Base on balls

In early baseball, there was no concept of a "ball". It was created by the NABBP in 1863, originally as a sort of unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty: "Should the pitcher repeatedly fail to deliver to the striker fair balls, for the apparent purpose of delaying the game, or for any other cause, the umpire, after warning him, shall call one ball, and if the pitcher persists in such action, two and three balls; when three balls shall have been called, the striker shall be entitled to the first base; and should any base be occupied at that time, each player occupying them shall be entitled to one base without being put out."{{Cite web|url=https://protoball.org/1863_NABBP_Rules|title = 1863 NABBP Rules - Protoball}}Henry Chadwick commented, "Another and far better amendment, which was adopted at this convention, was that of calling balls on the pitcher when he failed to pitch fairly for the bat. Previously the striker alone was punished for unfair play, for “strikes” could be called on him for refusing to strike at fair balls; but the pitcher could send in unfair balls with impunity. The introduction of called balls, however, equalized matters, and the rule now works very advantageously indeed in promoting skilful play." Note that this rule in effect gave the pitcher 9 balls, since each penalty ball could only be called on a third offense. In 1869 the rule was modified so that only those baserunners forced to advance could advance. From 1871 through 1886, the batter was entitled to call "high" or "low", i.e. above or below the waist; a pitch which failed to conform was "unfair". Certain pitches were defined as automatic balls in 1872: any ball delivered over the batter's head, that hit the ground in front of home plate, was delivered to the opposite side from the batter, or came within one foot of him.If the pitch actually struck the batter, it was still just an automatic ball; awarding first base on a HBP was first instituted in 1884 in the American Association and 1887 in the National League. In 1880, the National League changed the rules so that eight "unfair balls" instead of nine were required for a walk. In 1884, the National League changed the rules so that six balls were required for a walk. In 1886, the American Association changed the rules so that six balls instead of seven were required for a walk; however, the National League changed the rules so that seven balls were required for a walk instead of six. In 1887, the National League and American Association agreed to abide by some uniform rule changes, including, for the first time, a strike zone which defined balls and strikes by rule rather than the umpire's discretion, and decreased the number of balls required for a walk to five. In 1889, the National League and the American Association decreased the number of balls required for a walk to four.{{cite book | year = 2001 | title = 2001 Official Major League Baseball Fact Book | publisher = The Sporting News | location = St. Louis, Missouri | id = 0-89204-646-5 | pages = 276–280}}

In 2017, Major League Baseball approved a rule change allowing for a batter to be walked intentionally by having the defending bench signal to the umpire. The move was met with some controversy.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/23/516878572/major-league-baseball-poised-to-change-intentional-walk-rule|title=Major League Baseball Poised To Change Intentional Walk Rule|newspaper=NPR|date=23 February 2017|last1=Kennedy|first1=Merrit}}

{{main|Intentional base on balls}}

Image:Escobar IBB.jpg of the Florida Marlins intentionally walking the Atlanta Braves' Yunel Escobar in 2008. Note the Florida catcher, Mike Rabelo, in a standing position behind the opposite batter's box to receive the pitch. This method of issuing an intentional walk is no longer used in Major League Baseball.]]

A subset of the base on balls, an intentional base on balls (IBB), or intentional walk, is when the defensive team intentionally issues a walk to the batter. In Major League Baseball and many amateur leagues, an intentional base on balls is signaled to the home plate umpire by the defensive team's manager holding up four fingers, at which point the batter is awarded first base without any further pitches being thrown. In some leagues and in Major League Baseball prior to 2017, an intentional base on balls is issued when the pitcher deliberately pitches the ball away from the batter four times (or as many times as needed to get to ball four if the decision to issue the intentional walk is made with one or more balls already on the count). As with any other walk, an intentional walk entitles the batter to first base without liability to be put out, and entitles any runners to advance if forced.

Intentional walks are a strategic defensive maneuver, commonly done to bypass one hitter for one the defensive team believes is less likely to initiate a run-scoring play (e.g., a home run, sacrifice fly, or RBI base hit). Teams also commonly use intentional walks to set up a double play or force out situation for the next batter.

{{main|List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders|List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls allowed leaders}}

Jimmie Foxx, Andre Thornton, Jeff Bagwell and Bryce Harper have each been walked six times during a major league regular season game.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/Yp1x2|title=Batting Game Finder: From 1908 to 2018, (requiring BB>=6), sorted by greatest BB|website=Baseball Reference|access-date=August 21, 2018}} Among pitchers, Tommy Byrne and Bruno Haas both gave up 16 bases on balls in a game.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/T22Mw|title=Pitching Game Finder: From 1908 to 2018, (requiring BB>=14), sorted by greatest BB|website=Baseball Reference|access-date=August 21, 2018}} On September 17, 1920, the Boston Red Sox drew 20 walks in a 12-inning game against the Detroit Tigers. {{Asof|September 2024}}, this is the most walks drawn or allowed by a team in a single game in Major League history according to available data.{{cite web |title=Team Batting Game Stats Finder - For single games, from 1901 to 2024, in the regular season, sorted by descending Bases on Balls. |url=https://stathead.com/tiny/DTCUy |website=Stathead.com |publisher=Sports Reference |access-date=18 September 2024 |language=en}}

{{portal|Baseball}}

• Baseball statistics
• List of Major League Baseball career bases on balls leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career OPS leaders
• 3,000 strikeout club
• List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/BB_career.shtml Career walks leaders, Baseball-Reference.com]
• [https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/BB_season.shtml Single-season walks leaders, Baseball-Reference.com]

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Category:Baseball terminology

Category:Pitching (baseball)

Category:Batting (baseball)

Category:Pitching statistics

Category:Batting statistics

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