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:31 am
The ultimate would be a case like Tillman/Seaver, but with two outs. A play that should end the game with one team winning but ends up finishing the game with the other team winning.
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:32 am
I guess I should refer to that as Tillman/Seaver/GROTE, a great defensive catcher who had a very bad moment.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:27 am
A few years ago I remember listening to a game which the Braves were ahead with two outs in the ninth. Tom Glavine had pitched most of the game, and stood to be the winning pitcher. I don't remember the name of the relief pitcher or the batter, but strike three went past the catcher to put the tying run on first. The opposing team mounted a rally and won the game.
More than any other pitchers I remember Glavine was the victim of more blown saves behind him. This particular one stands out above others.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:59 am
Of the ones in the first category, four were scored as wild pitches, including the Seaver one, while the other two were scored as passed balls. Normally, you'd think that a "dropped" third strike in which the batter reaches safely would be a passed ball, because if it was in the strike zone, the catcher should have handled it. Of course, sometimes the batter swung at a bad pitch that would have been a wild pitch anyway. However, the Seaver pitch was a wild pitch despite being a called strike three. He probably didn't miss the strike zone by much.
I watched the game in which Pat Burrell struck out and remembered that Jimmy Rollins scored the winning run. I had never seen such a thing before and wondered how often this happened (walk-off strikeout). I see now that it was somewhat rare. Although Burrell was known to swing at some bad pitches, this was one of the ones that was ruled a passed ball.
The other one that was ruled a passed ball was the one in which Charlie Hough was the pitcher. That was no surprise, considering that Hough was a knuckleballer.
Both winning runs that scored on passed balls were unearned, of course, but so were two of the wild pitches, including Seaver's, because of errant throws made by the catcher to try to get the runner at first.
Only the Burrell strikeout is actually noted as "No RBI" among the walk-offs, but wouldn't this be the case for all of them? In the other two categories, only one each is noted as "No RBI", too.
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:16 pm
The 8-29-76 PHI-CIN game was a wild one. After the Reds tied it in the 9th on the PB, the Phils took the lead in the 13th. Then the Reds tie it again when Concepcion scored from second on a 6-4 force! I imagine this was Pete Rose beating out a double play while Davey raced around from second.
Also on the 1907 WS Game One...The Cubs just tied the game in the 9th on the strikeout and E2, but with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out, Johnny Evers is thrown out trying to steal home to end the inning! I don't think you'd see that strategy today
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:11 pm
What about the Carlos Beltran strikeout looking in the bottom of the 9th or Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS between the Mets and the Cardinals?
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:20 pm
@7,
While the Beltran strikeout WAS a "disaster" (for Mets fans) AND a "walk-off" (just not the kind the Mets would have wanted), it does not fit the criteria of this post which includes strikeouts where strike three was a PB or WP that extended the game (or ended the game with the team that struck out being the winner).
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:27 pm
I remember that Cubs-Pirates game in '74... It was the Pirates' last regular-season game, and had Steve Swisher held onto the ball, the Pirates would have finished with an 87-75 record, while the Cardinals were at 86-75 with a makeup game still to play if there were postseason implications, which there would have been.
Instead, the Pirates tie the game on the dropped third strike, and go on to win in the 10th, thereby sewing up the NL East.
That Wednesday night game was televised locally in St. Louis because of the implications, and it was the first time in my life when I felt I could hear an entire city gnashing its teeth....
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Seaver wrote about that game. I can't remember where, but as I recall, he said the wild pitch was his fault, not Grote's--he crossed Grote up. Maybe Grote was calling for a curveball to get the double play and end the game, while Seaver, going for his best friend the strikeout, threw a high fastball. Or vice versa.
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Some WP-Ks are probably swings at balls that hit the dirt. In Grote's case, there was the initial Seaver mistake, but then Grote got an error, presumably on a throw.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:58 pm
From the above list of Post Season games won/lost in the Post Season
A few Weeks ago I mentioned that the Most Famous Passed Ball was Mickey Owen dropping the 3rd strike allowing Tommy Heinrich to reach base with 2 out and as a result 4 runs later scored in game 4 of the 1941 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees..
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO194110050.shtml?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool
The problem is, it wasn't scored as a passed ball but in the Play by Play.
It was recorded as:
Strikeout; Heinrich to 1B/Adv on E2
At the innings end there is 1 error recorded.
In the Box Score at the beginning there is no indication of a Passed Ball.
The only Error of the game is given to M. Owen
I checked the Passed Ball Scoring rule in Section 10 which says a Passed Ball is not an error, but if runs score as a result they are un-Earned.
I asked if anyone knew if there was a different scoring rule in effect at the time where Passed Balls were scored as an error and the rule was subsequently changed??
I didn't see anyone answer the question then.
Hope someone will explain the non award of a passed ball to Mickey Owen in game 4 of the 1941 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:43 am
Check out what happened after Del Howard reached 1st on a dropped strike 3 as the tying run scored (item #1 on the last list above, "Post Season Batters Reaching Base After Striking Out With 2 Outs in the Ninth Inning"):
-- With the potential winning run at 3B, 2 outs and pitcher Orval Overall at bat (career .179 BA), Del Howard stole 2nd base, although his run meant nothing. Perhaps he was trying to draw a throw so that Johnny Evers could break from 3B on a delayed double-steal. Or maybe it was a case of defensive indifference before that concept had come into play in official scoring.
-- Backup catcher Pat Moran now pinch-hit for Overall. But the Cubs didn't really have any more faith in the light-hitting Moran than they did in Overall -- as reflected in the fact that Johnny Evers tried to steal home, but was tagged out by Tigers C Boss Schmidt to end the inning. And so the opener of the 1907 WS played on, finally called a tie after 13 innings.
Notes:
-- Del Howard was pinch-hitting for future HOF SS Joe Tinker, who had struck out in each of his first 3 trips. Tinker had batted .221 during the '07 season, the worst mark of his MLB career, and his career BA over his first 6 seasons was just .246. Tinker hit .276 over the remainder of his career to finish at .262.
-- Pat Moran, the PH left standing after Evers was caught stealing home, went on to manage a pair of historic pennant winners: In 1915, his first year at the helm, Moran led the Phillies (who finished 6th the year before) to the first pennant in their 33-year history, their last until 1950. He brought them home 2nd each of the next 2 years, but was let go after finishing 6th in 1918. The very next year, Moran took over the Reds -- who hadn't even contended during the century -- and guided them to a 96-44 record (that's a 111-win pace with the modern schedule) and their first WS championship. Moran managed the Reds until his premature death during March 1924; until 1940, he was the only manager to win a WS with Cincinnati.
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:21 pm
That Michael Restovich game-tying K was hilarious because the runner scored from SECOND base. Additionally, the game-winning hit by Jacque Jones the next inning came on a high chopper through a 5-man infield. The Orioles were destined to lose that game.